Breathing lessons help treat asthma symptoms
03 December 2008

New research funded by Asthma UK shows that breathing techniques can help to treat people who continue to experience asthma symptoms in spite of current drug treatments.

Dr Mike Thomas at the University of Aberdeen monitored participants who attended three training sessions, supervised by a physiotherapist, over the course of six months. They were taught to recognise ‘dysfunctional breathing’ such as hyperventilating and breathing too shallowly. They were then taught appropriate, regular breathing techniques and were encouraged to practice these exercises for at least ten minutes each day.

A control group received three sessions of general asthma education from a nurse over the same period to ensure that any difference between the two groups was due to the effect of the breathing techniques.

A month after the final session had been completed, researchers assessed both groups by measuring asthma symptoms and lung function and asking participants about their quality of life. They found significant improvements in asthma control for both groups.

After six months however, researchers found that the test group’s asthma control had continued to improve markedly, whereas for the control group, it had already begun to drop back to original levels.

Dr Mike Thomas, Asthma UK Senior Research Fellow, said: ‘We hope that the results of this study will encourage the NHS to provide wider access to trained chest physiotherapists for people with asthma. Breathing exercises are not a cure, but for many they could mean the difference between being unable to leave the house or play with their children, and living a normal, symptom-free life.’

Dr Elaine Vickers, Research Relations Manager at Asthma UK said: ‘This research is important as it empowers people with asthma to feel that they can have an impact on their condition and the effect it has on their lives.

‘For many people with asthma, their treatment is something which is too often out of their hands. This research demonstrates that people need to be actively involved in their treatment and that this can have huge benefits, both in terms of their symptom control and their general quality of life.’