title: Effect of yoga breathing exercises (pranayama) on airway reactivity in subjects with asthma.
abstract: The effects of two pranayama yoga breathing exercises on airway reactivity, airway calibre, symptom scores, and medication use in patients with mild asthma were assessed in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. After baseline assessment over 1 week, 18 patients with mild asthma practised slow deep breathing for 15 min twice a day for two consecutive 2-week periods. During the active period, subjects were asked to breathe through a Pink City lung (PCL) exerciser--a device which imposes slowing of breathing and a 1:2 inspiration:expiration duration ratio equivalent to pranayama breathing methods; during the control period, subjects breathed through a matched placebo device. Mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), peak expiratory flow rate, symptom score, and inhaler use over the last 3 days of each treatment period were assessed in comparison with the baseline assessment period; all improved more with the PCL exerciser than with the placebo device, but the differences were not significant. There was a statistically significant increase in the dose of histamine needed to provoke a 20% reduction in FEV1 (PD20) during pranayama breathing but not with the placebo device. The usefulness of controlled ventilation exercises in the control of asthma should be further investigated.
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Medicine Unit, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wisniewski
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Britton
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tattersfield
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001945:Breathing Exercises; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015013:Yoga