IMPROVEMENTS IN ASTHMATICS
& THOSE WITH RESPIRATORY DISORDERS
Strengthens the inspiratory muscles
·
As you inhale against the load, the inspiratory muscles are made to work
harder; this training stimulus induces improvements in the
force-generating capacity and metabolic efficiency of the inspiratory
muscles (Sharpe et al.,
unpublished observations) ·
Training is accomplished with as little as 5 minutes training per day,
and benefits are perceived by patients within 3 weeks of starting the
training (McConnell et al., 1998) ·
In randomised, controlled trials, on mild / moderate asthmatics,
POWERbreathe increased inspiratory muscle strength by a mean of 11% in
just 3 weeks (McConnell et al.,
1998) ·
Inspiratory muscle training has been shown to relieve the symptoms of
asthma by improving lung function, resulting in reduction of medication
and a fall in hospitalisations (Weiner
et al., 1992) ·
Dyspnoea is a common feature of many disorders. Its source may be
respiratory, cardiovascular, neuromuscular or even psychological.
Inspiratory muscle weakness has been identified as a contributory factor
in the perception of dyspnoea (Killian,
1998) ·
Training of the inspiratory muscles has been demonstrated to increase
their strength, resistance to fatigue and, most importantly, to reduce
exertional dyspnoea. (Lisboa,
1994; Copestake & McConnell, 1995; Lisboa, 1997; McConnell et al.,
1998) ·
Reduction in exertional dyspsnoea has been demonstrated in healthy
elderly people (Copestake&
McConnell, 1995), asthmatics (McConnell
et al., 1998) and patients with COPD (Lisboa
et al., 1994, 1997) ·
In randomised, controlled trials, POWERbreathe has been shown to generate
improvements in inspiratory muscle strength of 55% and endurance of 86%
in patients with COPD (Newall et
al., 1998) ·
Spinal cord injury (Huldtgren et
al., 1980, Gross et al., 1980) ·
Cystic fibrosis (Sawyer et al.,
1993) ·
Chronic heart failure (Cahalin et
al., 1997, Mancini et al., 1995) ·
Neuromuscular diseases including MS (Foglio
et al., 1994), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Wanke et al., 1994) ·
Heart-lung transplant patients (Ambrosino
et al., 1996) Maintenance of
lung function during Corticosteroid use ·
Corticosteroids are used to treat a large number of disease conditions,
but significant reductions in inspiratory muscle strength have been
documented after an acute bout of oral corticosteroid treatment.
Research has shown that a concomitant period of inspiratory muscle
training can eliminate the fall in inspiratory
muscle strength, therefore maintaining lung function during
corticosteroid use (Weiner et al., 1995) |