Patent ID: 8509902

Claim:
A medical device for providing breathing therapy comprising: monitoring apparatus configured to monitor one or more physiological parameters of a patient; a therapy delivery module configured to deliver electrical stimulation to a patient in which the presence of a temporary or sustained elevated sympathetic tone has been determined, wherein the elevated sympathetic tone is determined based at least on an elevated blood pressure; and a control module configured to: determine at least the inspiration phase of one or more breathing cycles based on the monitored physiological parameters; and control delivery of a plurality of breathing therapy sessions, wherein each of the breathing therapy sessions is provided during a defined time period, and further wherein each of the plurality of breathing therapy sessions comprises delivering stimulation after the start of the inspiration phase of each of a plurality of breathing cycles to prolong diaphragm contraction during the breathing cycle, wherein the therapy module is further configured for delivering cardiac stimulation, wherein the control module is configured to control delivery of cardiac pacing to the patient based on predefined ratios of breathing rate to heart rate.