Are there effective alternative therapies for asthma? Many
researchers believe biofeedback holds promise as a way to help
asthma patients.
What is biofeedback all about? It involves measuring a
person's body processes like heart rate, blood pressure,
galvanic skin response, etc and providing this information to
the person in real time. This creates awareness of these
processes and in turn, can help the person gain conscious
control over related body functions.
For instance,
scientists have shown that a person can consciously influence
his heartbeat. In fact, some studies at the National Institutes
for Health have indicated that patients can be trained even to
lower their blood pressure.
Biofeedback training is part
of what is called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
It was Dr. Neal Miller, a neuroscientist at Yale who first said
that it is possible to exert conscious control over automatic
body functions. The scientific and medical establishment of the
time scoffed at his statement and held that such things are
impossible.
However, subsequent research by several
groups has shown that control over unconscious body functions is
indeed possible. Many patients have found relief from migraine
using biofeedback training. Some researchers are studying the
possibility of using biofeedback as the main treatment for high
blood pressure problems.
How does biofeedback apply to
asthma?
During an asthma attack, the muscles around the
airways are inflamed and contracted. If these muscles can be
relaxed, air would flow more freely into the lungs and the
distressing symptoms of asthma would be alleviated. Biofeedback
systems train the patient to accomplish just that.
In
addition, asthma patients often have abnormal breathing
patterns. The Society for Applied Psychotherapy and Biofeedback
says that 'barrel breathing' is one such pattern. This is when
the asthmatic takes in a deep breath and then doesn't fully
breathe out. Instead, they take several shallow in and out
breaths without emptying their lungs completely.
As a
result, their lungs can't be refilled with fresh air since they
never empty fully when breathing out.
Using a process
called pneumographic biofeedback, asthma patients learn to
recognize their altered heart rates that occur during barrel
breathing. And they learn to change their breathing pattern to
lower their heart rate as well as improve oxygen intake.
Some studies have concluded that this type of biofeedback
treatment not only reduced the symptoms of asthma but also
brought down lung inflammation and resistance to normal
breathing. The heart beat variability biorhythm treatment has
also resulted in lowered medication use and better pulmonary
function.
The National Institutes of Health advices
asthma patients who wish to use biofeedback training to work
with a competent trainer and to keep their doctor fully
informed. The latter is important because asthma patients should
be monitored regularly and medication may need to be adjusted
from time to time.
Overall, biofeedback treatment is one of the more promising
alternative therapies for asthma.
About the Author:
Jane Peters is a researcher who has written on several topics.
Visit
http://www.healthquadrant.com/natural-remedies-for-asthma.html
and
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