[Long-term effects of breathing exercises and yoga in patients with bronchial asthma]. / Langzeiteffekte von Atemgymnastik und Yoga bei Patienten mit Asthma bronchiale.

To compare the effects of breathing exercises (BE) or Yoga (Y) on the course of bronchial asthma we studied 36 subjects with a mild disease. The patients were randomly divided into 3 groups. 2 of them participated in a 3 weeks training program of BE or Y while the third group rested without any additional treatment (control group, C). At the end of the training period the patients were asked to practise BE or Y on their own. Drug therapy and lung function parameters before and after a beta 2-agonist metered dose inhaler (albuterol, ALB) were recorded prior to the training program and in 4 weeks intervals for 4 months thereafter. The response to the beta 2-agonist was documented continuously in 28 patients. The mental state of the patients was elucidated by questionnaires.--Prior to the study a significant effect of inhaled ALB on the FEV1 was shown without any significant between group differences. Both, BE and Y, caused a significant amelioration of the mental state but only the BE induced a significant improvement of lung function parameters compared to the individual baseline values. The FEV1 increased significantly by 356.3 +/- 146.2 ml (p < 0.05) and the VC by 225.0 +/- 65.5 ml (p < 0.01). These long-term changes were not significantly different from the actual response to ALB. BE decreased the RV significantly by 306.3 +/- 111.6 ml (p < 0.05), an effect significantly higher compared to the beta 2-agonist (p < 0.01). BE in combination with ALB caused an additive effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)