Buteyko Method: Info, Research, Facts, Trials Review, ...
The
Buteyko Breathing Technique (also known as the Buteyko method or
Buteyko breathing method) is a system of activities that include
breathing exercises and lifestyle changes. The goal of the technique is
to normalize one's automatic or unconscious breathing pattern (learn how to
breathe in accordance with medical norms 24/7).
This breathing technique was created by Doctor Konstantin Buteyko. He suggested that chronic diseases are due to heavy breathing (or breathing more than the medical norms). Overbreathing reduces oxygen levels in the human body. Was Dr. Buteyko right?
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 |
Dr. Konstantin Buteyko made 2 essential
physiological discoveries that are studied in detail on the Homepage of this website:
1).
Sick people suffer from alveolar hypocapnia (lack of CO2) caused by
chronic hyperventilation;
2) If they normalize their breathing, their symptoms and diseases are
going to disappear.
Buteyko Method: Approved by Russian Ministry of Health
Dr. Buteyko trained about 200 medical professionals to apply the Buteyko method. In 1985, the Ministry of Health approved the Buteyko breathing technique for the treatment of bronchial asthma. According to official statistic of the Buteyko Clinic in Moscow, the technique has been applied by medical doctors or MDs on more than 100,000 asthmatics, over 30,000 people with cardiovascular problems and thousands of patients with other conditions (bronchitis, diabetes, cancer, HIV, liver cirrhosis, etc.).
Western Clinical Trials of the Buteyko Method
The Buteyko breathing technique has had several relatively successful clinical trials on asthma (England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, USSR). Practice shows that for most people, the normalization of breathing means becoming disease-free. Doctors have yet to discover just how many health problems can be solved with breathing retraining and can be treated with the Buteyko breathing technique.
The main problem with all Western clinical trials was that the subjects did not achieve even official medical norms for breathing . In these trials asthmatic reduced their ventilation from about 12-18 L/min down to about 9 L/min. However the medical norms are more rigorous: 6 L/min for minute ventilation, 10-12 breaths per minute, 40 mm Hg arterial CO2, 6 L/min for minute ventilation and so forth, while Dr. Buteyko's norms for breathing at rest correspond to even smaller and slower breathing (8 breaths/min, 46 mm Hg for arterial CO2, and 4 L/min for ventilation). Therefore, instead of measuring the final breathing parameters and heir changes, all western clinical trials focused on impact of breathing exercises (for about 1 hour per day) and lifestyle changes on their symptoms and medication. More information about this important topic that relates to quality of teaching of the Buteyko method in the Western world can be found here: Buteyko Clinical Trials.
About Konstantin Buteyko and history of the Buteyko method
Doctor Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko, MD, PhD
(1923-2003) was a leading Soviet physiologist, medical doctor, and
clinical physician who devoted 50 years of his life to the study of
respiration. When he was an Honors medical student at the First Moscow
Medical Institute in the early 1950s, he discovered that sick and
severely sick patients usually had heavy breathing (fast and deep) and
that their breathing became even heavier with approaching death. (You
can visit hospital wards to observe this simple fact or pay attention
to the breathing of your friends and relatives.)
During the 1960’s, Dr. Konstantin Buteyko was the head of a project funded by the Ministry of Aviation and Space Research as part of the program for launching the first manned spaceships. For this purpose, Dr. Buteyko was given a pulmonary laboratory in Novosibirsk Academgorodok (City of Academicians). However, since he was a doctor and also interested in diseases, he conducted many other studies related to breathing in the sick.
