Hyperventilation Treatment

Who requires hyperventilation treatment? Those who breathe more than the medical norms.

Minute ventilation rates (chronic diseases)

Condition	Minute ventilation	Number of people	All references or click below for abstracts
Normal breathing	6 L/min	-	Medical textbooks
Healthy Subjects	6-7 L/min	>400	Results of 14 studies
Heart disease	15 (±4) L/min	22	Dimopoulou et al, 2001
Heart disease	16 (±2) L/min	11	Johnson et al, 2000
Heart disease	12 (±3) L/min	132	Fanfulla et al, 1998
Heart disease	15 (±4) L/min	55	Clark et al, 1997
Heart disease	13 (±4) L/min	15	Banning et al, 1995
Heart disease	15 (±4) L/min	88	Clark et al, 1995
Heart disease	14 (±2) L/min	30	Buller et al, 1990
Heart disease	16 (±6) L/min	20	Elborn et al, 1990
Pulm hypertension	12 (±2) L/min	11	D'Alonzo et al, 1987
Cancer	12 (±2) L/min	40	Travers et al, 2008
Diabetes	12-17 L/min	26	Bottini et al, 2003
Diabetes	15 (±2) L/min	45	Tantucci et al, 2001
Diabetes	12 (±2) L/min	8	Mancini et al, 1999
Diabetes	10-20 L/min	28	Tantucci et al, 1997
Diabetes	13 (±2) L/min	20	Tantucci et al, 1996
Asthma	13 (±2) L/min	16	Chalupa et al, 2004
Asthma	15 L/min	8	Johnson et al, 1995
Asthma	14 (±6) L/min	39	Bowler et al, 1998
Asthma	13 (±4) L/min	17	Kassabian et al, 1982
Asthma	12 L/min	101	McFadden & Lyons, 1968
COPD	14 (±2) L/min	12	Palange et al, 2001
COPD	12 (±2) L/min	10	Sinderby et al, 2001
COPD	14 L/min	3	Stulbarg et al, 2001
Sleep apnea	15 (±3) L/min	20	Radwan et al, 2001
Liver cirrhosis	11-18 L/min	24	Epstein et al, 1998
Hyperthyroidism	15 (±1) L/min	42	Kahaly, 1998
Cystic fibrosis	15 L/min	15	Fauroux et al, 2006
Cystic fibrosis	10 L/min	11	Browning et al, 1990
Cystic fibrosis*	10 L/min	10	Ward et al, 1999
CF and diabetes*	10 L/min	7	Ward et al, 1999
Cystic fibrosis	16 L/min	7	Dodd et al, 2006
Cystic fibrosis	18 L/min	9	McKone et al, 2005
Cystic fibrosis*	13 (±2) L/min	10	Bell et al, 1996
Cystic fibrosis	11-14 L/min	6	Tepper et al, 1983
Epilepsy	13 L/min	12	Esquivel et al, 1991
CHV	13 (±2) L/min	134	Han et al, 1997
Panic disorder	12 (±5) L/min	12	Pain et al, 1991
Bipolar disorder	11 (±2) L/min	16	MacKinnon et al, 2007
Dystrophia myotonica	16 (±4) L/min	12	Clague et al, 1994

Hyperventilation treatment has the following goals:
- to reverse chronic hyperventilation (ineffective automatic breathing patterns)
- to increase CO2 levels in the alveoli of the lungs up to the medical norm
- to increase oxygen levels in all vital organs and other tissues.

In order to be successful, hyperventilation treatment should be based on 2 key factors: breathing exercises; and lifestyle changes.

Paper bag treatment, while effective and simple, may lead to excessive CO2 increase and cause loss of CO2 sensitivity in certain groups of people. As a result, mainstream medicine does not support its use anymore.

Breathing exercises could include such methods as hatha yoga alternate nostril breathing (Pranayama), the Buteyko breathing exercises, Frolov breathing device exercises, Strelnikova paradoxical respiratory gymnastic, pursed lip breathing, and so forth). For some important lifestyle changes, see the table of "Healthy lifestyle factors" below.

Bear in mind that it is not easy to learn the Buteyko breathing exercises without an experienced Buteyko breathing teacher. In comparison, breathing exercises with CO2-trapping breathing devices are easier to learn and more effective for quick body oxygen increase.

About 200 Russian and Soviet Buteyko doctors have accumulated valuable clinical experience in this area since they have treated more than 200,000 people. These medical professionals discovered that there are several practical details that are crucial for successful treatment of chronic hyperventilation:
1) Understanding that breathing less at rest delivers more oxygen to body cells.
2) Constant commitment to breathing normalization since the purpose of training is to change one's automatic (or basal) breathing pattern.
3) Daily measurement of the progress: either using devices (e.g., capnometers, plastic bag to measure minute ventilation - supplied with the Samozdrav breathing device) or the body oxygen test.
4) Understanding that even short episodes of hyperventilation (e.g., for 1-2 hours due to sleep heavy breathing effect, overeating, stress) produce serious enough damage to reverse all progress achieved during the remaining part of the day (see links related to oxidative stress caused by hypocapnia - low CO2).

Also note that there are many health conditions (like COPD, severe asthma, cystic fibrosis and so forth) that are characterized by hypercapnia (too high arterial CO2) usually due to pathological changes in the lungs caused by cell hypoxia, immune dysfunction and destructive effects of alveolar hypocapnia on lung tissue. Therefore, people with these health conditions also require treatment of hyperventilation in order to decrease their arterial CO2 and increase blood oxygenation.

