What’s This Research About?
Goal
The authors wanted to see how a consistent yoga practice affects the diaphragm. They looked at its thickness, how much it moves, how fast it moves, and how long it takes to contract by using ultrasound scans. Could yoga make the diaphragm stronger, so that it works better, and makes it easier to breathe deeply?
Setup
They studied 80 healthy people, half did Ashtanga yoga regularly and the other half didn’t. They measured how thick their diaphragm was when they breathed in as deeply as they could and when they were resting, along with how much and how fast it moved, and how long it took to move during deep breaths. They used ultrasound to measure this because it’s quick, cheap, and safe, and it lets doctors see how the diaphragm moves in real-time.
TITLE: Effects of usual yoga practice on the diaphragmatic contractility: A cross-sectional controlled study
PUBLICATION: Heliyon
DATE: October 2023
AUTHORS: Teresa E. Fernandez-Pardo, Mercedes Furio-Valverde, María García-Arrab, David Valcarcel-Linares, Ignacio Mahillo-Fernandez, German Peces-Barba Romero
Cross-sectional controlled study: A type of research where researchers observe a group of people at one point in time, rather than following them over a period of time. They compare different groups within this population, like people who have a particular habit or characteristic (like exercising regularly) to those who don’t, to see if there are any differences between them.
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