Can Slow Breathing Protect Against Alzheimer’s?

Stop scrolling. Now inhale slowly, concentrating on expanding your lungs for a count of five. Exhale, as slowly and deliberately as you count to five.

You may find that, in just those 10 seconds, you suddenly feel a little more relaxed or centered. Stick to the same practice for 20 minutes a few times a week, and according to research, you may not just reap the benefits of feeling calmer. It may also be helping to prevent the onset of various diseases, including a recent study has suggested, including Alzheimer’s disease.

The benefits of breathing exercises, sometimes called “breath work,” have been recognized. for millennia. In more recent decades, scientific studies seem to support what people in many cultures, particularly in Asiahave practiced for a long time: that deliberate breathing can help improve a variety of health conditionsincluding hypertension, stress, anxiety and even chronic pain.

In the latest study, the researchers measured biomarkers in blood plasma that are associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s, particularly beta-amyloids 40 and 42. Half of the 108 participants were told to try to reach a place of calm by imagining a serene scene, listening to soothing sounds and closing their eyes; essentially, mindful meditation. The goal was to decrease the oscillations in your heart rate, encouraging your heart rate to have a more stable and constant beat.

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The other group followed a breathing exercise on a computer screen: when a square went up over the course of five seconds, they inhaled, and when it went down over five seconds, they exhaled. This type of deep, slow breathing has been found to increase heart rate oscillations – make the time interval between heartbeats more variable (hence, greater “heart rate variability”). Both groups practiced the technique twice a day, for 20 to 40 minutes each time, for five weeks.

When they looked at the participants’ blood samples four weeks after their practice, the results came as a “surprise,” says Mara Mather, a professor of gerontology, psychology and biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California and one of the study’s authors. Breathing exercises aimed at increasing heart rate variability decreased amyloid beta levels. Mindfulness exercises, which reduced heart rate variability, raised those levels.