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Can a healthy diet coupled with at-home training improve life with PH?
A recent article on our Pulmonary Hypertension News site found a fascinating study exploring diets and PH.
Patients who incorporated dietary changes and followed educational videos reported a remarkable improvement in their quality of life with PH.
If you’re interested in reading more about this exciting research, read the article “Healthy Diet Coupled with At-Home Training Can Improve Life with PAH.”
We’d love to hear your thoughts on whether dietary changes can enhance your life with PH and if you follow any of the guidelines mentioned in this study.
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5 Replies
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OK. I’ll bite. (So to speak!)
Quality of life is one measure. What about delaying disease progression? Or extending life?
I’m most curious about “at-home training.” I’ve been doing pulmonary rehab for a couple of months, now, and it essentially amounts to being an exercise class. Is that what “at-home training” is? Exercises you do at home?
One of the things I wonder about is whether any PH patients are given instruction in HOW to breathe? I know that sounds odd, but…. What I haven’t learned in pulmonary rehab, I learned from my massage therapist. She told me to put my hands lightly on the outside of my rib cage, arms akimbo. In other words, elbows out. Then, she said, try to expand the girth of your rib cage by breathing in. Imagine a wooden barrel made of slats of wood all bound together. Then imagine inhaling so as to make those slats gently expand and thus separate a tiny bit. When you exhale, the slats go back to fit tightly together. Inhale; slats/rib cage out.
This is not breathing into your belly. And it’s not breathing into the top part of your lungs–shallowly. It’s breathing deep down into your lungs, focusing on expansion and contraction of the rib cage while keep the belly immobile.
When I got the hang of doing this, it really helped me feel like I was able to breathe more fully. More, even, than doing “belly breathing.”
Are these kinds of things EVER taught to PH patients? Is that kind of what “at-home training” is meant to be?
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Hi @brendad53, Yes, I can understand your concern about the progression of PH. Did you happen to click the link in the article and read through the detailed UPHILL study? Here is that link in case you want to read through it. It included several charts and graphs.
The “at home training” was mainly nutritional and educational to help each group learn how to read labels, etc. Of course, py=ulmonray rehab would play a part in this, and I am guessing it yields better results. I would have liked to see a later study including more light exercises.
Interesting that you didn’t learn how to breathe in pulmonary rehab. That was where I worked with a respiratory therapist several times before I started my exercises. Massage therapists are certainly beneficial and I think we often forget how valuable they can be in offering tips on breathing, etc.
Youe explanation of this breathing you were taught is on point! I know others will benefit and can picture it as they work on this technique. Excellent description, my PHriend, thanks for sharing!
P.S. when I read, “Ok, I’ll bite”, it reminded me that it was shark week. Hehe.That’s what channel I leave on for Zoe when I am out at aoppiouintments, etc.
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Please tell me Zoe is not a goldfish. That would be cruel!
🙂
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@brendad53 @jenc reading the comments in reverse was even funnier I think than if I read Jen’s post first.
“Please tell me Zoe is not a goldfish. That would be cruel!” I couldn’t wait to read what Brenda was talking about. Shark Week for Zoe! LOL!!!
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Hi @brendad53 and @colleensteele, y’all have me cracking up so hard! I must find this image I saw about Zoe and Shark Week the other day!
Zoe is not a goldfish; she is an almost 8-month-old mini schnauzer pup.
OK, see if y’all can view this from the link on Pinterest. This is NOT our Zoe.
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