Learn to breathe
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted, causing brain cells to be damaged or die. The effects of stroke include paralysis, problems with sight, speech and memory. Strokes also sometimes disrupt different aspects of breath control and can help us to understand it better.
For example, the normal automatic control of breathing may be interrupted after a stroke, so that someone breathes normally while they are awake (and conscious of the need to breathe) but are likely to breathe shallowly, or even stop breathing, while asleep. This is sometimes known as 'Ondine's curse', after a German folktale.
Breath control can be improved by special training, and devices that increase the load on the muscles involved in breathing may help speed recovery.
Some athletes now use inspiratory muscle training devices - which offer resistance to breathing for a short exercise period - to try to improve their performance. There are dangers when healthy people try and do a respiratory 'workout', though: although they will not suffer from too much oxygen, breathing in and out more than usual also reduces the carbon dioxide in the blood.
If this goes too far, as in hyperventilation, it triggers a reduction in blood flow to the brain and can lead to dizziness or fainting. It also makes the blood alkaline, lowering the levels of free calcium in the blood. This can lead to a tingling sensation and muscle spasms.
This article is part of the online content for ‘Big Picture: Exercise, Energy and Movement’.
Image: An illustration from ‘The Breath of Life’ by George Catlin (1862). Credit: Wellcome Library, London.
References
- Types of stroke (American Stroke Association)
- Overview of Ondine’s curse (Medscape)
- Case report of a 55-year-old man who acquired Ondine’s curse after a stroke (Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria)