Lung Health

Lungs serve a vital function in health. Breathing moves oxygen into the bloodstream and removes carbon dioxide as a waste product. The spread of COVID-19, a respiratory disease, has put lung health at the forefront of conversations about health and aging, as older adults continue to be vulnerable to severe COVID-related disease.

This month we explore insights and strategies to maintain long-term lung health across the lifespan.

1. Breath of Life - How Mindfulness and Other Contemplative Activities Promote Health

One underlying element of contemplative or meditative practices (e.g. yoga, tai chi, mindfulness) is slow, deep breathing. As it turns out, there are fascinating benefits of this style of breathing on mental and physical health.

This article presents a neurophysiological model that explains the underlying mechanisms of the slow, deep breath patterns involved in contemplative or meditative activities.

As the article explains, breathing presents one of the only direct links we have to impact our autonomic nervous system, which includes our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Slow, deep breathing stimulates our diaphragm, our vagal nerve, and our parasympathetic nervous system. This balances our stress response (“fight or flight”) by promoting the “rest & digest” processes in our body.

This is why we love including meditative practices such as yoga & tai chi in our weekly exercise class programming. It takes deliberate practice to produce lasting changes in the brain!

2. Mechanisms of Mindful Meditation

How exactly does mindfulness meditation work?

This article explores the underlying mechanisms of mindfulness, while drawing attention to these primary effects of mindful practice:

🧠 Attention Regulation

👤 Body Awareness

🎭 Emotion Regulation

😌 Change in Self-Perspective

Authors note that these effects relate to specific neuroplastic changes occurring in the brain and spinal cord.

• By practicing non-judgmental awareness of the present moment, our nervous systems can “rewire” toward improved attentional focus and self-regulation of stress and emotional distress.

Because our nervous system is plastic and capable of change at any age, mindfulness can be a helpful strategy for older adults to take control of their stress and emotional responses.

Mindfulness meditation also typically incorporates slow, deep breathing, which we know (from #1 above) carries unique physical and mental benefits of its own.

Consider adding a regular mindfulness practice to your daily routine with free and accessible apps such as Headspace and Calm. Even a few minutes per day can make a difference!

3. COVID-19 & Lung Disease

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that can cause lasting lung damage, especially in at-risk populations such as older adults. While the long-term effects of COVID are yet to be fully understood, researchers are learning more about the acute and chronic respiratory effects of COVID-19 and its variants.

This article from Johns Hopkins outlines the effects of COVID on the respiratory system, as well as the strategies we can use to reduce risk of long-term consequences.

Pneumonia and bronchitis are two common types of respiratory disease that can occur with COVID.

• In pneumonia, the lungs become inflamed and fluid-filled at the level of the alveoli (microscopic air sacs).

• In bronchitis, the airways (as opposed to the alveoli) become inflamed and congested with increased sputum (mix of saliva and mucus).

• In both cases, there is reduced ability for the lungs to take in oxygen, causing shortness of breath, cough, and other symptoms.

The article mentions three factors that increase risk of lung damage in COVID-19 infections:

• ↑ disease severity

• ↑ underlying health conditions

• delayed treatment

The article also points out strategies that will reduce risk for ongoing lung damage related to COVID-19:

• being vaccinated and boosted

• good nutrition and hydration

• managing chronic conditions (through healthy lifestyle)

While COVID-19 continues to disproportionately affect older individuals, we must remain vigilant in our attempts to reduce infection and long-term disease risk. As always, talk to your individual health provider with specific questions and to learn more about your risk of COVID-related lung disease.

4. Breathing & Heart Rate Variability

How can breathing lower stress levels?

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is the measure of time variation between each heartbeat. HRV is often used as a measure of stress in the body, as it correlates closely with the balance of the sympathetic (“fight or flight”) and parasympathetic (“rest & digest”) components of the autonomic nervous system.

⬇️ Low HRV (or more beat-to-beat regularity) corresponds with higher levels of stress 😰

⬆️ High HRV (or less beat-to-beat regularity) corresponds with lower levels of stress 😎

As we’ve discussed in a previous post, slow, deep breathing can promote activity of the parasympathetic nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve. What impact might there be on heart rate variability?

This randomized controlled trial found that consistent practice of slow, deep breathing led to meaningful improvements in both respiratory rate and heart rate variability.

Our nervous system is generally well-wired to access “fight or flight” mode. Slow, deep breathing is an accessible activity that, even at small doses (1-2 minutes), allows us to impact our nervous system, our stress levels, and our overall well-being.

References:

• Gerritsen RJS, Band GPH. Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity. Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Oct 9;12:397. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00397. PMID: 30356789; PMCID: PMC6189422.

• https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/what-coronavirus-does-to-the-lungs

• Hölzel BK, Lazar SW, Gard T, Schuman-Olivier Z, Vago DR, Ott U. How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2011 Nov;6(6):537-59. doi: 10.1177/1745691611419671. PMID: 26168376.

• Tharion E, Samuel P, Rajalakshmi R, Gnanasenthil G, Subramanian RK. Influence of deep breathing exercise on spontaneous respiratory rate and heart rate variability: a randomised controlled trial in healthy subjects. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2012 Jan-Mar;56(1):80-7. PMID: 23029969.