SELF-TAUGHT breathing retraining improves quality of life just as much as training by a physiotherapist, according to the largest randomised controlled trial to test such training published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.
The self-taught training includes a video and booklet, and shows equivalent results in helping improve people's quality of life by improving symptoms, mood, and ability to conduct day-to-day activities.
In addition, the authors said the self-taught training was cheaper and less resource-intensive than physiotherapist training.
At the same time, researchers warn that the exercises were not a replacement for medication and people would need to continue their usual treatment alongside the breathing exercises.
CLICK HERE for the research.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 15 Dec 17
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 15 Dec 17