Breath taking news?

A NEW drug free treatment for asthma which runs contrary to the established medical approach is currently gaining ground. Known as the Buteyko method, it involves asthmatics' learning breathing correction techniques which allow them to reduce their asthma medication substantially and control asthma attacks through shallow breathing.

"Asthma is a breathing disorder and all asthmatics suffer from chronic hyperventilation," says Sasha Stalmatsky, a Buteyko method practitioner who trained with Prof Buteyko, the medical doctor who began developing this technique in Russia 20 years ago.

According to Prof Buteyko, asthmatics breathe in about 15 litres of air a minute as compared to the norm of five litres. Contrary to popular belief and to much of the established theory on asthma, Buteyko discovered that deep breathing has a counterproductive effect on asthma in that it upsets the ratio of oxygen to carbon dioxide in the body.

Buteyko's research found that the body's need for carbon dioxide to allow the correct release and retention of oxygen in the blood is seriously underfunded through chronic overbreathing. Thus, only by breathing less deeply will the correct amount of carbon dioxide become available to allow the optimum levels of oxygen to reach the bodily organs and dilate the bronchial tubes.

Over a series of five 180 minute daily workshops, Buteyko practitioners teach the asthmatic the techniques of shallow nasal breathing. Then, over time and with practice, the asthmatic continues to breathe in this shallow way which prevents overstraining and thus prevents asthma attacks. Simply doing some shallow breathing exercises can, with practice, according to Stalmntsky, counteract an asthma attack.

Joan Goldenberg (53) had been dealing with her asthma in the conventional way until she went to a series of Buteyko workshops in London last April. "I was taking more than 20 shots of reliever medication and six shots of preventative daily," she explains.

"All asthmatics are taught to breathe deeply and slowly in conventional asthma treatment whereas the Buteyko method teaches the opposite. With some persuasion I went along to the workshops and learned the breathing techniques and since then, life has been wonderful.

"The Buteyto method isn't a cure. I will always have asthma but since I've done the course, I've saved myself from about 6,000 shots of drugs.

"The psychological reliance on medication is the hardest thing to overcome - although I did go out once without my medication and when I felt an attack coming on, I practised my shallow breathing, and it went away," she adds.

Tina Deegan (17) has suffered from asthma for three years. Before she went to the Buteyto workshops, she was taking her preventative medication twice daily and her reliever medication a few times a week. Now, she rarely has to take her relievers. "When I went to the workshop, I was told I was breathing for six people," she says. "I learned how to breathe in and out through my nose only and to control my breathing with pauses," she explains.

"And if you find you breathe through your mouth at nighttime, they recommend that you tape your mouth up. I did this and it has helped tremendously. I find it makes such a difference to the whole day. I'm bouncing with energy. If I feel a bit tight (chested), I do the exercises and it goes."

"In the beginning I found the exercises very difficult but I was determined to do it. Now I have slipped into the routine of shallow breathing all the time and I only need to do the exercises twice a day," she adds.

The Buteyko method is still viewed with scepticism among many medical professionals and asthma societies. "The bottom line is anything that helps is welcome but asthma is so variable it is very difficult to prove what causes improvement, says Geralyn Hynes, Asthma Society nurse. "We wouldn't advise people not to try the Buteyko method but to stay on the medication while doing so."

However, scientific trials in Australia - funded by the Association of Asthma Foundations there - compared a control group which received standard asthma medication with a Buteyko group over 12 weeks. At the end of the trials, the Buteyko group had reduced its reliance on bronchodilators by 90 per cent and steroids by 40 per cent while the control group showed no reduction in medication.

Stalmatsky concedes that not all sufferers can discontinue their medication following the workshops. "Children are easier to, treat because they have better metabolic processes and their lungs are not so damaged. It is more complicated with patients who have suffered a lung collapse or steroid deficiency, "he says.

The Buteyko method is also used for other problems linked to hyperventilation such as sinusitis, eczema, panic attacks, snoring and sleep apnoea.