Harmonia Therapy Featured in Advance for Nurses

Last year we featured Buddy Wakefield and his innovate approach to respiratory therapy - teaching patients how to play a harmonica.

Since then, harmonica therapy has taken off among the pediatric patients at the Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai. Blowing in and out on the instrument, and learning to play simple songs like "Jingle Bells," strengthens the child's ability to use diaphragmatic breathing, and likely increases the muscles used to inhale and exhale.

"The harmonicas are way more fun for the children than the incentive spirometers are," said Pat Moloney-Harmon, MS, RN, CCNS, FAAN, told Advance for Nurses. The magazine recently featured the program at Sinai.

To learn more about the Children's Hospital at Sinai, call 410-601-WELL (9355).

Proper Nutrition for Lung Health

by Jason Bosley-Smith, CSCS, Live Well @ LifeBridge

Studies abound that support the benefit of healthy dietary measures and their positive influence on respiratory health, but can a lack of healthy nutrients lead to respiratory illness and disease?

It's National Respiratory Care Week and tomorrow is Lung Health Day, so there's never been a better time to look at the link between nutrition and healthy lungs. A study conducted by researchers for the journal Chest (2007; 132, 238–45), looked at a group of 2,112 high-school seniors from 13 different communities in the United States and Canada. The investigation focused on the association between low dietary nutrient intakes and pulmonary function/respiratory symptoms in the teens.

Low dietary fruit intake and low intake of omega-3 fatty acids were both associated with higher rates of the symptoms of chronic bronchitis. Low intakes of omega-3 fatty acids also increased wheezing and asthma among the teens.

“Adolescents with the lowest dietary intakes of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory micronutrients had lower pulmonary function and increased respiratory symptoms, especially among smokers, suggesting that adequate dietary intake may promote respiratory health and lessen the effects of oxidative stress,” the researchers concluded.

The findings are not surprising. The overall health benefits of nutrients found in fruits, vegetables and omega-3-rich foods such as wild salmon and walnuts has been well-established. The interesting piece is the actual affect on respiratory processes and resulting impact on disease symptoms. While physical activity is a major contributor to enhanced cardiorespiratory health, nutrition should also be taken into consideration when seeking to improve or maintain lung health.

Based on the findings, there are a few simple steps you can take to ensure you consume proper nutrition for healthy lung support:

• Eat a variety of colorful fresh fruits and vegetables DAILY. Try having a fruit and/or vegetable with EVERY meal and for snacks. Any fruit/vegetable will suffice, and you can never “over eat” fruits and veggies.
• Consume omega-3 rich foods with your meals. Opt for those foods highest in DHA and EPA such as wild alaskan salmon (and other cold-water fish), walnuts, flaxseed and omega-3 enriched eggs.

Better Breathing Through Music

Learning how to play “Jingle Bells” on the harmonica may do more than lift your spirits – it may also be the key to better breathing.

Sinai Hospital respiratory therapists, with harmonica player Buddy Wakefield, presented “Tune into Better Breathing” Thursday to Sinai staff members, including pediatric residents. A harmonica and elementary music book were provided to participants.

“Playing the harmonica is like doing push-ups for your lungs,” Wakefield, 86, told the crowd. He is pictured above demonstrating the techniques for playing. As a long-time musician, Wakefield became interested in the therapeutic powers of the harmonica when his brother Fred had end-stage Parkinson’s disease. Wakefield worked with his brother’s speech therapy group to teach breathing techniques. From there, he realized playing the harmonica helps with pursed-lip and diaphragmatic breathing, and research suggests it can strengthen the muscles needed to inhale and exhale.

Performance Improvement/Education Coordinator Ann Ludwig in Sinai Hospital’s Respiratory Therapy Department said the harmonica involves many of the techniques therapists use with pediatric patients, with children often responding more positively.

“All of our therapies are not fun – this is,” she said. “This incorporates many of the same things, like pursed breathing, but it gives you a happy feeling. It lifts the spirits.”

Participants like Sharon Rossi, R.N., M.S.N., the director of patient care services in Women and Children's Services, pictured at left, quickly picked up the tools used to play the harmonica.

Wakefield has worked with the American Parkinson Disease Association, the American Lung Association, and the Asthma Foundation, taking his instructional lessons across the country.

To learn more about Sinai Hospital’s pediatric programs, click here.