Willamette Student Researcher Thumbs Nose at Breathe Right
Strips You see them all the time, athletes and weekend warriors
alike sporting those adhesive strips on their noses.
Professional athletes like football great Jerry Rice do
television commercials for Breathe Right Nasal strips, claiming
the funny looking pieces of adhesive worn across the bridge of
the nose help them breathe easier, run faster and play better.
Are the claims true? Do those little adhesive nasal strips
really improve athletic performance? Maybe not, says Gregory
Boggs, a student researcher at Willamette. "The makers of Breath
Right Nasal strip claim that you can breathe easier with their
product," says Boggs. "But how do you define breathing easier? I
measured one of the best physiological indicators of exercise
performance and found the strips didn't improve performance."
Boggs, a senior majoring in exercise science, won a $2,500
Carson Grant, a prestigious competitive award given to students
who want to research an original idea or a