Yoga for Lung Disease
Reported November 1, 2004
(Ivanhoe Broadcast News)–Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is an umbrella term used to categorize lung diseases like emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic asthma. Currently, there are few effective treatments for these often fatal diseases. But an ancient practice may help the 16 million patients with COPD find relief.
Ginger Carrieri-Kohlman, R.N., is trying to help patients with COPD catch their breath. “Probably everyone, would say, ‘If I can’t get my next breath, if I think I can’t breathe, that is the scariest symptom there is,'” she tells Ivanhoe.
This University of California, San Francisco nurse researcher isn’t using drugs. She’s using therapeutic yoga — an ancient way to connect mind and body.
“It’s about learning. It’s about exploring. It’s about understanding your own body,” yoga instructor Bonnie Maeda, R.N., also of University of California, San Francisco, tells Ivanhoe.
COPD patient Bruce Gallagher stretches, poses, and meditates during his yoga class. he says: “The positions that they put you in, I’ve never been in those positions. The breathing positions, you’re actually laying on your back, and your chest opens up.”
Researchers say yoga may open blocked airways caused by bronchitis or emphysema, which are linked to COPD. The hope is yoga will ease anxiety when patients struggle to breathe.
“That helps them increase their confidence that they can control their shortness of breath, and they’re not going to drop dead,” Carrieri-Kohlman says.
Gallagher says, “I don’t know whether it’s gonna help me live longer or not, but I like it.” And at least for now, he’s breathing a little easier.
Researchers say yoga should not be used in place of prescribed medications but instead as another resource to help relieve symptoms. The most common cause of COPD is cigarette smoking