Manandhar S A, Pramanik T
Dr Seerina Adhikari Manandhar, Lecturer, Department of Physiology, Nepal Medical College, Jorpati, Kathmandu, Nepal; E-Mail:
Mymensingh Med J. 2019 Oct;28(4):925-929.
Blood pressure in our body is finely regulated through autonomic nervous system and cardiac centers and studies established that parasympathetic dominance exerted by slow deep breathing decreases blood pressure. Reaction time is an estimate of the subject's capacity for inhibiting pre-potent motor responses. Decreased reaction time indicates greater alertness, faster information processing and less distractibility. Nevertheless, there has been conflicting results about the effect of deep slow breathing on reaction time The present research targeted a community based cross sectional observational study (n=80, age=17-70 years) performed in Lalitpur Municipality, Ward number-14, Nepal from May 2019 to June 2019, to observe the immediate effect of slow deep breathing exercise on blood pressure and reaction time by using online visual reaction time test. Volunteers performed the slow breathing exercise (approximately 4seconds inhalation and 6 seconds exhalation) in Sukhasana for 5 minutes. Base-line and post-slow-breathing blood pressure and visual reaction time was recorded and compared. Decrease in systolic and diastolic pressure was recorded in all, but statistically insignificant. Among the whole study population, significant decrease (p<0.001) in reaction time was noted (90.35±13.96 msVs 76.68±9.90 ms). Among male subjects of age-group 17-28 years, and 50-70 years, significant decrease in reaction time was noted (p<0.05) whereas, among the female subjects of all age groups, reaction time decreased significantly (p<0.05). Decrease in reaction time signifies improved central neuronal processing activity. This may be due to greater arousal, faster information processing, and ability to ignore or inhibit extraneous stimuli. Hence, regular practice of slow deep breathing exercise may be beneficial to lower blood pressure and to improve concentration.
我们身体中的血压通过自主神经系统和心脏中枢进行精细调节，研究表明，缓慢深呼吸产生的副交感神经优势可降低血压。反应时间是对受试者抑制优势运动反应能力的一种评估。反应时间缩短表明警觉性更高、信息处理速度更快且注意力分散性更低。然而，关于深呼吸对反应时间的影响，研究结果一直存在矛盾。本研究针对2019年5月至2019年6月在尼泊尔拉利特布尔市第14选区进行的一项基于社区的横断面观察性研究（n = 80，年龄 = 17 - 70岁），通过在线视觉反应时间测试来观察缓慢深呼吸运动对血压和反应时间的即时影响。志愿者在简易坐中进行缓慢呼吸运动（约4秒吸气和6秒呼气），持续5分钟。记录并比较基线和缓慢呼吸后的血压及视觉反应时间。所有人的收缩压和舒张压均有所下降，但无统计学意义。在整个研究人群中，反应时间显著缩短（p < 0.001）（90.35±13.96毫秒对76.68±9.90毫秒）。在17 - 28岁和50 - 70岁的男性受试者中，反应时间显著缩短（p < 0.05），而在所有年龄组的女性受试者中，反应时间也显著缩短（p < 0.05）。反应时间缩短意味着中枢神经元处理活动得到改善。这可能是由于更高的觉醒水平、更快的信息处理速度以及忽略或抑制无关刺激的能力。因此，定期进行缓慢深呼吸运动可能有助于降低血压并提高注意力。
