Blood Pressure and Breathing Exercises
Last Updated on Thursday, 21 July 2011 14:45 Written by Administrator Thursday, 21 July 2011 03:24
Reduction in Blood Pressure with Inspirational Breathing Exercises
Recent research has demonstrated reductions in blood pressure in a population of people in their 50's with 4-5 years of hypertension which was being treated with medication.
Participants with metabolic syndrome were excluded. Patients in the unloaded breathing group inhaled deeply through the device with the inlet tube set just above the level of the fluid so the inspired air was humidifed but there was no added resistance. For the loaded breathing group, the water level was set to provide an inspiratory load of 20 cmH 0. The patients were instructed to adopt a breathing pattern with a controlled fow rate of about 200 ml/sec, an inspiratory time of 4 seconds, and a total respiratory time of 10 seconds. The paced breathing was frst practised using a metronome in the laboratory until it could be reliably performed without the metronome. Patients rested for 5 seconds after every 6 deep breaths. Training was performed at home for 30 minutes, twice a day, every day for 8 weeks. Patients in the control group were asked to continue with their normal daily life.
Compared to the control group, systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased signifcantly with unloaded breathing by means of 7.0 mmHg (95% CI 5.5 to 8.5) and 13.5 mmHg (95% CI 11.3 to 15.7), respectively (laboratory measures). With loaded breathing, the reductions were greater at 18.8 mmHg (95% CI 16.1 to 21.5) and 8.6 mmHg (95% CI 6.8 to 10.4), respectively. The improvement in systolic blood pressure was 5.3 mmHg (95% CI 1.0 to 9.6) greater than with unloaded breathing. Heart rate declined by 8 beats/min (95% CI 6.5 to 10.3) with unloaded breathing, and 9 beats/min (95% CI 5.6 to 12.2) with loaded breathing.
A simple device was used whereby a water bottle with an inhalation mouthpiece and an air intake straw was used. The straw was 20cm deep inside the water to obtain the required resistance. Training duration was for 30 minutes per day.
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The mechanism of action has been suggested to be improved sympathetic tone. It would also be interesting to hypothesis that the lateral expansion of the ribcage, through the engagement of the diaphragm, results in the drawing upward and outward the myofascia of the Psoas Major, taking some pressure off the deep abdominal blood vessels such as the vena cava.
At Back In Business Physiotherapy we have been recommending people commence using such a strategy to see if it improves their blood pressure problems. Furthermore, we have recommended it's use in clients with Low back Pain to improve diaphragmatic lateral expansion, core stability and the engagement of the pelvic floor muscles.
Reference
Jones CU, Sangthong B, Pachirat O (2010) An inspiratory load enhances the antihypertensive effects of home-based training with slow deep breathing: a randomised trial. Journal of Physiotherapy 56: 179–186
Uploaded: 21 July 2011
