Efficacy of Diaphragmatic Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation on Functional Capacity and Pulmonary Function in Heavy Twenties Smokers

Overview

Although research on the health risks of e-cigarettes is still limited, there is increasing evidence of debilitating lung disease and general immune dysfunction from e-cigarettes, leading to various infections. Moreover, there are concerns that e-cigarettes can cause general impairment in life functions and more importantly lung function .Although exercise can help quit smoking and reduce relapses .However, exercise has many other fitness benefits when done regularly for the general population, as well as for smokers. Exercise has been shown to help with smoking cessation, which has been an important factor preventing many smokers, especially younger people, from quitting. Breathing exercises, especially diaphragm exercises improves lung function, lifestyle and health risk factors and thus the risk of developing many chronic diseases. Both aerobic interventions and exercise can reduce the incidence of many of the prevalent cancers initiated by smoking, such as lung cancer. This is important because lung cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide, and cigarette smoking is responsible for up to 90% of lung cancer cases worldwide.

According to predictions by the World Health Organization, the number of smokers who will die from cigarette related diseases will surpass the number of people dying from AIDS, traffic accidents, suicide, and murder combined by 2020. Due to the presence of various harmful substances in cigarettes, smoking can cause many diseases. Nicotine which is one of the major constituents of cigarettes causes arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other problems that result not only in low cardiopulmonary function but also in relatively diminished daily living ability and endurance in smokers compared with that in non-smokers. Moreover, it is common knowledge that smoking is very highly correlated with occurrence of respiratory diseases. Diaphragmatic breathing is a good technique for respiration and relaxation of the lungs because it enables sufficient exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Diaphragmatic breathing is reported to be effective in improvement of ventilation efficiency, dyspnea, and activity ability; reduction of metabolic acidosis; alleviation of back pain; spine correction; abdominal strengthening; and improvement of body composition and flexibility. In our current social climate, the number of male smokers in their twenties is rapidly increasing and this trend is becoming a social problem. Our study attempts to verify the effects of diaphragmatic proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation on functional capacity and pulmonary functions in in heavy twenties smokers.