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Background & objectives: Practice of breathing exercises like pranayama is known to improve autonomic function by changing sympathetic or parasympathetic activity. Therefore, in the present study the effect of breathing exercises on autonomic functions was performed in young volunteers in the age group of 17-19 yr.
Methods: A total of 60 male undergraduate medical students were randomly divided into two groups: slow breathing group (that practiced slow breathing exercise) and the fast breathing group (that practiced fast breathing exercise). The breathing exercises were practiced for a period of three months. Autonomic function tests were performed before and after the practice of breathing exercises.
Results: The increased parasympathetic activity and decreased sympathetic activity were observed in slow breathing group, whereas no significant change in autonomie functions was observed in the fast breathing group.
Interpretation & conclusion: The findings of the present study show that regular practice of slow breathing exercise for three months improves autonomie functions, while practice of fast breathing exercise for the same duration does not affect the autonomic functions.
Key words Autonomie functions - breathing exercises - parasympathetic activity - sympathetic activity
It is known that the regular practice of breathing exercise (pranayama) increases parasympathetic tone, decreases sympathetic activity, improves cardiovascular and respiratory functions, decreases the effect of stress and strain on the body and improves physical and mental health1-3. It has been demonstrated that yoga training that includes pranayama, improves autonomic and pulmonary functions in asthma patients4.
Regular practice of breathing exercise is shown to improve autonomic functions by decreasing sympathetic activity or by increasing vagal tone1,2,5. Different types of pranayamas either increase sympathetic or decrease parasympathetic activity6-10. It has been observed that surya anuloma viloma pranayama and kapalabhathi type of breathing exercise increase sympathetic tone or decrease vagal tone5,7. Practice of short Kumbhak pranayamic breathing at slow rate increases oxygen consumption and metabolic rate10, and other slow breathing exercises reduce chemoreflex response to both hypoxia and hypercapnia but increase baroreflex sensitivity11. Practice of slow breathing has also been advocated for the treatment of anxiety disorder as it attenuates cardiac autonomic responses in such patients12.
There has been no systematic study to assess the scientific basis of improvement of health following practice of breathing exercises, and to compare the differences...