Analysis of breathing patterns to stabilize cardiovascular changes in physical stress environments : inspiration responds to rapid changes in blood pressure

The thoracic nerves form a complex neural network that coordinates involuntary muscles such as breathing and the heart. Breathing has various patterns to maintain homeostasis in the human body. This study analyzes changes in the cardiovascular system and breathing patterns induced by stress caused by various mechanical movements performed in daily life and ultimately, the goal is to propose effective breathing patterns and breathing control methods to maintain cardiovascular homeostasis. The participants' age was 26.97 ± 3.93 years, height was 170.24 ± 8.61 cm, and weight was 65.69 ± 13.55 Kg, and there were 62 men and 38 women. Breathing and electrocardiogram were obtained using HiCard+, a biometric monitoring device. The measured electrocardiogram was analyzed for heartbeat interval, which indicates changes in the cardiovascular system, and standard deviation of normal to normal interval (SDNN) and root mean square of the successive differences (rMSSD), which indicate the activity of the autonomic and parasympathetic nervous systems. For respiration, time changes were analyzed as patterns by calculating inspiration and exhalation times. As a result of this study, rapid changes in blood pressure increased SDNN and rMSSD from 0.053 ± 0.06 and 0.056 ± 0.087 to 0.109 ± 0.114 and 0.125 ± 0.170 s, and induced an increase in spontaneous inspiratory time from 1.46 to 1.51 s (p < 0.05). Ultimately, we hope that the results of this study will be used as a breathing control training technique to prevent and manage rapid cardiovascular changes. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13534-024-00379-y.