On Healthy Living

A new study finds that people with asthma use their inhalers less when they do light exercise that involves steady breathing. Upper body exercises were also found to be helpful.

Asthma is a disorder marked by difficulty breathing, so it makes sense that exercise that focuses on the breath would be helpful in regulating flare-ups. In fact, teaching patients how to breathe is a common treatment in conjunction with inhalers.

Could yoga be just the thing to reduce dependence on inhalers? According to Reuters:

The breathing exercise focused on hypoventilation, breath holding after exhalation, and breathing through the nose. The upper body exercise involved shoulder rotations and arm lifts performed in sync with breathing cycles.

So while the study did not specifically look at yoga as a treatment, the slow, deep, rhythmic breathing of yoga could be beneficial. Yoga practitioners commonly breathe through the nose, inhaling for a count of five, holding for a count of three, exhale to a count of five and hold for five before starting the cycle again. This sort of breathing, which engages the whole upper body, is great for stress reduction as well, which may help people with asthma as well.

Source: Reuters

Sarah White wrote this on June 7th, 2006 and filed it under Healthy Living, Diet & Exercise, Women's Health, Men's Health |