The Life of Breath: breathing in cultural, clinical and lived experience. (360G-Wellcome-103339_Z_13_Z)

Breathing is a basic physiological process but also has deep cultural, spiritual and personal meaning. It connects our inner and outer physical realms via the air drawn into and expelled from the lungs. It is unique in being under autonomic control but having some conscious override. Breathing is associated with our state of mind and can also be voluntarily controlled; it plays a central role in cultural and spiritual practices like meditation. Breathing's pathological derivative, breathlessness , is a major symptom in both respiratory and cardiac disease, and in anxiety disorders. Whilst its physiology is well recognised, the subjective experiences of breathing and breathlessness are understudied and poorly understood. This project is motivated by the view that breathing and breathlessness can only be understood fully by drawing on both biomedical information and on cultural, literary, historical and phenomenological research. We propose to study breathing and breathlessness through a range of humanities disciplines, and use the outcomes to inform medical practice. This innovative humanities perspective, alongside empirical research, will enhance the medical understanding of breathlessness. The project will contribute to our knowledge of this common symptom and will inform medical approaches to preventing and treating diseases for which breathlessness is the primary symptom. Our clinical focus will be Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), soon to be the third leadi ng cause of death worldwide. The goal of the project is to use medical humanities research outcomes to inform medical interventions in diseases in which breathlessness is a key symptom.