Effects of Ujjayi Pranayama Trainning on Selected Ventilatory Function Test in Patients with Mild Bronchial Asthma, NOHA A. HUSSEIN, AMIRA M. AFIFY, HANY E. OBAYA and ALI S.RAFEA
Abstract
Background: Bronchial asthma is a common disease and an important cause of morbidity among both children and adults. Ujjayi Pranayama Training (UPT) is a technique of controlling and modulating breath, a process through which one attains a state of deep rest, yet active state of mind.
Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of 2-months Ujjayi Pranayama Training (UPT) program on Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) and Forced Expiratory Volume in first second (FEV1) as well as the ratio FEV1/FVC in patients with mild asthma.
Participants: Forty patients (25 men and 15 women) who suffered from mild bronchial asthma for at least 8 years participated in this study. Patients were randomly assigned into; experimental group (Group A) that included 20 asthmatic patients (12 men and 8 women), age (35.85±2.99) and control group (Group B) that included 20 asthmatic patients (13 men and 7 women), age (34.80±3.44).
Methods: In both groups patients received Diaphragmatic Breathing (DB) exercise and asthmatic medications. Experi-mental group received UPT in addition to other interventions. Exercises in both groups were done for 3 sessions weekly over 8 weeks. The two groups were evaluated pre-training and after 2 months of training by using computerized spirom-eter for measuring Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in first second (FEV1) and their ratio FEV1/FVC.
Results: The experimental group showed that there is significant increase in both forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in first second than the control group (p>0.05). Both groups significantly improved in all parameters after 2 months.
Conclusions: This study showed that UPT, combined with medical treatment and diaphragmatic breathing exercise improve FVC, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC% in patients with mild bronchial asthma.