• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.36-44
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• 2016

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of breath-counting meditation (BCM) and deep breathing (DB) on heart rate variability (HRV). These breathing techniques have the characteristics of non-paced and self-controlled breathings, resulting in less increase of HRV. We also compared BCM and DB with usual breathing (UB) or relaxing breathing (RB) which can reveal the characteristics of those. Methods: 83 healthy volunteers sitting in chairs performed non-paced breathing; UB, RB, BCM, and DB each for 5 minutes. One minute of relaxation was permitted between breathings. Participants surfed the internet sitting in front of a computer during UB, while for RB, they remained steady with eyes closed. For BCM, they breathed inwardly counting from 1 to 10 repetitively, while they took a deep breath during DB. Physiological indices were simultaneously recorded with a biofeedback system. Results: Respiration rate, thoracic amplitude, and mean heart rate decreased in RB compared with UB, but there was no change in HRV. Respiration rate in BCM and DB was lower than that in UB or RB, and the amplitude of thorax or abdomen, and HRV all increased (p<0.05). However, mean heart rate and skin conductance decreased in BCM compared with UB (p<0.05), whereas those were no different between DB and UB. Conclusion: BCM, just concentrating mentally on breathing with counting each breath, can increase HRV with less sympathetic activation, while DB, actively moving thorax and abdomen for achieving the deepest respiration rate, can greatly raise HRV with the maintenance of mean vagal or sympathetic tone.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.107-113
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• 2002

This study was conducted to determine the effects of deep breathing exercise and ankle exercise on blood flow velocity in the femoral vein. Sixteen healthy male students were recruited from Yonsei University, at Wonju. The blood flow velocities in the femoral vein were measured under three different conditions: resting, deep breathing, and ankle exercise. All subjects were given a 5-minute relaxing time in supine position prior to the study. Using a doppler ultrasound with a 8 MHz probe, the peak blood flow velocities were collected in a twenty-second-period at each condition. The subjects took a rest in between trials for the blood flow to return to its resting levels. The result showed a significant difference in peak blood flow velocities under those three conditions (p<.001). The peak blood flow velocity was highest in ankle exercise condition. The peak blood velocity was significantly higher in deep breathing condition compared with the resting condition. As a result, it is revealed that not only the muscular contractions but also the deep breathing exercises induced facilitating effects of venous return. Either of the exercise methods can be recommended to prevent blood stasis in patients with risk of deep vein thrombosis after cardiac or lower extremity surgery.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.225-235
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• 2015

Treatments for asthma are largely pharmaceutical, with some therapies also utilising alternative breathing techniques. The objective of both medical and alternative methods is to relax contracted airway smooth muscle (ASM). In normal subjects, tidal breathing- and deep inspiration-oscillations are believed to have a bronchodilatory effect. Similarly, application of length oscillations to isolated, contracted ASM also elicits muscle relaxation. As a means of investigating more-effective alternative treatment methods for contracted airways, we analyse the combined effects of bronchodilators and length oscillations on isolated, contracted ASM. The contractile state of the muscle tissue prior to treatment is of primary interest. Thereafter, the effect of applying a combination of small superimposed length oscillations with tidal breathing-like oscillations to ASM is studied alone and in combination with a common bronchodilator, isoproterenol (ISO). This work suggests that relaxation of isolated, contracted ASM following application of combined oscillations and ISO is larger than treatments of either combined oscillations or ISO alone. Further, the observed oscillation-associated relaxation is found to be amplitude- rather than frequency-dependent. This study gives additional insight into the role of oscillations and bronchodilators on contracted airways.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.19 no.2 s.33
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• pp.97-107
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• 2006

