Breathing – ABC CARDIOL

IJCS

Editorial

Breathing and Cardiovascular Patterns: What can we Learn from Respiratory Exercises?

In the current issue of the International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences, Fetter and colleagues found that respiratory movements of the abdominal cavity and rib cage, evaluated by circumferences measurements, were higher in Yoga practitioners than in an age-matched sedentary group. Also, the study confirmed that Yoga practitioners showed higher maximal expiratory strength and lower heart rate at rest than non-practitioners.

Yoga has been recommended as a non-pharmacological therapy to control cardiovascular risk factors. Respiratory exercises are part of the Yoga program that includes abdominal and rib cage expansion by rhythmic movements.^– It was demonstrated that four months of Yoga respiratory training improved inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength, forced vital capacity and quality of life in healthy elderly. Another study demostrated that Yoga influenced cardiorespiratory control, affecting the resting sympatho-vagal balance, with a shift from vagal to sympathetic predominance, reflecting a sympathetic withdrawal. Several disease subsets are marked by autonomic dysfunction characterized by sympathetic overactivity at rest, and in this context, respiratory exercises such as Yoga may be a potential countermeasure.

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Original Article

Minute-Ventilation Variability during Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test is Higher in Sedentary Men Than in Athletes

Renata Rodrigues Teixeira de Castro et al. Sabrina Pedrosa Lima Allan Robson Kluser Sales Antonio Claudio Lucas da Nóbrega

Abstract

Background:

The occurrence of minute-ventilation oscillations during exercise, named periodic breathing, exhibits important prognostic information in heart failure. Considering that exercise training could influence the fluctuation of ventilatory components during exercise, we hypothesized that ventilatory variability during exercise would be greater in sedentary men than athletes.

Objective:

To compare time-domain variability of ventilatory components of sedentary healthy men and athletes during a progressive maximal exercise test, evaluating their relationship to other variables usually obtained during a cardiopulmonary exercise test.

Methods:

Analysis of time-domain variability (SD/n and RMSSD/n) of minute-ventilation (Ve), respiratory rate (RR) and tidal volume (Vt) during a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test of 9 athletes and 9 sedentary men was performed. Data was compared by two-tailed Student T test and Pearson´s correlations test.

Results:

Sedentary men exhibited greater Vt (SD/n: 1.6 ± 0.3 vs. 0.9 ± 0.3 mL/breaths; p < 0.001) and Ve (SD/n: 97.5 ± 23.1 vs. 71.6 ± 4.8 mL/min x breaths; p = 0.038) variabilities than athletes. VE/VCO₂ correlated to Vt variability (RMSSD/n) in both groups.

Conclusions:

Time-domain variability of Vt and Ve during exercise is greater in sedentary than athletes, with a positive relationship between VE/VCO₂ pointing to a possible influence of ventilation-perfusion ratio on ventilatory variability during exercise in healthy volunteers.