Cause of Heart Disease: Confirmed by Tens of Heart Disease Studies

Breathing in Heart Disease / Cardiovascular Disease Patients

What causes heart disease? The cause of heart disease is clear from this Table with 8 medical studies indicating 100% prevalence of CHVS (chronic hyperventilation syndrome) in heart disease patients.

Breathing Rate (Minute Ventilation) in Heart Disease

(Cardiovascular Disease / Hypertension): Resting Patients

*One row corresponds to one research paper or medical article

Condition	Minute ventilation	Number of people	Prevalence of CHV	References (see below) or click names for abstracts
Normal breathing	6 Liters/min	-	0 %	Medical textbooks
Healthy Subjects	6-7 Liters/min	>400	0 %	Results of 14 studies
Heart disease	15 (±4) Liters/min	22	100%	Dimopoulou et al, 2001
Heart disease	16 (±2) Liters/min	11	100%	Johnson et al, 2000
Heart disease	12 (±3) Liters/min	132	100%	Fanfulla et al, 1998
Heart disease	15 (±4) Liters/min	55	100%	Clark et al, 1997
Heart disease	13 (±4) Liters/min	15	100%	Banning et al, 1995
Heart disease	15 (±4) Liters/min	88	100%	Clark et al, 1995
Heart disease	14 (±2) Liters/min	30	100%	Buller et al, 1990
Heart disease	16 (±6) Liters/min	20	100%	Elborn et al, 1990

All these studies testify that heart patients have abnormally low oxygen and CO2 levels in the heart tissue due to their .... overbreathing. Since they breathe at rest about 2-2.5 times more air than the medical norm (this is called hyperventilation), they arterial CO2 is below the norm and that causes constriction of arteries and arterioles (due to CO2 Vasodilation Effect), suppressed Bohr effect, reduced oxygenation of all vital organs (the heart and brain included), abnormal excitability of nerve cells (causing additional electrical problems in the heart pacemakers), generation of free radicals and oxidative damage, suppressed immunity, increased viscosity of the blood, predisposition to chronic inflammation and many other effects.

The solution is to slow down one's breathing back to the medical norm (6 L/min) and this eliminates the cause: chronic hyperventilation or deep automatic breathing pattern. Normal breathing will improve oxygen transport to heart tissue and normalize other processes. Vice versa, hyperventilation provocation test, as several studies found, is 100% specific test for heart disease (it leads to coronary artery spasm) and worsens one's health.

The best techniques for breathing normalization are: techniques of the Buteyko method (it has the best lifestyle program for high body oxygen levels) and the Frolov breathing device (most effective breathing exercises). Samozrdav and Breathslim breathing devices produce similar effects (as the Frolov device). The discovery of the cause of heart disease is made by Dr Konstantin Buteyko, MD, PhD.

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?

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

Dimopoulou et al, 2001

Dimopoulou I, Tsintzas OK, Alivizatos PA, Tzelepis GE, Pattern of breathing during progressive exercise in chronic heart failure, Int J Cardiol. 2001 Dec; 81(2-3): p. 117-121.

Intensive Care Unit and Pulmonary Function Laboratory, Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Athens, Greece.

Johnson et al, 2000

Johnson BD, Beck KC, Olson LJ, O'Malley KA, Allison TG, Squires RW, Gau GT, Ventilatory constraints during exercise in patients with chronic heart failure, Chest 2000 Feb; 117(2): p. 321-332.

Divisions of Cardiovascular, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN 55905, USA

Fanfulla et al, 1998

Fanfulla F, Mortara , Maestri R, Pinna GD, Bruschi C, Cobelli F, Rampulla C, The development of hyperventilation in patients with chronic heart failure and Cheyne-Stokes respiration, Chest 1998; 114; p. 1083-1090.

Respiratory Function Laboratory, IRCCS, S. Maugeri Foundation, Montescano Medical Center, Pavia, Italy.

Clark et al, 1997

Clark AL, Volterrani M, Swan JW, Coats AJS, The increased ventilatory response to exercise in chronic heart failure: relation to pulmonary pathology, Heart 1997; 77: p.138-146.

Departnent of Cardiac Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, London, UK

Banning et al, 1995

Banning AP, Lewis NP, Northridge DB, Elbom JS, Henderson AH, Perfusion/ventilation mismatch during exercise in chronic heart failure: an investigation of circulatory determinants, Br Heart J 1995; 74: p.27-33.

Department of Cardiology, College of Medicine, University of Wales, Cardiff, UK.

Clark et al, 1995

Clark AL, Chua TP, Coats AJ, Anatomical dead space, ventilatory pattern, and exercise capacity in chronic heart failure, Br Heart J 1995 Oct; 74(4): p. 377-380.

Department of Cardiac Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, London, UK.

Buller et al, 1990

Buller NP, Poole-Wilson PA, Mechanism of the increased ventilatory response to exercise in patients with chronic heart failure, Heart 1990; 63; p.281-283.

The National Heart and Lung Institute and National Heart Hospital, London, UK.

Elborn et al, 1990

Elborn JS, Riley M, Stanford CF, Nicholls DP, The effects of flosequinan on submaximal exercise in patients with chronic cardiac failure, Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1990 May; 29(5): p.519-524.

Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

D'Alonzo et al, 1987

D'Alonzo GE, Gianotti LA, Pohil RL, Reagle RR, DuRee SL, Fuentes F, Dantzker DR, Comparison of progressive exercise performance of normal subjects and patients with primary pulmonary hypertension, Chest 1987 Jul; 92(1): p.57-62.

Divisions of Pulmonary Medicine and Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical School, and Hermann Hospital, Houston, USA.

Back to the homepage

HTML Comment Box is loading comments...