Buteyko Breathing Method May Help Asthmatics

Patients of mine who are asthmatics take a variety of medications and inhalers to help cope with their asthma. But many of them have asked me, "Dr. Lubitz, is there anything else that I can do to help me with my symptoms?"I tell them there are a number of exercise techniques that may help them during an asthma attack or even help them reduce their reliance on medication.I know of one such method that is called Buteyko Breathing Therapy (BBT). It was developed by a Ukranian physiologist, Konstantin Buteyko in 1952. Basically, he observed that when sufferers of asthma have an asthma attack, they hyperventilate thus triggering a response of gasping for air. Adds Jane E. Brody in an interesting article in the New York Times that asthmatics "breathe too fast and too deeply and through the mouth and this lowers the level of carbon dioxide in the blood and that the airways constrict to conserve it. They don't realize that too much air can be harmful to health and trigger a bronco spasm."The Buteyko method takes a different approach. Jane E. Body explains that the method trains people --especially during asthma attack--"to breathe shallowly and slowly through the nose, breaking the vicious cycle of rapid, gasping breaths, airway constriction and increased wheezing."A study in the UK, published in December in 2003 for the British journal Thorax, tested 384 asthmatic adults who practiced the Buteyko method. The findings stated that these patients reduced their reliance on rescue inhalers and halved their need for steroids within six months. The British Thoracic Society has given the Buteyko method a "B" rating, meaning that positive results of the trials are likely due to the breathing method itself.Other support for Buteyko--albeit qualified-- comes from the National Asthma Council's Asthma Management Handbook, an Australian publication from that country's asthma association. It states that "controlled studies have found that Bueyko breathing can help improve symptoms and reduce the use of reliever medicines in some people. However, these studies did not show that Buteyko breathing altered carbon dioxide levels or measures of airway inflammation or lung function."It is recommended by many medical associations and physicians that people should not start practicing the Buteyko technique on their own, but train under the supervision of a trained professional.There are Buteyko centers and practitioners around the world. Buteyko Center USA is the North American representative of the Buteyko Clinic in Moscow and is headquartered in Woodstock, NY.People suffering from asthma, however, are advised that any new treatment or exercise should be cleared after consulting a qualified allergist who will determine its efficacy based on the patient's symptoms.To learn more, visit http://www.nycallergydoctor.com/allergy