From the study on the relation of voice and O-jang(五臟廳), the conclusion is as follows. The function of breathing out in larynx is involved with lung and kidney. Lung press out the air, at the same time, kidney supports that to maintenance the density of air constantly. So the person who has short breathing can not make strong voice, and also if having a weak kidney in upper Cho[下蕉], their voice will be changed so very softly to cannot make hard type of voice and lingering sounds. Opening and Closing of vocal cords are controled by liver and spleen. when vocal cords are contracted, liver makes tension, whereas spleen does in slackness. So liver is likely to make high-piched sounds in tension of vocal cords, and spleen is the same to do smoothy and husky sounds through relaxing the vocal cords. In the rising condition of liver function, the temp of speech become fast, and more the pronunciation is clearer, it means that the function of thinking by spleen is operated well. Otherwise, indistinct pronunciation means that in the body seup-sa(濕邪) spreads. Also depression of emotion in speech often makes Gi(氣) of heart weaker, whereas it means regular condition of heart including Simpo(心包) that expression of emotion looks happy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fashion and Beauty
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• v.2 no.2 s.2
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• pp.12-22
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to present various ways for women to prevent and remedy the climacteric symptoms and to increase the health and quality of life of the women. The reason of this study focuses on this matter is that the conditions of climacteric era is connecter into the health of golden age. After examining the symptoms of the period, the researcher went over the foot heal care even recognized to the public. When the study considered the foot care as a medical service for the climacteric women, the method was expected as a way to improve the symptoms related to the climacteric diseases. This effect is also supported by the results of the clinical experiment and book media materials concerned. The main symptoms of climacteric period such as insomnia, irregular menstruation, stomach chill, stress were able to be decreased by feet bathing, and massage therapy on feet could also decrease pain of arms and legs, menstruation, headache and insomnia. The foot reflexology therapy made strengthen the periphery nerve, capillary vessels, and immune system, and increased the elasticity of blood vessels and the speed of the blood corpuscle, so they could enable to the blood circulation. The study expects the foot care to be positively method for climacteric symptoms with regular breathing, muscle relaxing exercise, acupuncture, exercise and alimentotherapy. The foot care doesn't have any side effects and could ives up to the modern people who want to keep their health and live long.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.18-21
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• 2004

Six volunteers (mean $age=25.7{\pm}1.7$, $height=173{\pm}1.9$ and $weight=63.4{\pm}2.3{\;}kg$) participated in a graded exercise test and one hour of basic form of ChunDoSunBup (CDSB) Qi-training to investigate the cardiorespiratory responses and exercise intensity of Qi-training, a Korean traditional psychosomatic training. In the maximal exercise, the trainee showed $96.2{\pm}8.89{\;}l/min$ in ventilation (VE), $46.0{\pm}4.4$ in breath frequency (BF), $1.31{\pm}0.05$ in respiratory exchange ratio (RER), $180.7{\pm}3.0$ in heart rate (HR), and $2.6{\pm}1.1{\;}l/min$ or $40.7{\pm}2.3{\;}ml/kg/ml$ in oxygen consumption $(VO_2)$. Qi-training induced significant changes in BF, RER, HR, and $VO_2$. The exercise intensity of Qi-training were 42.3%, 46.9% and 38.7% of $HR_{max}$ during the sound exercise, slow motion (haeng-gong) and meditation respectively and the average was 46.2% of $HR_{max}$. We conclude that Qi-training is an aerobic exercise of a light (mild) intensity exercise, and it leads to decrease the metabolic rate in the trainee by breathing efficiently and relaxing them. In addition, Qi-training may affect cardiorespiratory function of BF, RER, HR and $VO_{2max}$ in trainees.

• 재활복지
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.189-208
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• 2018

This case study investigated the changes in speech intelligibility of patients with head and neck cancers who participated in a therapeutic singing-based intervention. Three patients received a total of twelve 30-minute individual sessions. The intervention consisted of three steps: movements for relaxing breathing muscles, vocalization for increasing the range of articulatory movements, and therapeutic singing. In order to examine the changes in speech intelligibility, the voice quality parameters, diadochokinesis (DDK) and the quadrangle vowel space area (VSA) were measured at pre- and posttest. The recording of what each patient read a written paragraph, which were transcribed by blinded assessors, were also analyzed. The results demonstrated that all of the patients showed positive changes in the voice quality, the rate of repetitive syllable production measured by DDK, and the articulatory working space measured by VSA. Along with these measured changes, increases in positive mood and rehabilitation motivation reported by the patients support that the therapeutic singing-based intervention could induce meaningful changes in terms of speech intelligibility from patients with head and neck cancers. Given that this study was conducted with a small sample size, suggestions for further investigation on the effects of the intervention were also presented.