ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure 2008 (ending).

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Esc guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure 2008 (ending)

Mind–body interventions are beneficial in stress-related mental and physical disorders. Current research is finding associations between emotional disorders and vagal tone as indicated by heart rate variability. A neurophysiologic model of yogic breathing proposes to integrate research on yoga with polyvagal theory, vagal stimulation, hyperventilation, and clinical observations. Yogic breathing is a unique method for balancing the autonomic nervous system and influencing psychologic and stress-related disorders. Many studies demonstrate effects of yogic breathing on brain function and physiologic parameters, but the mechanisms have not been clarified. Sudarshan Kriya yoga (SKY), a sequence of specific breathing techniques (ujjayi, bhastrika, and Sudarshan Kriya) can alleviate anxiety, depression, everyday stress, post-traumatic stress, and stress-related medical illnesses. Mechanisms contributing to a state of calm alertness include increased parasympathetic drive, calming of stress response systems, neur...

Sudarshan Kriya Yogic Breathing in the Treatment of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression: Part I—Neurophysiologic Model

Yoga has become increasingly popular in Western cultures as a means of exercise and fitness training; however, it is still depicted as trendy as evidenced by an April 2001 Time magazine cover story on "The Power of Yoga." There is a need to have yoga better recognized by the health care community as a complement to conventional medical care. Over the last 10 years, a growing number of research studies have shown that the practice of Hatha Yoga can improve strength and flexibility, and may help control such physiological variables as blood pressure, respiration and heart rate, and metabolic rate to improve overall exercise capacity. This review presents a summary of medically substantiated information about the health benefits of yoga for healthy people and for people compromised by musculoskeletal and cardiopulmonary disease.

Psychophysiologic Effects of Hatha Yoga on Musculoskeletal and Cardiopulmonary Function: A Literature Review

Effects of controlled breathing, mental activity and mental stress with or without verbalization on heart rate variability.

Objective: To test whether rhythmic formulas such as the rosary and yoga mantras can synchronise and reinforce inherent cardiovascular rhythms and modify baroreflex sensitivity. Design: Comparison of effects of recitation of the Ave Maria (in Latin) or of a mantra, during spontaneous and metronome controlled breathing, on breathing rate and on spontaneous oscillations in RR interval, and on blood pressure and cerebral circulation. Setting: Florence and Pavia, Italy. Participants: 23 healthy adults. Main outcome measures: Breathing rate, regularity of breathing, baroreflex sensitivity, frequency of cardiovascular oscillations. Results: Both prayer and mantra caused striking, powerful, and synchronous increases in existing cardiovascular rhythms when recited six times a minute. Baroreflex sensitivity also increased significantly, from 9.5 (SD 4.6) to 11.5 (4.9) ms/mm Hg, P Conclusion: Rhythm formulas that involve breathing at six breaths per minute induce favourable psychological and possibly physiological effects. What is already known on this topic Reduced heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity are powerful and independent predictors of poor prognosis in heart disease Slow breathing enhances heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity by synchronising inherent cardiovascular rhythms What this study adds Recitation of the rosary, and also of yoga mantras, slowed respiration to almost exactly 6/min, and enhanced heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity The rosary might be viewed as a health practice as well as a religious practice

Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study

Background— It is well established that a depressed baroreflex sensitivity may adversely influence the prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and in those with previous myocardial infarction. Methods and Results— We tested whether a slow breathing rate (6 breaths/min) could modify the baroreflex sensitivity in 81 patients with stable (2 weeks) CHF (age, 58±1 years; NYHA classes I [6 patients], II [33], III [27], and IV [15]) and in 21 controls. Slow breathing induced highly significant increases in baroreflex sensitivity, both in controls (from 9.4±0.7 to 13.8±1.0 ms/mm Hg, P<0.0025) and in CHF patients (from 5.0±0.3 to 6.1±0.5 ms/mm Hg, P<0.0025), which correlated with the value obtained during spontaneous breathing (r=+0.202, P=0.047). In addition, systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased in CHF patients (systolic, from 117±3 to 110±4 mm Hg, P=0.009; diastolic, from 62±1 to 59±1 mm Hg, P=0.02). Conclusions— These data suggest that in patients with CHF, slow breathing, in addition ...

Slow Breathing Increases Arterial Baroreflex Sensitivity in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(97)10341-5.pdf

Effect of breathing rate on oxygen saturation and exercise performance in chronic heart failure

Introduction: Quality of life measures are useful when interventions or treatments are indicated for several reasons such as improvement of physical functioning, pain relief, to estimate the effectiveness of therapies or to predict mortality. The aim of the current study was to describe quality of life in patients with stable coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction and heart failure and to evaluate the relationship between depression and health-related quality of life. Material and methods: Patients after STEMI, with stable coronary artery disease, and heart failure (n = 332) completed the MacNew Heart Disease Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: Patients with myocardial infarction had significantly higher scores than patients with stable coronary artery disease or heart failure on the MacNew global scale and the physical, emotional and social subscales. The anxiety scores were significantly higher in the group of patients with stable coronary artery disease than in patients with myocardial infarction. The depression scores were significantly higher in patients with heart failure. Conclusions: In patients with stable CAD, anxiety correlated mainly with symptoms, i.e. angina, than with the history of MI. Patients with symptoms of angina react to the illness with anxiety more than depression, whereas patients with heart failure with dyspnea react to the illness with depressive symptoms more than anxiety. In patients after MI and with stable CAD, cognitive-behavioral techniques could be useful to quickly reduce the level of anxiety, while patients with heart failure require long-term support therapy to reduce the risk of depressive symptoms.

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Quality of life in patients with coronary heart disease after myocardial infarction and with ischemic heart failure.

Background. The prognostic value of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is known, but the predictive value of 6MWT in patients with heart failure (HF) and patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is not established yet. Objective. We conducted a systematic review exploring the prognostic value of 6MWT in HF patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The aim was to find out whether the change in the distance walked during follow-up visits was associated with prognosis. Data Source. We searched “PubMed” from January 1990 to December 2012 for any review articles or experimental studies investigating the prognostic value of 6MWT in HF patients and patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Results. 53 studies were included in the review, and they explored the role of 6MWT in cardiology, cardiac surgery, and rehabilitation. The results did not show the relation between the six-minute walk distance and adverse events after CABG. The predictive power of the distance walked for death in HF patients undergoing cardiac surgery was not found. It is not yet proved if the change in the six-minute walk distance is associated with prognosis. The predictive power of the six-minute walk distance for death in HF patients undergoing cardiac surgery remains unclear.

https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/rerp/2013/965494.pdf

Jerzy Bellwon

Papers

Slow Breathing Increases Arterial Baroreflex Sensitivity in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

Effect of breathing rate on oxygen saturation and exercise performance in chronic heart failure

Quality of life in patients with coronary heart disease after myocardial infarction and with ischemic heart failure.

Prognostic Value of the Six-Minute Walk Test in Heart Failure Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: A Literature Review

Cognitive impairment, symptoms of depression, and health-related quality of life in patients with severe stable heart failure