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improvements in the force-generating capacity and metabolic efficiency of the inspiratory muscles (Sharpe et al., unpublished observations)

  Breathing improved in 3 weeks

·         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)

  Relieves the symptoms of Asthma

·         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)

  Relieves the symptoms of Dyspnoea and other respiratory disorders

·         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)

  Proven to enhance endurance in patients with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease)

·         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)

  Inspiratory muscle training has improved inspiratory muscle function in the following conditions:

·         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)