http://www.normalbreathing.com/retraining-refer-Russian.php”

I scanned the list and it looks like mostly conference proceedings and a few (mostly) obscure journals. Which don’t count for much. None of the publications is indexed in PubMed.

The paper is widely cited by Buteyko advocates, but is remarkably elusive.

For example, why does the article discuss effects of acute hyperventilation (respiratory alkalosis) and pH changes, while it is known that blood pH returns back to normal 7.4 sooner or later depending on its intensity, sleep and other factors.

Buteyko is about addressing CHRONIC hyperventilation. Do sick people breathe too much? Consider western medical evidence about breathing in the sick:
http://www.normalbreathing.com/index-Table1.php

About clinical trials. Less than 10% of patients were able to achieve normal breathing parameters in those Buteyko trials due to restrictions imposed by supervising doctors (they could not tape their mouth at night, they could not exercise more, etc. etc.). More freedom (final breathing parameters of patients were closer to the medical norm) was possible only during Glasgow clinical trial.

“Nurse, Jill McGowan, led the world’s largest clinical trial to measure the effects of the Buteyko method (breathing retraining exercises in conjunction with conventional asthma management). 384 of the initial 600 participants (64%) completed the trial…
Those patients who were taught the Buteyko Institute Method all experienced significant improvement in asthma, with reduced symptoms, reduced medication and improvement in quality of life:
- asthma symptoms decreased by an average of 98%;
- use of reliever inhalers decreased by an average of 98%;
- use of preventor inhalers decreased by an average of 92%.”

McGowan J, Health Education: Does the Buteyko Institute Method make a difference? Thorax, 58, Suppl. III, p. 28 December 2003.

50 times less medication for about 400 asthmatics is not a bad result.

By the way, a UK-certified medical nurse, University of Glasgow lecturer, and Buteyko practitioner Jill McGowan, a former almost life-long asthmatic, sold her house, thanks to drug companies, in order to organize this trial.

The article claims: “Buteyko himself never published a single paper” Here you can find over 60 Buteyko’s publications:

http://www.normalbreathing.com/retraining-refer-Russian.php

You may find tens of western studies related to breathing and heart disease, asthma, diabetes, a clinical trial on metastasized breast cancer clinical trial I just translated (5-fold reduction in 3-year mortality for breathing normalization group), etc.

The similarities to the lone persecuted founders of other Altie healing modalities like Hahneman or DD Palmer are interesting. What is it with Alties and the cult of personality?

Breathing deeply does a few things in the bosdy, as mentioned. Without getting a good hold on this physiology, anyone certainly could believe they have stumbled upon something profound and unknown.

First, as mentioned, is CO level. The brain detects low CO and produces the panicky sensation — as you swim underwater, you feel the urgency to surface and breathe. No big deal.

There is a nervous system feedback loop from the diaphragm to the brain – when you breathe deeply, it is one input helping the brain determine whether it should shift out of sympathetic-activiation mode, and get into parasympathetic mode. Various types of info are used to determine whether it is OK to go ahead and relax after being panicked. This includes soothing social support, calming self-talk, deep breathing, focusing attention on something non-alarming, etc. These all help end the panicky episode. Along with this info, shifting from reflex/automatic mode (hippocampus/amygdala) to thoughtful evaluation (frontal lobe) gets control of the automatic brain activity – we are humans, with a frontal lobe, so let’s use it.

“Environmental Illness” / “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity” had it heyday, and people still believe in this – including the theory that a body can get overloaded to the brim with “environmental toxins,” and so any bit more sets the body into overload – like a full rain barrell – add one drop and you have overload. This was one physiological explanation for EI / MCS.

Unfortunately, per the analogy, if you emptied the barrel a great deal, you should greatly increase the capacity to cope with fume exposure without having the body go into major freak-out in response to the ‘poisoning.’

So, another theory had to be invoked to preserve the belief in IE / MCS. After all, the centers to treat this were popping up all over – at least in Canada. So, the “kindling” theory was developed: over-exposure sets the body to have a great hair-trigger sensitivity to whatever noxious fumes – there is always kindling, waiting for some fuel to immediately make the fire flare up royally from the smoldering kindle. Like gas thrown on coals barely glowing.

Since that flurry of activity in the journals, it was determined that noxious smells (the EI / MCS sensitivity to exhaust, perfume, etc.) were being classically conditioned to invoke a panicky response – leading to shallow breathing and other symptoms. Nausea, ffatigue, etc., can be classically conditioned. The experiments were elegant, showing that the simple belief that indetectable levels of noxious chemical fumes (presnted in some conditions, not presented in others) were being presented could trigger the “kindling effect.”

