CNS/Brain Diseases Are Based on Low Brain O2/CO2 Levels

CNS/Brain Diseases Are Caused by Low Brain O2/CO2 Levels

Brain hypoxia caused by over breathing Numerous medical studies discovered that brain diseases (or disorders of the central nervous system - CNS) are possible only in conditions of chronic hyperventilation (the most likely scenario) or chest breathing and mouth breathing. All these respiratory deviations result in decreased levels of oxygen in the brain.

It is beyond doubts that low oxygen levels in brain cells have a profound negative effects on function of nerve cells of the CNS. Brain hypoxia leads to anaerobic cellular respiration, generation of lactic acid and free radicals, acidic pH cellular environment, chronic inflammation, inability of the immune system to heal injuries and many other negative effects (see the links to medical research below), that include possible formation of tumors.

People with health problems Furthermore, since most brain diseases are characterized by chronic hyperventilation, there are additional effects due to low CO2 levels in the CNS (the central nervous system). The effects of hypocapnia can be even more devastating since CO2 is a powerful relaxant or stabilizer of the nerve cells. Hyperventilation leads to "spontaneous and asynchronous firing of neurons", as we learned in the section devoted to CO2 effects related to the nerve cells.

People with panic attacks, seizures, sleeping problems, anxiety breathing disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, senile dementia, Parkinson, Alzheimer disease, and many other chronic and degenerative health conditions have ineffective, or heavy or irregular breathing patterns often accompanied by habitual thoracic and mouth breathing.

Some brain-CNS disorders and minute ventilation studies

*One row corresponds to one medical study/publication

Condition	Minute ventilation	Number of patients	All references or click below for abstracts
Healthy Subjects	6-7 l/min	>400	Results of 14 studies
Normal breathing	6 l/min	-	Medical textbooks
Epilepsy	13 l/min	12	Esquivel et al, 1991
Panic disorder	12 (±5) l/min	12	Pain et al, 1991
Bipolar disorder	11 (±2) l/min	16	MacKinnon et al, 2007

Patients and doctors All these and many other studies testify about classical chronic hyperventilation syndrome. For example, in 1990, American psychiatrists from Hunter College (City University of New York) reported results from several groups of subjects with anxiety, panic phobia, depression, migraine, and idiopathic seizures. The abstract states “virtually all the non-control subjects were found to show moderate to severe hyperventilation and accompanying EEG dysrhythmia”. In addition, it notes that hyperventilation and abnormal electrical signals in the brain took place simultaneously.

The parameters in the sick are usually much worse during early morning hours due to sleep heavy breathing effects (often caused by mouth breathing and supine sleep), after meals, during and after exercise with mouth breathing, during and after stress, and in many other situations.

Diseases of the CNS and brain disorders and CO2 levels

CO2 model above ocean In 1976 the British Journal of Psychiatry published a study of CO2 measurements in 60 patients with neurotic depression and non-retarded endogenous depression (Mora et al, 1976). All patients had abnormally low carbon dioxide values.

Canadian scientists from the Department of Psychiatry (University of Manitoba, Winnipeg) measured carbon dioxide concentrations in over 20 patients with panic disorder. Their average CO2 was also below the medical norm (Stein & Asmundson, 1994). There are many other studies that report abnormally low CO2 values for people with various psychological and neurological problems.

Chest and mouth breathing as causes of brain diseases and disorders

Medical students smiling While these Western studies suggest the possible role of over breathing in the appearance and development of various neurological and psychological diseases, it is also known that low oxygen levels in the brain and body tissues can occur due to habitual chest and/or mouth breathing. Chest breathing results in drastic reduction of blood oxygenation since lower parts of the lungs get 6-7 times richer blood supply, while adverse biochemical and immune effects of mouth breathing are too numerous to mention here (see Mouth Breathing web page for details).

Successful treatment of brain/CNS diseases

At the same time, there is no any evidence showing that people with normal breathing parameters can suffer from neurological or psychological problems. Furthermore, clinical experience of more than 170 Russian and Soviet MDs practicing the Buteyko breathing technique indicates that people with brain diseases and CNS disorders always have less than 30 s for the body oxygen test. Therefore, breathing normalization is the most logical treatment of brain diseases.

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?

References

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1990;602:67-96.
Effect of diaphragmatic respiration with end-tidal CO2 biofeedback on respiration, EEG, and seizure frequency in idiopathic epilepsy.
Fried R, Fox MC, Carlton RM.
Hunter College, City University of New York, New York 10021.
Breathing rate (RR), end-tidal percent CO2, and EEG were obtained in three groups: psychiatric referral subjects presenting with anxiety, panic phobia, depression and migraine; a group of idiopathic seizure sufferers; and a group of asymptomatic controls. Virtually all the noncontrol subjects were found to show moderate to severe hyperventilation and the accompanying EEG dysrhythmia. The seizure group subjects were taught diaphragmatic respiration with end-tidal percent CO2 biofeedback. The training normalized their respiration and altered their EEGs and seizure frequency.

Biol Psychiatry. 1994 Oct 15;36(8):548-58.
Autonomic function in panic disorder: cardiorespiratory and plasma catecholamine responsivity to multiple challenges of the autonomic nervous system.
Stein MB, Asmundson GJ.

The British Journal of Psychiatry 129: 457-464 (1976)
Respiratory ventilation and carbon dioxide levels in syndromes of depression
JD Mora, L Grant, P Kenyon, MK Patel and FA Jenner
The breathing rate and PCO2 in end-tidal air have been studied in controls and in patients with endogenous depression (retarded and non- retarded), with neurotic depression, and with schizophrenia. It has been shown that breathing rate goes up and PCO2 down in non-retarded and neurotic depression. Schizophrenia gives more anomalous results. The fact is emphasized that such changes must lead to alterations in pH and other variables. Studies showing some small chemical differences between these clinical entities and control subjects might therefore be explained by these findings.

Europsychopharmacol Hung. 2009 Sep;11(3):161-73.
The role of carbon dioxide (and intracellular pH) in the pathomechanism of several mental disorders. Are the diseases of civilization caused by learnt behaviour, not the stress itself?
Sikter A, Faludi G, Rihmer Z.
Municipal Clinic of Szentendre, Section of Internal Medicine, Hungary.
Abstract
The role of carbon dioxide (CO2) is underestimated in the pathomechanism of neuropsychiatric disorders, though it is an important link between psyche and corpus. The actual spiritual status also influences respiration (we start breathing rarely, frequently, irregularly, etc.) causing pH alteration in the organism...

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