Research done in Netherlands bring fresh evidence to show that a couple of weeks of regular breathing exercises can go a long way in reducing the risk of onset of pneumonia and other lung disorders commonly encountered after by pass surgery in cardiac patients.
The study conducted at University Medical Center, Utrecht in Netherlands was done on 279 heart patients requiring surgical intervention with a higher risk of developing post operative lung complications like those with diabetic history, known smokers, obese individuals, and those with a history of recurrent coughs and respiratory illness, during the period between 2002 and 2005.Randomly selected patients were assigned pre-surgical breathing exercises and rest were given routine pre-operative care.Only 18% of the patients who underwent pre surgical exercises encountered lung problems when compared to 255 incidence of lung disorders in the other group .Pneumonia developed in more than 16% of those who went without breathing exercises .In contrast only a paltry 6.5% of the patients who were given exercises developed pneumonia.
The training included breathing exercises which focused on forced expiration techniques and general breathing,reported the study which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association,this week.With by pass surgeries becoming more routine and post operative lung related complications just as common, this discovery surely comes as a breakthrough for cardiac patients with a delicate constitution.
Source-IANS
MST
