The simple breathing trick scientists say may reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease

By James On May 2, 2023

It is one of the cruellest diseases known to man, slowly robbing patients of all their memories until they can no longer function.

But scientists now claim there is a simple trick that can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Simply inhaling for a count of five and then exhaling for the same amount of time can benefit your brain, researchers say.

They found that the breathing exercise — performed twice a day for 20 minutes for four weeks — reduced the amount of a toxic protein called amyloid beta in their blood.

These lumps have been strongly linked to Alzheimer’s disease in recent decades, with neurologists believing they may cause the disease.

Researchers say inhaling for a count of five and then exhaling for the same length of time can benefit your brain if you practice it for 20 minutes a day for four weeks

Toxic proteins called amyloid beta have been strongly linked to Alzheimer’s disease in recent decades, with neurologists believing they may cause the disease

The simple breathing exercise was used in a USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology study.

Researchers believe it has such an effect on toxic protein levels because the way we breathe affects our heart rate, and in turn affects our nervous system and the way our brain produces and clears these toxic proteins.

While we are awake and active, we use our sympathetic nervous system, also known as the “fight or flight” system, to practice, focus and create memories.

While this is activated, there is not much variation in the time between each heartbeat.

But the parasympathetic system causes the heart rate to increase when you inhale and decrease when you exhale.

What is Alzheimer’s?

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain in which the buildup of abnormal proteins causes nerve cells to die.

This disrupts the transmitters that transmit messages and causes the brain to shrink.

More than 5 million people suffer from the disease in the US, where it is the sixth leading cause of death, and more than 1 million Britons have it.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

As brain cells die, the functions they provide are lost.

That includes memory, orientation, and the ability to think and reason.

The progression of the disease is slow and gradual.

Patients live an average of five to seven years after diagnosis, but some may live another ten to fifteen years.

EARLY SYMPTOMS:

Loss of short-term memory
disorientation
Behavioral changes
Mood swings
Difficulty handling money or making phone calls

LATER SYMPTOMS:

Severe memory loss, forgetting close relatives, familiar objects or places
Becoming anxious and frustrated with the inability to understand the world, leading to aggressive behavior
Eventually lose the ability to walk
May have problems with eating
The majority will eventually need 24-hour care

Source: Alzheimer’s Association

Also known as the ‘rest and digest’ system, it helps us calm down and sleep.

Young people, or older people who are very fit, easily switch between these two nervous systems.

But it gets harder to access the parasympathetic system — and heart rate variability — with age.

Studies have shown that the two systems also influence the production and clearance of Alzheimer’s-related peptides and proteins.

But little research has been done on how they might play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.

So the researchers recruited 108 participants between the ages of 18 and 30 and between the ages of 55 and 80 who did the breathing exercise twice a day for 20 minutes while hooked up to a heart monitor connected to a laptop.

Half of the volunteers were told to think of calming thoughts while breathing. At the same time, they were instructed to monitor the heart rate line on the laptop screen and make sure it is as stable as possible.

The other half of the group was told to match their breathing to a pacemaker on the laptop screen monitor, with the aim of increasing their heart rate variability (HRV) – in which the amount of time between their heartbeats fluctuated slightly.

A press release from the university states that it involved inhaling for five counts and exhaling for five counts.

But the study, published in the journal Nature Portfoliosuggests that this group tried five different breathing cycles, up to 13 seconds long, before selecting the rate that most increased the oscillations in their heart rate.

Blood samples were taken from the participants at the start and after four weeks of breathing exercises to monitor amyloid beta-peptide levels in their blood.

Researchers say that increased production or decreased clearance of beta-amyloid in the brain could trigger Alzheimer’s disease.

Analysis also shows that higher levels of beta-amyloid in the blood predicts a risk of developing the disease.

The group that breathed slowly and tried to increase their heart rate variability by increasing oscillations had a reduced level of beta-amyloid in their blood.

Researchers do not yet understand the mechanism behind their findings.

For example, it could be because an increase in heart rate variability results in fewer peptides being produced or the body clearing them better.

Professor Mara Mather, director of the Emotion & Cognition Lab at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, said: ‘Based on the data we have, it seems that the decline in beta-amyloid is more due to reduced production.

“But that doesn’t rule out the possibility of more release.”

The team said their study appears to be the first to find that behavioral interventions can lower levels of amyloid beta peptides in plasma.

Previous research has shown that sleep deprivation and stress can increase beta-amyloid levels, but it has proven more difficult to lower beta-amyloid.

“Regular practice of slow breathing via HRV biofeedback may be a cheap and risky way to lower and maintain plasma amyloid beta levels during adulthood,” added Professor Mather.