Key result
Deep breathing exercises for 30 minutes produced the largest increase in heart rate variability in healthy participants and demonstrated consistent across-day reliability in RA and SLE patients.
Why the study?
RA and SLE are associated with autonomic dysfunction, and vagus nerve stimulation via deep breathing has been proposed as an anti-inflammatory treatment.
Do deep breathing exercises improve heart rate variability in healthy participants and patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus?
Do deep breathing exercises improve heart rate variability in healthy participants and patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus?
Deep breathing for 30 minutes effectively and reliably increases heart rate variability, suggesting vagus nerve stimulation, in both healthy individuals and patients with systemic autoimmune diseases.
Deep breathing may modulate HRV in RA and SLE; leaves open optimal dosing and clinical anti-inflammatory utility.
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are associated with autonomic dysfunction, potentially through reduced vagus nerve tone. Vagus nerve stimulation has been proposed as an anti-inflammatory treatment, and it can be performed through deep breathing (DB) exercises. In this study, the dose-response relationship between DB exercises and heart rate variability (HRV) was investigated in healthy participants and reliability across days in patients with RA and SLE. On three separate days, 41 healthy participants performed DB for: 5, 15, or 30 min. On two separate days, 52 RA or SLE patients performed DB with the dose associated with the highest HRV increase in healthy participants. The HRV was estimated from ECG-recordings recorded prior and post the DB exercises. Increases in dose led to larger HRV-responses. Thirty minutes led to the largest HRV-response. In the RA and SLE patients, this dose increased the HRV-parameters consistently across the two days, indicating reliability. DB increases HRV in healthy participants and RA or SLE patients, which indicates stimulation of the vagus nerve. Of the tested durations, 30 min of DB was the optimal period of stimulation. A potential anti-inflammatory effect of DB exercises should be investigated in future studies.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Liboriussen et al. (2022) studied Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (n=93). Deep breathing exercises was evaluated on Heart rate variability (HRV). Deep breathing exercises for 30 minutes produced the largest increase in heart rate variability in healthy participants and demonstrated consistent across-day reliability in RA and SLE patients.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: