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November/December 2008 Alternative Health
Asthma-Free Naturally

by Patrick McKeown

Take a breath now, and think about it carefully.

Breathing is the elixir of life. More than that, breathing is life. We humans can live without water for days and without food for weeks, but we cannot live without air for more than a few minutes.

Think about how we Westerners view food and water: we know that the quantity and quality of food and water we consume determines our state of health. We know that having too little means starvation or dehydration, and that too much leads to obesity and other health problems.

Why then does the quantity and quality of our breathing receive so little attention? Surely breathing, which is so immediately essential to life, must meet certain conditions? Why have other cultures, particularly in the Eastern world, recognized the importance of correct breathing to health for thousands of years, when we clearly don't?

What is Asthma?

The term asthma is a Greek translation of gasping or panting, and the problem was treated as far back as 2000 B.C. by Chinese doctors with the herb ma huang. The ?rst known recording of the symptoms was about 3,500 years ago in an ancient Egyptian manuscript called Ebers Papyrus. Throughout the ages, asthma has received varying degrees of attention - the symptoms and their accompanying anxiety have been described by many prominent historical ?gures, including the famous Greek physician, Hippocrates.

Asthma now affects more people throughout the world, particularly in more developed countries, than at any other time in evolution. It's estimated that as many as 300 million people of all ages and all ethnic backgrounds suffer from asthma. The burden of this disease on governments, health care systems, families and patients continues to increase worldwide.

According to the Global Initiative for Asthma, the countries with the highest rates of asthma were the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. The United States was ranked 15th with nearly 11 percent of the population suffering from clinical asthma.

In the Western world, asthma crosses all class, race, geography and gender boundaries. Although it causes persistent symptoms among 70 percent of all people diagnosed with it, asthma causes only minor discomfort to the majority. In fact, some of the most in?uential people of our time in all walks of life were asthmatic, including Russian Tzar Peter the Great, actors Liza Minnelli, Jason Alexander and Elizabeth Taylor, revolutionary Che Guevara, and former U.S. presidents John F. Kennedy, Calvin Coolidge and Theodore Roosevelt. All these have lived life to the full or are still living it.

You can take control of your asthma by knowing what medicines to take, how much and when to take them. It is also important to avoid things that trigger your asthma and know what to do if your symptoms get worse.

The Buteyko Method

Another option that has become very popular in Europe and Australia is based on the life's work of Russian medical doctor Konstantin Buteyko. The premise of the Buteyko Clinic Method is that asthmatics breathe too much air into their lungs. This habit, which can be recognized by breathing through the mouth, upper chest breathing, frequent sighs, regular sniffing and large bodily movements, causes the airways of those with the genetic predisposition toward asthma to constrict.

The Buteyko Method involves:

1. Becoming aware of correct and incorrect breathing.
2. Unblocking the nose using a simple breath hold technique.
3. Switching from mouth breathing to nasal breathing permanently.
4. Learning breathing exercises to correct breathing volume.
5. Adopting small lifestyle changes necessary to assist with this, thus commencing the road to full recovery.

Clinically, overbreathing is known as hyperventilation. Put simply, it means breathing more air than the body requires. In the case of an asthmatic, breathing too much causes cooling, drying of the airways and a loss of carbon dioxide. As a result, smooth muscle constricts, inner walls of the airways swell and increased mucus is secreted. It is a combination of these factors that present symptoms such as wheezing, coughing and breathlessness. In addition, an asthmatic may also experience frequent chest infections and colds.

The Buteyko Method has been subject to six independent trials all of which are published in respected medical journals. Average results illustrate a significant improvement to quality of life, a 90 percent reduced need for reliever medication along with a 50 percent reduction of preventer steroid in three to six months.

Overbreathing is a habit whereby the body has become accustomed to breathing too much. Like all habits, it can be reversed through observation of breathing and the practice of simple breathing exercises. Over time through attention to breathing, the volume of air required reduces to more normal amounts, allowing the airways to open.

A quote from Lao Tzu states: "The perfect man breathes as if he does not breathe." Through the Buteyko Method, the individual learns to breathe in a calm, silent and still manner.

Patrick McKeown, M.A., author of Asthma-Free Naturally,was a chronic asthmatic for most of his life, but freed himself from his condition by applying the Buteyko Breathing Method. He is one of a few Western experts accredited and authorized by the late Professor Buteyko. Visit www.buteykoclinic.com. Reprinted with permission from Conari Press, Asthma-Free Naturally by Patrick McKeown is available wherever books are sold or directly from the publisher at 800-423-7087.