Combination of diaphragmatic breathing with therapeutic walking exercise to increase peak expiratory flow rate in asthma patients

Objective:This study aimed to determine the effect of combined diaphragmatic breathing and therapeutic walking exercise on peak expiratory flow in asthma patients.Methods:The research design used a quasi-experiment nonequivalent pretest and posttest design.The research sample contained 38 respondents divided into intervention and control groups,selected by simple random sampling.The control group received standard drug therapy,while the intervention group received standard drug therapy and a combination of diaphragmatic breathing and therapeutic walking exercise for 2 weeks.This exercise was carried out in the morning,6 times a week,with 5 diaphragmatic breathing and exhalations per exercise.After that,a 1-min break was followed by a therapeutic walking exercise of 5–15 min,with an increased duration.Both groups measured the peak expiratory flow before and after the intervention using a peak flow meter.The data analysis used central tendency and t-test.Results:The results showed that the mean peak expiratory flow in the intervention group was 306.84,while in the control group,it was 232.63,with the value of the t-test being-14.17(P<0.0001).Conclusions:Diaphragmatic breathing and therapeutic walking exercise significantly increased the peak expiratory flow in asthma patients.

Changes in Alanine Aminotransferase/Aspartate Aminotransferase Ratio Are Associated with Changes in Insulin Resistance in Japanese Community-Dwelling Middle-Aged and Elderly Women

Liver marker {e.g., alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)} levels independently predict insulin resistance. The aim of the present study is to examine how changes in liver markers are associated with changes in insulin resistance after exercise in Japanese community-dwelling adults. The participants were 76 women aged 67 ± 6 years from a rural village. Nordic walk (NW) exercise of 120 min per week was performed for 12 weeks. Before and at the end of the 12-week intervention, various confounding factors and insulin resistance {e.g., Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR)} were measured. The baseline, follow-up, and changes in ALT/AST ratio (β = 0.390, P β = 0.393, P β = 0.321, P = 0.004, respectively) were each significantly and independently associated with HOMA-IR. When the data were further stratified by baseline and change in ASL/AST ratio, changes in HOMA-IR decreased more significantly in participants with baseline ASL/AST ratio ≥ 0.762 and change in ALT/AST ratio of < 0 than those with change in ALT/AST ratio of ≥ 0 (baseline ASL/AST ratio P = 0.002 and ASL/AST ratio ≥ 0.762, P = 0.047). This study is of interest because liver transaminase markers, which are inexpensive and routinely collected in clinical settings, may provide a simple and accurate enhancement to models currently used to identify subjects with changes in insulin resistance. These results suggest that a higher baseline and decreased change in ALT/AST ratio may be a predictor for decreased insulin resistance after a 12-week walking exercise in community-dwelling middle-aged and elderly women.