NORMALBREATHING.com

Difficulty Breathing: Caused by Low Body O2

By Dr. Artour Rakhimov, Alternative Health Educator and Author
- Medically Reviewed by Naziliya Rakhimova, MD
- Last updated on August 9, 2018

Man keeps an arm on his chest with breathing difficulty Difficulty breathing (aka dyspnea or shortness of breath) is labored breathing accompanied by an unpleasant awareness of one's own breathing. Difficulty in breathing is commonly present in people with progressive heart disease, cystic fibrosis, HIV-AIDS, cancer, COPD, asthma, emphysema, pregnancy and many other conditions. Common triggers for difficulty breathing are anxiety, exertion, sleep, and eating or meals.

What causes breathing difficulty?

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
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
Cancer	12 (+-2) l/min	40	Travers et al, 2008
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
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
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
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
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

The Homepage of this site has an extended Table that provides many more health conditions (such as heart disease, diabetes, etc.) with the same general observation: too heavy breathing at rest. The cause of difficulty breathing is hyperventilation or alveolar hypocapnia (lack of CO2 in the lungs). The normal breathing pattern at rest is imperceptible, inaudible and unnoticeable to others. It is small in tidal volume (500 ml for a 70-kg man), slow (12 breaths/min), light (6 L/min for minute ventilation), strictly nasal and diaphragmatic. Hyperventilation leads to alveolar hypocapnia and disrupts normal oxygen delivery due to:
- 1) reduced arterial oxygenation caused by lung pathologies (COPD, emphysema, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, and so forth) or
- 2) arterial hypocapnia, leading to vasoconstriction and a suppressed Bohr effect - both of which reduce oxygen delivery to the tissues.

Shortness of breath (difficulties breathing) and hypocapnia

The factors that dramatically increase the work of breathing are constriction of airways due to alveolar hypocapnia, chest breathing (due to the spasmodic diaphragm), obstruction of airways due to mucus and chronic inflammation with possible a increase in blood viscosity. Mouth breathing worsens difficulty breathing due to the reduction in NO (nitric oxide) absorption and reduced alveolar CO2.

Note that these people suffer from low O2 in cells and low CO2 in airways. CO2 in arterial blood can be high in those groups of people who develop problems with lungs. This will help to understand the title of this page.

Overeating (or eating meals), anxiety, stress, night sleep, deep breathing exercises, poor posture, and exertion all lead to more hyperventilation (and alveolar hypocapnia). As a result, it is obvious that they are triggers of breathing difficulties.

Treatment for breathing difficulties

Treatment of breathing difficulties should be based on a treatment of hyperventilation syndrome. Significant reduction in breathing difficulties has been achieved in tens of clinical trials after the application of various respiratory therapies and breathing devices. Patients need to achieve more than X seconds (see more below) for the body-oxygen test to prevent shortness of breath at rest. When people have normal breathing (about 6 L/min with 10-12 breaths per minute and only 500-600 mL per breath), they generally do not feel their breathing, because normal breathing is tiny. Therefore, breathing normalization is the physiologically correct solution for this health problem with breathing difficulties.

As about the number X, it is provided right below here, as well as the best starting options (most effective treatment options) to get quick results in higher body oxygenation and fewer problems with difficulty breathing.

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