Effect of yoga breathing exercises (pranayama) on airway reactivity in subjects with asthma

Author: Singh V//Wisniewski A//Britton J//Tattersfield A
Affiliation:
Respiratory Medicine Unit, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK
Conference/Journal: Lancet
Date published: 1990
Other: Volume ID: 335 , Issue ID: 8702 , Pages: 1381-3 , Special Notes: Comment in: Lancet. 1990 Nov 10;336(8724):1192. , Word Count: 193


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.

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