Are you one of the millions struggling with Long COVID? Ongoing symptoms, such as breathlessness, fatigue, joint pain, and memory loss, are a few of the symptoms facing Long COVID patients. 

In an effort to relieve breathlessness in Long COVID, researchers investigated a breathing program called the English National Opera (ENO) Breathe. Read more about the program and the researchers’ findings. 

What is the ENO Breathe program?

Research has previously seen improvements in breathing with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients using singing techniques. This led ENO members, alongside medical clinicians, to create an online well-being and breathing program to treat breathlessness in Long COVID. The ENO Breathe program retrains a person’s breathing, and helps control anxiety, using singing techniques. 

The program includes:

• An initial consultation to establish the program’s suitability for each participant
• A six-week online workshop in breathing, warm-up, and vocal techniques, led by a professional singer
• Digital audio and video resources to support participants between workshop sessions

What did researchers discover?

Researchers analyzed the program’s effects through patient surveys and reliable scales designed to measure breathlessness. The results were mixed. Some tests showed improvements in certain aspects of breathlessness and mental well-being, while other tests for breathlessness did not show measurable benefits. 

What is the takeaway? 

Breathlessness is a complex symptom that can be affected by various outside factors and is difficult to measure. Moreover, patients in this study received regular routine care from their physicians and joined the ENO Breathe program as a non-medical intervention. The program was also delivered during lockdown and reduced service access. These limitations could have led to the researchers’ inconsistent findings.

Ultimately, the ENO Breathe program can likely help some patients as an additional therapy. Researchers state, “[…] ENO Breathe provides a flexible and suitable strategy for managing some of the lasting symptoms of COVID-19. Access to this intervention can provide health-care professionals with a useful tool to aid recovery and can supplement routine care.”

*Daynes, E. (2022). Treating COVID-19-related breathlessness with novel interventions. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2213-2600(22)00161-8