It may seem strange that changing your breathing pattern for a short time each day could make a difference in chronic illness and disease but there is increasing scientific and medical evidence showing the huge potential for this approach.
If you follow the our HRV Breathing Trainer your breathing rate will slow to about 6 breaths per minute. This slow breathing has profound effects in the body if practised for 10 minutes or so a day as a regular habit.(1)
For a long time ‘stress’ has been recognised as one of the causative factors in disease, producing a disturbance in the balance of the autonomic nervous system and HRV is a way of measuring this balance.
In the last 10 years researchers have shown that many diseases which are accompanied by chronic inflammation (and these are all the “Diseases of Western Civilisation”) will also demonstrate low HRV. These diseases include:
A ‘cytokine dependent’ or ‘inflammatory pathway’ caused by an overactive response of the immune system, leads to chronic inflammation and raised biomarkers such as TNF, CRP, and interleukins, and reduced HRV in these conditions. In 2002, Tracey (2) (3) showed that the body was able to reduce such inflammation through the ‘cholinergic antiinflammatory pathway’ which is potentially under the control of the brain through the vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve runs from the brain to the heart, lungs, liver, spleen and gut, and is intimately involved in responses of the immune system through its parasympathetic activity.
This diagram is rather daunting at first sight but shows that stimulating the vagus nerve blocks the release of cytokines which can cause inflammation and damage throughout the body,
If you follow the our HRV Breathing Trainer your breathing rate will slow to about 6 breaths per minute. This slow breathing has profound effects in the body if practised for 10 minutes or so a day as a regular habit.(1)
For a long time ‘stress’ has been recognised as one of the causative factors in disease, producing a disturbance in the balance of the autonomic nervous system and HRV is a way of measuring this balance.
In the last 10 years researchers have shown that many diseases which are accompanied by chronic inflammation (and these are all the “Diseases of Western Civilisation”) will also demonstrate low HRV. These diseases include:
- cardiovascular disease
- raised blood pressure
- Alzheimer’s
- type 2 Diabetes
- chronic pain syndromes
- obesity
- IBS
- infertility and PCOS
- osteoarthritis
- osteoporosis
- autoimmune diseases, which include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and fibromyalgia and ankylosing spondylitis.
A ‘cytokine dependent’ or ‘inflammatory pathway’ caused by an overactive response of the immune system, leads to chronic inflammation and raised biomarkers such as TNF, CRP, and interleukins, and reduced HRV in these conditions. In 2002, Tracey (2) (3) showed that the body was able to reduce such inflammation through the ‘cholinergic antiinflammatory pathway’ which is potentially under the control of the brain through the vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve runs from the brain to the heart, lungs, liver, spleen and gut, and is intimately involved in responses of the immune system through its parasympathetic activity.
This diagram is rather daunting at first sight but shows that stimulating the vagus nerve blocks the release of cytokines which can cause inflammation and damage throughout the body,
Activation of the vagus nerve leads to the release of acetylcholine (Ach) that binds to α-7 nicotinic receptors (α7 nAChR) on cytokine producing cells. This inhibits the activation of NF-κB and activates STAT3 phosphorylation. Phosphorylated STAT3 triggers an antiinflammatory signal by increasing SOCS3 expression, which suppresses signaling from cytokine receptors. Together, these signals prevent the release of TNF, HMGB1, and other cytokines implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases.
Researchers are looking at ways to stimulate the vagus nerve through drugs or electrical stimulation to achieve the anti-inflammatory effect, but it has been shown that acupuncture and other complementary therapies can produce similar effects.(4)
Changing your breathing pattern by following the Breathing Trainer will also stimulate the vagus and is one of the easiest ways to achieve this.
This means that using the Breathing Trainer regularly over time to produce The Wellness Response may well reduce inflammation throughout the body and could be expected to help with the above conditions. It will help you cope with stress and anxiety too.
Author: Michael Monk
Changing your breathing pattern by following the Breathing Trainer will also stimulate the vagus and is one of the easiest ways to achieve this.
This means that using the Breathing Trainer regularly over time to produce The Wellness Response may well reduce inflammation throughout the body and could be expected to help with the above conditions. It will help you cope with stress and anxiety too.
Author: Michael Monk
(1) Russo MA, Santarelli DM, O’Rourke D. The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human. Breathe 2017; 13: 298-309
(2) Tracey KJ. The inflammatory reflex. Nature 2002 Vol 420,19/26 December 853-859
(3) Tracey KJ. Physiology and immunology of the cholinergic antiinflammatory pathway. Jnl of Clln Investigation 2007, Feb;2;117;289-296
(4) Oke SL, Tracey KJ. The Inflammatory Reflex and the Role of Complementary and Alternative Medical Therapies. Ann. N.Y. Acad.Sci.1172:172-180 (2009)
Author Michael Monk