Here are some lifestyle factors that are important (or essential) to address for successful hyperventilation treatment. Depending on personal lifestyle and environmental factors, there are dozens more lifestyle factors that can have either a positive or negative effect on breathing retraining.

Main Lifestyle Factors for Hyperventilation Treatment

Lifestyle risk factors:

Healthy lifestyle factors:

- Sleeping on one's back - Mouth breathing (including sleep and physical exercise, unless you are super fit) - Sedentary lifestyle or physical exercise with mouth breathing (for most people excepting very fit people) - Psychological and bacterial stress - Strong emotions (anger, revenge, greed, envy, jealousy, laziness) - Overeating (especially of animal proteins) - Lack of essential nutrients and eating junk foods - Focal infections (cavities in teeth, dead tonsils, root canals or dead teeth, athletes foot, and intestinal parasites or worms) - Sighing, coughing, sneezing and yawning with large air movements or open mouth - Allergies and infections - Talkativeness and deep breathing exercises (except very slow ones, e.g., with 1-2 breaths/min so that to increase alveolar CO2) - Toxins and pollution (in water, food and air, due to radiation, infections, and medical drugs) - Excesses and addictions (smoking, drugs, gambling, alcohol, caffeine, sex, etc.)

- Physical exercise with strictly nose breathing (in and out) - Moderation in eating: eating only when really hungry, and stopping in time - Going to bed for sleep only when really sleepy, and getting out of the bed after waking up in the morning; sleeping on hard beds - Good posture (straight spine 24/7) - Forgiveness, acceptance, and silent prayer; peace-making, cooperation, calmness, composure - Raw diet (only if very well chewed) - Vegetarian diet - Good thermoregulation (no overheating) - Relaxation and meditation exercises - Learning diaphragmatic breathing - Self-discipline, perseverance, commitment, and responsibility - Moderation in pleasures - Cold shower (with certain rules), barefoot walking, massage - Relaxation and meditation exercises - Some breathing techniques, devices and exercises

Causes, prevalence and symptoms of hyperventilation

Main causes of hyperventilation are lifestyle risk factors such sedentary lifestyle (lack of physical exercise), mouth breathing, chest breathing, poor posture, overeating, stress, ... Learn more: Causes of hyperventilation

Prevalence of hyperventilation is very high. More than 90% of the sick and normal subjects breathe over 10 L/min, while the medical norm is only 6 L/min. Healthy people, however, have only about 6-7 L/min ... Read more: Prevalence of hyperventilation

Common symptoms of hyperventilation include: bronchospasm, constipation, coughing, muscle cramps, anxiety, nasal congestion, sighing, shortness of breath, angina pain, ... Read more: Symptoms of hyperventilation

Resources:
- Lifestyle risk factors, healthy lifestyle choices, as well as details of Buteyko breathing exercises, are all analyzed in more detail in the Section "Learn here".
- Yoga is an ancient system for treatment of hyperventilation

Reference Web Pages: Breathing norms, Medical Graphs and Tables about Breathing Rates (Minute Ventilation) and Body Oxygen in Healthy, Normal and Sick People
Breathing norms Parameters, graph, and description of the normal breathing pattern
6 breathing myths 6 myths about breathing and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
Hyperventilation Definitions of hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
Hyperventilation Syndrome in the Sick. Table 1. Western scientific evidence about prevalence of CHV (chronic hyperventilation) in patients with various chronic conditions (34 medical studies)
Normal Minute Ventilation in Healthy Subjects: Easy and Light Breathing (14 Studies)
Hyperventilation Prevalence Present in Over 90% of Normal People (24 medical publications)
HV and hypoxia How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of all vital organs
Body oxygen test How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (a simple DIY test)
Body oxygen in healthy Table 4. CP (body oxygen level) in healthy people (27 medical studies)
Body oxygen in sick Table 5. CP (body oxygen level) in sick people (14 medical studies)
Buteyko Table of Health Zones with clinical description of most common zones
Morning HV Morning hyperventilation effect or how and why critically ill people are most likely to die during early morning hours

References: CO2 Effects Web Pages
Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion (or blood supply) to all vital organs
The Bohr effect How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
Cell Oxygen Levels and oxygen transport are controlled by alveolar CO2 and breathing
Oxygen Transport depends on breathing and these two effects (Vasoconstriction-Vasodilation and the Bohr effect) are parts of two diagrams that summarize influences of hypocapnia (low CO2 content in the blood and cells) on circulation and O2 delivery
Free Radical Generation takes place due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia. Hence, antioxidant defenses of the human body are also regulated by CO2 and breathing
Inflammatory Response is controlled by breathing since hypoxia leads to or intensifies chronic inflammation through over-expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces these processes
Nerve stabilization takes place due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
Muscle relaxation or relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
Brochodilation - dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) by carbon dioxide, and their constriction due to hypocapnia
CO2: Best Natural Cough Suppressant and "home remedy" since it calms urge-to-cough nerve receptors located in the tracheobronchial tree and larynx
Blood pH regulation and regulation of other bodily fluids
CO2: Lung Damage Healer: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
CO2: Skin and Tissue Healer
Synthesis of Glutamine in the Brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
CO2 myth "CO2 is a toxic waste gas" myth
Breathing control How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven and erratic?

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