Alternative therapies in health and medicine
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Altern Ther Health Med · May 2011
Controlled Clinical TrialProspective trial of equine-assisted activities in autism spectrum disorder.
Anecdotal reports and some studies suggest that equine-assisted activities may be beneficial in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). ⋯ These results suggest that children with ASD benefit from equine-assisted activities.
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Altern Ther Health Med · May 2011
Effect of a single-session meditation training to reduce stress and improve quality of life among health care professionals: a "dose-ranging" feasibility study.
The primary aim of the study was to assess the feasibility of incorporating a single-session meditation-training program into the daily activities of healthy employees of a tertiary-care academic medical center. The study also assessed the most preferred duration of meditation and the effect of the meditation program on perceived stress, anxiety, and overall quality of life (QOL). ⋯ This pilot study indicates the feasibility of teaching meditation in a single training session to health care employees. The study shows that 15 minutes once or twice a day is the most feasible duration of meditation practice. The study also provides promising preliminary efficacy data of this program for improving stress, anxiety, and QOL.
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Altern Ther Health Med · May 2011
Relationship between dysfunctional breathing patterns and ability to achieve target heart rate variability with features of "coherence" during biofeedback.
Heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback is a self-regulation strategy used to improve conditions including asthma, stress, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Respiratory muscle function affects hemodynamic influences on respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and HRV and HRV-biofeedback protocols often include slow abdominal breathing to achieve physiologically optimal patterns of HRV with power spectral distribution concentrated around the 0.1-Hz frequency and large amplitude. It is likely that optimal balanced breathing patterns and ability to entrain heart rhythms to breathing reflect physiological efficiency and resilience and that individuals with dysfunctional breathing patterns may have difficulty voluntarily modulating HRV and RSA. The relationship between breathing movement patterns and HRV, however, has not been investigated. This study examines how individuals' habitual breathing patterns correspond with their ability to optimize HRV and RSA. ⋯ Dysfunctional breathing patterns are associated with decreased ability to achieve HRV patterns that reflect cardiorespiratory efficiency and autonomic nervous system balance. This suggests that dysfunctional breathing patterns are not only biomechanically inefficient but also reflect decreased physiological resilience. Breathing assessment using simple manual techniques such as the MARM and Hi Lo may be useful in HRV biofeedback to identify if poor responders require more emphasis on correction of dysfunctional breathing.