Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA Atkinson Research Laboratory, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Pain. 2010 Apr;149(1):12-18. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2009.10.001. Epub 2010 Jan 15.
This study examined whether breathing rate affected self-reported pain and emotion following thermal pain stimuli in women with fibromyalgia syndrome (FM: n=27) or age-matched healthy control women (HC: n=25). FM and HC were exposed to low and moderate thermal pain pulses during paced breathing at their normal rate and one-half their normal rate. Thermal pain pulses were presented in four blocks of four trials. Each block included exposure to both mild and moderate pain trials, and periods of both normal and slow paced breathing. Pain intensity and unpleasantness were recorded immediately following each pain trial, and positive and negative affect were assessed at the end of each block of trials. Compared to normal breathing, slow breathing reduced ratings of pain intensity and unpleasantness, particularly for moderately versus mildly painful thermal stimuli. The effects of slow breathing on pain ratings were less reliable for FM patients than for HCs. Slow versus normal breathing decreased negative affect ratings following thermal pain pulses for both groups, and increased positive affect reports, but only for healthy controls with high trait negative affect. Participants who reported higher levels of trait positive affect prior to the experiment showed greater decreases in negative affect as a result of slow versus normal breathing. These experimental findings provide support for prior reports on the benefits of yogic breathing and mindful Zen meditation for pain and depressed affect. However, chronic pain patients may require more guidance to obtain therapeutic benefit from reduced breathing rates.
这项研究考察了呼吸频率是否会影响纤维肌痛综合征（FM：n=27）或年龄匹配的健康对照组女性（HC：n=25）在接受热痛刺激后自我报告的疼痛和情绪。FM 和 HC 在正常呼吸和正常呼吸的一半的节奏下接受低强度和中等强度的热痛脉冲。热痛脉冲在四个四trial 的块中呈现。每个块包括暴露于轻度和中度疼痛试验，以及正常和缓慢呼吸的时期。在每次疼痛试验后立即记录疼痛强度和不愉快程度，并在每个试验块结束时评估正负情绪。与正常呼吸相比，缓慢呼吸可降低疼痛强度和不愉快程度的评分，尤其是对于中度与轻度热刺激。与健康对照组相比，缓慢呼吸对 FM 患者疼痛评分的影响不太可靠。与正常呼吸相比，慢速呼吸可降低两组在热痛脉冲后的负性情绪评分，并增加正性情绪报告，但仅对高特质负性情绪的健康对照组有效。在实验前报告较高特质正性情绪的参与者，由于慢速呼吸与正常呼吸相比，负性情绪的下降幅度更大。这些实验结果为瑜伽呼吸和正念冥想对疼痛和抑郁情绪有益的先前报告提供了支持。然而，慢性疼痛患者可能需要更多的指导，以从降低的呼吸频率中获得治疗益处。
