Valsalva Ratio
The Valsalva Ratio is a measure of the response of your heart to the way you breathe.
Interestingly, it tells you whether diabetes has affected your nerves.
So what is the connection?
Antonio Salva was an Italian scientist. Credited with several scientific insights, the Valsalva doctrine and maneuver are named after him.
The first is the understanding that your right brain controls the left part of your body and vice versa.
The Valsalva maneuver is used to test circulatory function and regulate heart beat. In this procedure, you pinch your nose, close your mouth, and breathe out forcefully as though you are blowing into a balloon.
Your goal is to blow the balloon as much as possible with one exhalation.
But we want to understand its effect on the heart.
When your breathing pattern changes, it affects the way your heart beats. We can measure the change in the rate of the heartbeat when this happens.
The ratio then is the highest heart beat, divided by the lowest heart beat when exhaling forcefully. Healthy people have a ratio of at least 1.1 or more.
Here is where it gets interesting.
The ratio can tell you whether you were getting adequate blood flow throughout your body.
Poor blood flow affects the nerves, creating neuropathy. Neuropathy is a condition where the nerves in your body have too much or no sensation.
Pain, tingling, swelling or muscle weakness are common sensations.
There are many factors that affect this procedure. Age, medication and the condition of your heart. Beta blockers and medication for hypertension affect the values that you get.
You should ideally never do this procedure on your own without medical intervention. Someone with a weak heart can trigger an adverse response.
The amazing thing?
The way you breathe affects your heart, which affects your blood flow, which affects the way your nervous system functions, which affects how your blood sugar is affecting your body.
It is not for nothing that they say breath is Prana.
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