Dear Lynne

I entirely agree with your views regarding the necessity to improves ones lifestyle in order to reduce the need for preventer steroid medication. I was a chronic asthmatic for most of my life until I did the same. I can also tell you that as someone with a vast amount of experience working with asthma sufferers and the author of three books- the most important aspect for any asthmatic to change is their overbreathing.

Overbreathing or chronic hyperventilation is a significant contributor to airway constriction. The results I get from my clinics are a 50% improvement to symptoms within two weeks. I have looked at every option available to asthma from a natural viewpoint and none of them can meet this. Not only that but the Buteyko method with which I work with has been subject to four clinical published trials all concluding a 50% les need for preventer steroid within 3- 6 months. No diet or supplement will ever produce this result.

Overbreathing is causing dehydration and cooling of the airways which makes them very hypersensitive. Remove overbreathing and constrion reverses.

Best wishes

Patrick McKeown

(Ps. enjoyed your book very much. Keep up the good work)    

Lynne McTaggart's recent blog post suggests that conventional medicine's approach to asthma is

That is one amazing study.  I can believe that asthma is a manifestation of a larger problem.  Steriods are definetly being over used now a days.  But doctors don't always treat the cause and only treat the current problem.  We need to learn more about this problems, and at http://www.asthmaallergiestreatment.com you can learn more.

Please look at proffessor Buteyko's breathing techniques. You can even download free information on how it works and how to do it on the net, or see a qualified practitioner. My daughter suffered for years with asthma and hasn't looked back or needed inhalers since. Chronic overbreathing is simple to reverse with practise and drug free and it's been around for years! Obviously doesn't make any money for the drug companies though which is probably why it's not promoted as widely as it should be. I even know of physios who are using it as part of their treatment programs. If you have respiratory problems you owe it to yourself to give it a go. It will speak for itself.

My son had worsening asthma for several years and used a steroid inhaler and took ventolin. we had several trips to A&E and the asthma was affecting ability to play sport. Then, when he was 13, we heard about the Buteyko breathing method and attended a course which ran for five nights. The results were amazing. He never needed ventolin again and was safely weaned off the steroids. That was 11 years ago. He has never had asthma since. It gave him a new, healthy life. I thoroughly recommend Buteyko.

I also used the Buteyko breathing technique for my asthma many years ago and the results are very positive;   it works.  I do keep my Ventolin just in case (psychological crutch) and maybe use it once or twice a year when I get asthma in the middle of the night and am too sleepy to do the breathing exercises.  This only happens during the allergy season and even then so rarely.  

According to this site, Buteyko received official endorsement in Russia in 1985: http://www.breathe-buteyko.com/trials.html . If the method is indeed part of mainstream asthma treatment in Russia, I find the reported relative incidence of asthma mortality in Russia troubling. The 'Global Burden of Asthma', compiled by GINA, gives figures for prevalence of asthma and asthma mortality here: http://www.splf.org/s/thotlib/pub/lib/pdf/GINAsum.pdf . According to this report (see figures 4 and 5), Russia has markedly lower reported prevalence of asthma, being near the bottom of the table, but is second from the top of the asthma mortality ranking, which is shocking. Difficulties in accessing the correct asthma medications are among the reasons suggested for high mortality rates.

To Clair

Method Buteyko is not  part of mainstream asthma treatment in Russia at all.

As for the high asthma mortality in Russia - main cause of this mortality is social conditions, because population of Russia is greatly suffering from an impairment of life conditions for last 20-25 years.

@ SP,

apologies if I'm wrong but this is where I got the idea from: http://www.buteykokent.co.uk/buteykohistory.html :

" Buteyko is a technique, based on well established physiological principles. It was developed by Konstantin Butyeko, a Russian doctor about 50 years ago. It was used in Russia for some time despite orthodox medical resistance, until recent years when it became a part of the national medical system..."

Breathing techniques like Buteyko are attractive to many asthma sufferers because of people's misgivings about taking drugs long-term; however, it is completely inaccurate to say that the Buteyko technique is proven - it isn't - or that "conventional medicine opposes it because it makes no money for the Pharma industry." This latter is a standard new-age /Alt medicine line used <i>ad nauseam</i> to justify belief in alternative therapies for which there is no good evidence-base.

Breathing techniques for asthma have recently been <a href="http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD001277/frame.html">"recently been systemically reviewed by the Cochrane Collaboration</a>, which is a "Gold Standard" of objective evidence-rating. The verdict was that there are some mildly encouraging results, but the evidence is scarce and fragmented, and more, larger, and better set-up trials are needed before we can know one way or the other.

