A university research team is testing the Easy Breather Exercise Table, an exercise table designed to help improve the breathing of COPD patients.
A University of North Carolina Wilmington research team is testing an exercise table for a North Carolina company that hopes the investigational device may help patients with COPD.
“The most exciting thing about this team is that they are coming from all disciplines,” said Justine Reel, associate dean for research and innovation in the College of Health and Human Services and a professor in the School of Health and Applied Human Sciences. Participants since the initial stage have included nursing, exercise health, public health studies and clinical research faculty, along with students from public health, exercise science and social work.
The Easy Breather Exercise Table lays flat and looks stationary, but rocks back and forth when weight is placed upon it. The person on the table raises an attached bar and proceeds to pull up, rocking the table forward in the process. As the person pushes away, the table rocks backward, leaving the feet higher than the head. That motion forces air out of the lungs. Exhaling completely is often difficult for patients with COPD.
Bob Redden, a Southport resident and COPD sufferer, developed the table and found that it helped his symptoms, Reel said, but more testing will be needed to determine its potential to help COPD patients.
Photo Credit: BRADLEY PEARCE/UNCW
