Russian doctors had a successful clinical HIV/AIDS trial
Clinical evidence, as well as physiological studies, found that progression of the disease in HIV patients is manifested in reduced oxygenation of the body. Dozens of studies revealed such negative effects of chronic hypoxia, as chronic fatigue, poor sleep, psychological disturbances, mouth breathing, inability to exercise, and sexual dysfunction. Reversal of tissue hypoxia and normalization of breathing are the goals of the Buteyko method developed by Russian doctors Konstantin Buteyko for treatment of asthma and heart disease.
In early 1990s, a group of Russian doctors organized a clinical trial with 7 people infected with AIDS virus. The participants found the Buteyko method very efficient. The table (below) indicates the effects of the Buteyko method on negative symptoms that the participants experienced before the trial.
Here are the translation of the clinical trial and an official
letter to the Deputy Minister of Health of Ukrainian SSR
---------------
/Translation
Official report about the clinical trial of the Buteyko
method
on AIDS patients in KSRIEID
(Kiev Scientific and Research Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious
Diseases)
during the first quarter of 1991
Authors: Frolov AF, Buteyko KP, Novosselov VA, Fedorchenko SV
During the 1st quarter of 1991, the Buteyko breathing method was tried on 7 AIDS virus carriers. Two of them had HIV-infection in the lymphoadenopathic stage. The patients were in the following age groups: 1 person - 5 years old; 5 people - 19-40 years old; 1 person - older than 40. According to the gender, there were 3 women and 4 men. The diagnosis of AIDS was confirmed by enzyme immunoassay and immuno-blotting. Approximate durations of being infected with HIV virus were following: 1 person - 5 years; 3 persons - 2 years; 1 person - 1 year, and 2 persons - 1-4 months. The Buteyko method was accompanied by symptomatic treatment (including vitamins and desensitization drugs), sessions with psychotherapist, while 1 person was simultaneously undergoing the Sartchuk's therapy.
All patients completed 10 day course of the Buteyko method and experienced improvements in their health states: 5 patients on the 2nd or 3rd day of the therapy, and 2 patients on the 5th day of the therapy. In addition, 2 patients experienced disappearance of acute depression and neurasthenia on the 2nd day of therapy. The results of the application of the Buteyko method are presented in the following table:
| Number | Symptom | Number of patients with this symptom (1983-1990) |
Effects of the Buteyko Method |
The required period of time |
||
| Reduction | Disappear. | Reduction | Disappear. | |||
| 1 | Headache | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 days | 5-6 days |
| 2 | Lightheadedness | 2 | - | 2 | - | 3 days |
| 3 | Emotional instability | 4 | 4 | - | 2-3 days | - |
| 4 | Predisposition to crying | 3 | - | 3 | - | 2-3 days |
| 5 | Daytime sleepiness | 1 | - | 1 | - | 3 days |
| 6 | Insomnia | 3 | - | 3 | - | 2 days |
| 7 | Problems with sleep | 1 | - | 1 | - | 3 days |
| 8 | Irritability | 5 | 5 | - | 2-3 days | - |
| 9 | Possible temper outbursts | 3 | 3 | - | 2-3 days | - |
| 10 | Unfounded fears | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 days | 2-3 days |
| 11 | Apathy | 1 | 1 | - | 5 days | - |
| 12 | Muscle twitching | 1 | - | 1 | 6 days | - |
| 13 | Quick mental fatigue | 1 | - | 1 | - | 7 days |
| 14 | Quick physical fatigue | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4-5 days | 9 days |
| 15 | Blurred vision | 1 | - | 1 | - | 6 days |
| 16 | Angina pectoris | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 day | 5-6 days |
| 17 | Low blood pressure | 1 | - | 1 | - | 9-10 days |
| 18 | Dyspnea during exercise | 1 | - | 1 | - | 9 days |
| 19 | Heartburn | 1 | - | 1 | - | 4-5 days |
| 20 | Charlie's horse | 1 | 1 | - | 4-5 days | - |
The results of the Buteyko treatment
allow the following preliminary conclusions:
1. The use of the Buteyko method has resulted in positive symptom
dynamics.
2. No side-effects or complications have been observed in patients with
AIDS during the Buteyko therapy.
3. Regular psychotherapy that had been used earlier proved ineffective,
and the condition of four patients even worsened.
As a result of treatment in accordance with the Buteyko
method, the following preliminary conclusions can be made:
1. The use of the Buteyko method has resulted in the positive dynamic
of the clinical symptoms.
2. No side-effects or complications have been observed in patients with
AIDS during the Buteyko therapy.
3. Regular psychotherapy with regular methods, which had been used
earlier, proved ineffective, while the health state of four patients
even worsened.
Signatures of the trial organizers:
Director of KSRIEID, vice-Academician of Academy of Medical Sciences of
USSR, Professor A. F. Frolov
Conductor of the trial K.P. Buteyko, MD
Executive of the trial V.A. Novosselov, MD
Physician of the AIDS Section of the Institute (KSRIEID) S.V.
Fedorchenko, MD
Ministry of Health of UKRAINIAN SSR
(KSRIEID) Kiev Scientific and Research Institute of Epidemiology and
Infectious Diseases named after L. V. Gromashevsky
4, Spusk Stepana Razina, Kiev-038, 252038, Ukraine Tel. 277-37-11
An official letter to the Deputy Minister of Health
of the Ukrainian SSR Mr. V. I. Shestakov
Conclusions about the results of a clinical trial
of the Buteyko method on AIDS patients
As a result of treatment in accordance with the Buteyko method
in KSRIEID from January 08, 1991 to March 31, 1991, the following
results were confirmed:
1. The use of the Buteyko method has resulted in improvements
in clinical symptoms.
2. No side-effects or complications have been observed in
patients with AIDS during the Buteyko therapy.
3. It is sensible to continue careful observations and
laboratory investigations of AIDS patients and recommend the Buteyko
method for further testing.
4. Regular psychotherapy that had been used earlier proved
ineffective, and the health state of four patients even worsened.
Signed by Director of KSRIEID, vice-Academician of Academy of Medical Sciences of USSR, Professor A. F. Frolov
/Translated by Artour Rakhimov, PhD
A note about Soviet medical approbations or trials
The Soviet health care system, for political and social reasons, had always been more centralized than Western ones. Innovations in medicine were usually introduced by the Soviet authorities and health care bureaucracy. New ideas and drugs were often tested in hospitals and research Institutes, which provided higher authorities with reports about the results. In the West, as we know, results of scientific studies or trials are usually published in journals. While the Soviet approach was different, the reliability of their information was comparable. Directors, managers and project leaders of corresponding organizations and departments put their signatures to official reports about such Soviet trials and their approbations. These people were personally responsible for the trustworthiness of the results and their names and copies of the relevant documents, related to the Buteyko trials as well, are still archived in Russia and Ukraine.