In the meantime, anyone who stops taking their asthma meds without medical advice (from a doctor, not an alternative therapist or media pundit) is doing something foolish and dangerous. By all means try the exercises, but discuss it with a proper healthcare provider, not a new age guru.

A couple of other references: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/24285/ , a study, one of whose  authors(Anne Bruton) is a qualified respiratory physiotherapist and this one, free full text from Chest 2006, looking at the carbon dioxide theory: http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/full/127/5/1808 (Holgate/Bruton).

Like most doctors , Dr Mike Thomas, a GP quoted here in the Guardian ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,2122731,00.html ) allows that it can help some asthmatics to reduce bronchodilator use but there is no evidence of its being a cure:

"If people can be encouraged to use quiet natural diaphragmatic breathing, this may lead to improvements in their asthma control," says Thomas. "There are some extravagant claims made about Buteyko, but good-quality studies do show that it can help people, and mean they are less reliant on their reliever - although there's no evidence that it can cure asthma. Breathing normally is probably why it works." But Buteyko isn't the only breathing exercise regime that might help. "It could be the same with yoga - and there are some people who say that singing is very helpful," says Thomas.

A recent study published in the journal Thorax also showed success in controlling asthma with the Papworth technique - a series of breathing and relaxation exercises which may reduce symptoms by as much as a third. The technique encourages breathing from the abdomen, using the diaphragm, rather than taking rapid, shallow breaths..."

16 years ago at the age of 26, I was diagnosed as being pre-emphysemic.  Using Peak Flows..I had to measure and chart my breathing 4 times a day, was often in the "death zone" and was regularly intubated in Emergency.  Having severe asthma, allergies and eczema for most of my life, my quality of life wasn't overly great. I couldn't go out to places where people smoked..or where there were pets or pollens.  Food additivies set me off.  I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without stopping to rest, couldn't run..and although I swam every day (30-40 laps of an Olympic size pool - it didn't help.  I was on significant doses of Steriods and a plethora of sprays (nasal and oral). I had Ventolin inhalers in every room, bag, car etc (just in case!) I heard about Buteyko from a TV program and wanted to try it as I felt that the more sprays and medications I was taking..the worse I got - yet I couldn't do without them either.  My GP and Lung Specialist at that time were against me trying it, even though Buteyko Practitioners strongly advocate at all times that  you do not stop your medication and continue to work with your GP.  Being a tad sceptical and wary, I commenced the course. Within two days of being on the course, I had dropped my Ventolin intake by over 80%.  Within the first month, I was off most medications, had reduced a preventer spray to one puff a day (from 4) and stopped all Steriods.  16 years on, I don't class myself as asthmatic, I don't have allergies (now have 3 dogs and 2 cats in the house) and very rarely get eczema.   Should I get tight in the chest at any time, I just practice the Buteyko breathing exercises that I learnt and the lungs just open up.  What puzzles me..with the various trials of Butyeko that have been carried out and the resulting evidence of improvement in medication reduction, why anyone would not support it.  There is nothing to lose by anyone giving Butyeko a try.  I tried everything...alternative and conventional medicine cost me a fortune and was just not working!  To those who rabidly oppose it..I'd have to ask "What are YOU afraid of".

I don't think the positions taken in the links I gave earlier can in any sense be construed as rabid opposition, given that they concur that breathing retraining can be of benefit to some asthmatics but find that there is not yet enough robust evidence (as opposed to the anecdotal sort) to make an unequivocal recommendation. I think what people like Dr Aust and myself are concerned about are the extravagant claims made by some for the method, given the insufficient evidence base. It should be borne in mind that asthma takes over 1000 lives annually in the UK, a proportion of these fatal attacks occur in people who are under the impression that their condition is not that serious. Successive inquires into reasons for asthma deaths all highlight failure to take seriously signs of worsening asthma soon enough; suboptimal adherence to prescribed medications is also a factor.

Regarding remission from severe asthma, I can also relate an anecdote. My husband's childhood and youth were dogged by severe asthma; he was also allergic to pollens, house dust mite, pets etc. When we met, over 20 years ago, he used preventers daily and relievers several times a day. But since we have been married (19 years ago) his asthma has dramatically improved to the point where  his per annum usage of his reliever can be counted on the fingers of one hand. This happy state of affairs continues today; he has never done any kind of breathing retraining. I guess it helps that, since we have been able to have our own house, we keep a healty indoor environment - no smoking; no dampness;  hard flooring; leather sofas etc with regular vacuuming and damp dusting and also try our best to eat a good diet (grow vegetables), take enough exercise etc. Like Julie, my husband has been able for some years now to tolerate cats and dogs with no ill effects. He travels a lot for his work but has no problems with different sleeping environments.  However, given that he has degrees in both science and engineering, he is aware that his experience is consistent with what is known of the natural history of asthma. He does not consider himself cured but 'in remission' and remains alert to the signs of deteriorating asthma, which would need medical attention.