An evidence-based picture is emerging that asthmatics also get classically conditioned to have a panicky breathing response in reaction to subtle triggers. Asthmatics can reduce the severity and the time of attacks with deep-breathing – like Creosote says, above.

Never underestimate the power of breathing. If you want to pay a lot of money and call it Kriya or whatever, and believe that you are getting in touch with the cosmos, go ahead. Best to just work with a psychotherapist well trained in the behavioral techniques, learn these, and be in control for the rest of your life.

Take some yoga lessons – the deep breathing forces your body to use back muscles, not stomach muscles, to support your body in various poses, and your back will get a lot stronger from poses-plus-leaving-abdomen-free-to-move-with-breath, rather than moving as we typically do – favoring the back muscles. Of course, this takes the mystique out of yoga, so make sure to take lessons with a person trained in India, and make sure to play that faux-riental massage music for maximum effect.

Given the most charitable interpretation and taken at face value, these studies imply that BBT can alter a patient’s perception of their symptoms, and perhaps prevent overuse of asthma medications.

As an asthmatic myself, I strongly believe that isn’t just a charitable interpretation — I think that’s exactly what was going on in the studies. Objective measures were unchanged in study after study. Only the *subjective* measures improved, specifically, the ones reported by the patients themselves, for that is what is being tracked when recording rescue inhaler use. If the patient perceives problems breathing, the patient will use their inhaler. This method may allow them to get through subclinical episodes of shortness of breath without reaching for the albuterol.

What would be interesting to compare is use of a peak flow meter. I use mine religiously, and do not use my albuterol unless my peak flow rate drops at least 50 l/min. This is an objective measure, but not a blinded one — it depends on how hard I breathe, and I could unconsciously skew the results. But I wonder how widespread peak flow meter use really is. Do many asthmatics actually carry a meter, as I do, and use it before taking the rescue inhaler? I’ve found that many times when I feel short of breath, the peak flow meter reveals I don’t actually need the albuterol. A placebo like this breathing exercise might do the same thing, but trick the patients into thinking they’ve actually made themselves better. That’s a bit worrying.

As medicine it’s…well, it reminds me of that old Saturday Night Live skit where the punchline is “It’s a dessert topping! No, it’s a floor wax! No, it’s BOTH!” But in this case according to their website, apparently one can find symptomatic relief of mild asthma symptoms AND relief from “frequent urination, especially at night.” Who could pass up a deal like this?

Windriven: More importantly, how are they able to to convince others that their alternate view of reality is correct despite all evidence to the contrary?

PM We have the information needed to answer these questions, but while our focus is upon a “working better than placebo” model of medical practice and upon “the science” (as we see it) it is more of a mystery than it needs to be.

Our preoccupation with these matters is reasonable until it prevents us observing that while the mainstream tries to base its clinical practice on scientific knowledge, “alternative” medical practice is completely different. Here theory is sustained entirely by clinical experience, but without ever having a finally settled form.

Recall how the chiropractic subluxation has been able to redefine itself into circular meaninglessness, while sustaining quack claims with the catch cry of “It works!”. Look how the energy medicine enthusiasts reassured themselves with mere words: “intentionality”, “interconnectedness” and “quantum consciousness” once skeptics started demanding support for core tenets. The ” toxins” of Naturopathy will probably never have to look to mysticism for sustenance, as who can deny that we are all constantly exposed to tiny (in reality, mostly insignificant) quantities of toxic chemicals?

We can look to other areas of scientific knowledge for the explanation. We already know, or should know, that simple, generic models of medical practice can be successful in many ways, irrespective of the intrinsic efficacy of any treatments used. It relies upon an instinctive collusion between patient and practitioner towards getting better or at least seeming to get better, and some powerful illusions arising from the nature of some illnesses, including various placebo influences.

Where is the mystery?

In fact, in anyone who is in a panic, the suggestion to breathe more slowly and deeply is probably a good one. Practising this type of breathing regularly (for example through relaxation or meditation techniques) may help you utilise it when under stress and likely to hyperventilate. But does that make it Buteynko method?

If I counsel a labouring woman who is tachypnoeic, possibly due to anxiety, to focus on slowing her breathing – am I advocating Buteynko method? (I hope not).