Simultaneously improved pulmonary and cardiovascular autonomic function and short-term functional outcomes in patients with Parkinson’s disease after respiratory muscle training

Chih Cheng Huang, Yun Ru Lai, Fu An Wu, Nai Ying Kuo, Yuh Chyn Tsai, Ben Chung Cheng, Nai Wen Tsai, Cheng Hsien Lu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Both pulmonary function and autonomic function are impaired in patients with Parkinson's diseases (PD). This study tested the hypothesis that respiratory muscle training (RMT) can not only improve pulmonary function, but also simultaneously improve cardiovascular autonomic function and short-term functional outcomes in patients with PD. Pulmonary function was measured by the forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), maximum inspiratory pressures (MIP), and maximum expiratory pressures (MEP). Cardiovascular autonomic function was measured by the heart rate response to deep breathing (HRDB), Valsalva ratio, baroreflex sensitivity, and spectral analysis. The functional and severity scores were measured by the Hoehn and Yahr stage and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). These measures were evaluated in patients with PD before and after 3 months of RMT, compared with a control group of PD patients without RMT. The results showed significant improvement of clinical scores (total UPDRS and UPDRS I, II and III) after RMT (p < 0.0001). Concerning pulmonary function, the parameters of MIP and MEP improved significantly. The parameters of cardiovascular function also improved after RMT, although only HRDB reached statistical significance. Based on the results of our study, RMT can not only improve both pulmonary and cardiovascular autonomic function, but can also improve short-term functional outcomes in patients with PD.

Original languageEnglish
Article number316
JournalJournal of Clinical Medicine
Volume9
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 02 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Cardiovascular autonomic function
  • Functional outcomes
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Pulmonary function
  • Respiratory muscle training

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