Exercising breathing muscles may aid older adults

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older adults may be able to exercise more easily if they give the muscles that control breathing their own workout, preliminary research suggests.

In a small study of healthy, moderately active older adults, Spanish researchers found that those who used an inspiratory muscle trainer to work on their breathing muscles were able to boost their capacity for exercise.

An inspiratory muscle trainer is a small device that applies resistance as the user inhales through a valve. This essentially makes the breathing muscles work harder and become stronger.

Past studies have found that this therapy can help people with heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to breathe easier.

However, "normal" aging also comes with a decline in respiratory function, which can make exercise challenging. If older adults are deterred from exercising, then their overall physical health may decline more rapidly.

The new findings suggest that inspiratory muscle training might be useful for healthier older adults as well, Dr. Susana Aznar-Lain, the lead researcher on the study, told Reuters Health.

Aznar-Lain, of the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Toledo, and her colleagues report the findings in the International Journal of Sports Medicine.

The study included 18 moderately active men and women who were an average of 68 years old. The researchers had half the study participants use a breathing-muscle trainer every day for eight weeks, under supervision. The rest used an identical-looking "sham" device for comparison.

After eight weeks, the researchers found that participants who used the real device had made gains in breathing-muscle strength and were performing better on treadmill tests.

They also increased their physical activity during the study period, as shown by portable activity monitors that they wore for several days.

The study was small and it is too soon to tell whether inspiratory muscle training might be broadly worthwhile for older adults.

However, the researchers note, the findings should spur further studies into whether the training improves older people's ability to exercise, and, by extension, their overall health.

SOURCE: International Journal of Sports Medicine, December 2007.