I was interested to read the comments about asthma, and I love the way those who advocate the 'new' orthodox medicine have complete trust in it and happily distrust anything 'new-age' or 'alternative'.

I would like to point out that most of the 'new-age' medicine is actually much older than the pharmaceutical type and was used quite successfully for thousands of years. Man's oldest medicine is the plant life around him.

Regarding asthma, in particular, the main remedy required when treating with kinesiology is actually water and vitamin C, which the lungs need in good quantities so it was interesting to read comments about the dehydration effects of hyperventilating. Also asthma can have an emotional cause - as my hypnotherapy practice has shown me.

I am perhaps fortunate in that I have no asthma in my immediate family, but I am convinced that had I taken my youngest son to the doctors with his breathing issues when he was young, instead of to a homeopath, he would most likely have been diagnosed with asthma, and put on steroids. Instead he took the remedies given to me by the homeopath and only needed 2 visits - and has never had any problems since. He is now 16.  

And no, I can't prove it - but have no great need to. My intuition serves me perfectly well.  

Alternative therapists are often very highly trained. They are not 'new-age gurus'. They just happen to be health professionals with an opposing view to probably most, though not all, doctors.

The medical profession excels at disempowering their patients - complementary therapists aim to empower their clients!

There are good and bad in both professions - as everyone knows ....

Our modern medical paradigm has to change, there is little interest in health, medicine is directed by pathology. The consequences are profound; an escalating NHS bill that will mop up a large proportion of our GDP unless medical rationing is introduced, the nearest to health care the system gets is preventative medicine which is by its nature pathology focused i.e. preventing disease not enhancing health, I agree with an earlier comment that we cannot blame the drug companies for the situation, they are simply businesses that have a responsibility to their shareholders, not to society, all clinical trials are based on the gold standard of the double blind trial that is ok to test the effect of say one medicine on one  measured simple disease state but fails miserably to account for patient involvement, complex therapeutic input, changing wellbeing and spirit of the patient, I have already tried to get funding from Glaxo SmithKlein for more Buteyko trials, they declined, it would not really be a responsible thing to do as a business to demonstrate your product was not necessary for many users. Buteyko Method is probably as much a part of mainstream medicine in Russia as osteopathy is here in the UK.  

I am very interested to read all the comments & now I would like to add mine.

With regards to the Buteyko Institute Method (BIM)  ,I have carried out a trial in Glagsgow , & presented the results at several Conferences - The British Thoracic Society Winter Meeting 2003. BIBH 3rd Intertnational Conference Glasgow 2005, World Asthma Conference Istanbul Turkey 2006.

I have just returned from Moscow having visited Professor Buteyko`s Clinic & met with Prof Geppe - she was one of the doctors who participated in the original clinical trial in Moscow , which received Government endorsement for management of asthma & she is about to commence another trial , why ,because now with the change in Power evidence is required , what was done in the past is the old way now it has to be done again in the new way.She is Head of the Pediatric Hospital in Moscow.

Buteyko's method  is mainstream in Russia but since the change in power- Russia is more capitalist than the West & that brings with it all the demons of profit , control, evidence based practice etc.

Austin Bradford Hill , who devised the double blind randomised  control trial - for the British Government , stated " If doctors & nurses rely solely on clinical statistics they will lose their obsevational skills " When did your doctor ,Consultant,Nurse last really look at you ?

I have given up the ghost on the Medics. My background is within that sector as I have been the asthma nurse , the practice nurse,the university lectutrer , who particpted in many trials and undertook every course and study day available on asthma management , and none could give the results that I observed in 48 hours of a Buteyko Institute Method course. I quote BIM because this is the only organisation that regulates practitioners , has code of conduct & standards for clients & practitioners and had Prof Buteyko as Patron when he was alive & the one that I am a member of.

I now focus on teaching children & have a fantastic project underway here in Glasgow , the reason I have achieved this is due to the fact that I have a registration number & can be checked for authenticity at the BIBH.

If you want to find out what I teach visit  www.sleepingallnight.com and view the clips

Keep the debate going and some day Buteyko will be encroached in conventional respiratory management.