Relaxation techniques, such as yoga and hypnosis, have been suggested to asthma patients as ways to lessen symptoms. These techniques are based on the concept that a relaxed person will be able to control their breathing and breathe better than someone who is nervous and stressed. According to a new study, yoga may also improve lung capacity, a finding that may further encourage people with asthma to practice the exercise.

Researchers at Khon Kaen University in Thailand compared the effect of yoga on chest wall expansion and lung volumes in young healthy adults. At the start of the study, the researchers took lung expansion and lung volume measures for each of the 58 participants. Each participant's upper chest (sternum), middle chest (rib 5) and lower chest (rib 8) areas were measured with a tape measure to determine lung expansion capacity. Lung volumes were measured with a spirometer.

The participants were than randomly placed in one of two groups - a yoga group or a control group. The members of the yoga group participated in three 20 minute yoga sessions per week, for six weeks. Five positions of Hatha Yoga with effects on chest wall function were used during each session. The members of the control group did not do the Yoga exercises.

At the end of the study period, the researchers took additional lung expansion and lung volume measurements. When these measurements were compared to the initial measurements, the researchers found that chest wall expansion was significantly increased among those in the yoga group. Lung volumes were also increased in those in the Yoga group, with the exception of tidal volume. Tidal volume (the amount of air that passes in and out of the lungs in a normal breath) was not affected by yoga. Members of the control group did not show any change in any of the areas.

These results are significant because they suggest that short-term yoga exercise improves respiratory breathing capacity by increasing chest wall expansion and forced expiratory lung volumes. Since chest wall expansion provides more oxygen with each breath and requires less effort to breath, this discovery may benefit people with asthma or other respiratory diseases.

Details of the study were presented on Apr. 4, 2006 at Experimental Biology 2006, a meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). An abstract of the presentation is available online at the FASEB Web site.

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