Nov 7, 2007

Asthma Sufferers, Hold Your Breath

Posted in Health at 4:00 pm by David Bradley -- 5 Comments; add your comment

As someone who developed exercise-induced bronchospasm (mild asthma) only after coming up to Cambridge, having never suffered in childhood, I was rather disappointed to find myself on first one inhaler then a second. The discovery of breathing techniques that helped me control my reliance on bronchodilators, such as Salbutamol, has come as something of a breath of fresh air. Although saying that cold, fresh air is one of the triggers for an asthma episode as fellow sufferers will know.

Anyway, asthma sufferers everywhere could benefit from breathing exercises, known as the Buteyko Method, that allow them to regain control of their breath, reduce wheezing and breathlessness, and in time cut down on their reliance on inhaled medication. When I mentioned these techniques to my GP during a general checkup, he confessed that before inhalers were available, breathing exercises were all that he and his fellow practitioners could prescribe for mild attacks. What goes around, comes around it seems.

Of course, when I mentioned Buteyko to my wife, who is a yoga instructor, she pointed out that they are nothing new. In fact, such breathing exercises and methods that help you breathe through your nose rather than your mouth have been known for centuries among students of yoga.

Across the UK more than 5 million people suffer the potentially debilitating effects of asthma, and many millions more around the world. Diagnosis is usually straightforward and most sufferers are prescribed one or both of two kinds of inhaler - an inhaler to reduce symptoms (Salbutamol, for instance) and another to reduce the underlying inflammation in the lungs (something like beclomethasone).

The Buteyko Method, developed during the 1950s in Russia by Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko involves primarily learning to control one’s breathe and to breathe through the nose, something that many asthma sufferers fail to do, especially when sleeping. It also represents a breathing exercise regime that involves breath-holding, relaxation and other techniques akin to the pranayama breathing exercises of yoga and related practices. Of course, the word pranayama has its roots in Sanskrit and means literally “controlling the life force”.

The Buteyko Method is apparently based on some scientific evidence that suggests many asthma sufferers “over breathe” and so trigger their own symptoms by causing constriction of the airways and increased mucus production in the lungs. There are conflicting reports that suggest it’s baloney but others have found evidence that Buteyko’s concept of raising CO2 levels in the blood by reducing the depth of breathing in asthma does have a beneficial physiological effect.

The basics of Buteyko are discussed in a recently launched DVD from GP Dr James Oliver and Buteyko practitioner and yoga instructor Janet Brindley.

Their instructions boil down to five golden rules for asthma sufferers:

1. Breathe through your nose
2. Take control of your breathing
3. Control your symptoms
4. Look after yourself
5. Use your medication effectively

   You are best advised to talk to your GP about the potential of Buteyko for you and at the very least to take adhere strictly to Rule 5. Whatever you
   do,
   do not
   abandon your medicationWhatever you do, do not abandon your medication. I’ve been using the basic fast-relief tips that are outlined in an information sheet published by Brindley and previously available on Sciencebase, for a couple of years to great effect. I now rarely use my reliever inhaler, although am still on the standard dose of twice-daily beclomethasone. Persistence may eventually free me from that drug too. Your mileage may vary.

   UPDATE I recently switched to Simbicort a combined steroid and bronchodilator, much better, thanks for asking.

   

   

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