Dr. Buteyko discovered that chronic diseases are accompanied by abnormal changes in breathing, usually manifested as chronic hyperventilation (overbreathing). He also found that hyperventilation leads to cell hypoxia, while restoration of normal breathing parameters eliminates cell hypoxia, symptoms of diseases, and the need for medical drugs - leading to improved quality of life. Normal breathing, apart from other parameters, means breathing 4-6 liters of air per minute at rest, with a breathing frequency of 8-12 times per minute. In order to achieve normal breathing, he developed and, together with other Russian physicians, refined the Buteyko breathing technique. Changes in breathing and body oxygen levels also produce profound impact on lifestyle and quality of life factors, as the table below indicates.
| Lifestyle factor: | Body oxygen < 30 s | Body oxygen > 50 s |
| Energy level | Medium, low, or very low | High |
| Desire to exercise | Not strong, but possible | Craving and joy of exercise |
| Intensive exercise with nose breathing | Hard or impossible | Easy and effortless |
| Typical mind states | Confusion, anxiety, depression | Focus, concentration, clarity |
| Craving for coffee, sugar and junk foods | Present | Absent |
| Addictions to smoking, alcohol, and drugs | Possible | Absent |
| Desire to eat raw foods | Weak and rare | Very common and natural |
| Correct posture | Rare and requires efforts | Natural and automatic |
| Sleep | Often of poor quality; > 7 hours | Excellent quality; < 5 hours naturally |
Soviet-Russian Gulag KGB and Dr. Buteyko
Dr. Buteyko was a medical doctor. He treated his patients regardless of color of their skin, nationality, political beliefs, religious affiliations, gender and many other superficial factors. Such simple approach to life is generally disliked by many security intelligence organizations and their ultra intelligent representatives.
From the 1960's and until his tragic death in 2004, Dr. Konstantin Buteyko was severely persecuted by some mysterious "Siberian medical mafia", which was documented in many Russian sources. The most detailed account of Dr. Buteyko's life and these persecutions can be found in the book Doctor Buteyko's Discovery Trilogy, by Sergey Altoukhov, who spent many years learning, working and traveling with Dr. K. Buteyko. Those who were close to Dr. Buteyko knew and know that persecutions took place in Siberia during the previous century. Siberia was the famous place of numerous Gulag labor camps and Gulag's remnants were likely behind at least 3 murder attempts to kill Dr. Buteyko in Siberia. If you interested in mysteries related to deaths of leading Soviet healers (Dr. Buteyko, Vladimir Frolov and Alexandra Nikolaevna Strelnikova), visit the page: Buteyko, Frolov, Strelnikova died.
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When working for the first outer space missions (Soviet Cosmos, 1960's), Dr. Konstantin Buteyko got an amazing opportunity to create a diagnostic complex (a collection of numerous medical devices) that could measure over 35 physiological parameters of the human organism in real time. (Read more: History of the Buteyko technique...) |
Depending on a variety of factors, breathing students can achieve different final levels. Some students are satisfied with their ability to use breathing exercises and the most basic lifestyle changes in order to reduce their medications and the severity of their symptoms, others ... (Read more: Levels of learning Buteyko. ) |
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There were many clinical trials of the Buteyko breathing technique both in the USSR and on the West, including 6 Western randomized controlled trials on asthma and Soviet trials on HIV-AIDS, radiation disease, heart disease (cardiovascular disease), liver cirrhosis, hepatitis B, cancer... (Read more: Results of Buteyko clinical trials...) |
Tens of Western medical doctors and other health professionals expressed their amazement in relation to the success of the Buteyko breathing technique (Read more: MDs Testimonials about the Buteyko method). |
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Once they normalize their breathing patterns, students with various health conditions experience reduction in symptoms. (Read more: Clinical effects of Buteyko technique on health problems.) |
There are many ways to do breathing retraining and learning the Buteyko breathing technique: a course, books, video, etc. (Read more: Ways to learn Buteyko) |
Additional information is available on the web page
Questions and Answers about
the Buteyko method and Resources
that provide:
- Interviews with Dr Konstantin Buteyko (1982, 1997, 1998) and Dr.
Andrey Novozshilov (2003)
- Questions and answers from the book "Normal breathing: the key to
vital health"
- Scientific publications about the Buteyko breathing method published
in Russia,
- Popular articles by Artour Rakhimov.
You can also learn about main differences between traditional Russian and prevalent Western courses related to Buteyko practitioner training.
You can also learn the major modules of the Buteyko method and its crucial lifestyle factors in section Learn.
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
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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