A team of scientists claims that a deceptively simple breathing technique could well help reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
Participants in a study were asked to inhale for five seconds before exhaling for another five seconds for a total of 20 minutes, twice a day, for a four-week period.
Following these 20-minute breathing sessions, participants' heart rate variability was seen to increase, while levels of amyloid-beta peptides in their bloodstream notably decreased by the time the four weeks were up.
These peptides have been connected to Alzheimer's for many years, and some experts even believe they may be the cause of this devastating degenerative brain disease.
This study was conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, whose findings have since been published in the scientific journal Nature.
Our heart rate can be affected by the way we breathe, which in turn can impact our nervous system and the way in which our brains produce and clear away proteins.
While awake and on the go, humans will usually use our sympathetic nervous system, often referred to as the “fight or flight” system, which serves all manner of purposes including focusing attention and making memories.
While the sympathetic nervous system is activated, there isn’t much variation in the time between each heartbeat. In contrast, when the parasympathetic system is activated, heart rates increase during inhaling and decrease during exhaling.
By contrast, our parasympathetic nervous system, or the “rest and digest” system, allows us to keep calm down, sleep well and digest food with ease.
In our younger years, our bodies can usually slip between these two systems without much trouble, and our heart rate variation tends to be greater.
This switch back and forth becomes trickier as we age, however, and - unless you're extremely fit - heart rate variation will take a significant nosedive.
Indeed, a 2020 study using smart watches discovered that heart rate variability drops by an average of 80 per cent between the ages of twenty and sixty years old, which could partly explain age-related sleeping difficulties.
Professor Mara Mather, a director at the university's Emotion & Cognition Lab, said: "We know the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems influence the production and clearance of Alzheimer's related peptides and proteins.
"Nevertheless, there's been very little research on how these physiological changes in aging might be contributing to the factors that make it conducive for someone to develop Alzheimer's disease or not."
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