On one level, the connection between breathing extra air each minute and asthma or allergies is obvious. If you are breathing three times more air each minute, as is shown in many studies of people with asthma, then you are going to be inhaling three times more irritants than other people. You will also be cooling and drying the airways to a much greater extent if you are over-breathing.

On another level, that is not so obvious, breathing extra air each minute reduces the body's supply of carbon dioxide. We normally store approximately one hundred times more carbon dioxide inside the body than we store oxygen, which surely contradicts the idea that it is purely a waste gas. In fact, carbon dioxide performs three very important functions that directly affect asthma and allergies. 

When the pressure starts to get too low, smooth muscle that is wrapped around the airways begins to tighten, limiting the volume of air that can flow in and out of the lungs. At the same time, the low pressure stimulates mucus production and also production of histamines. The over-supply of mucus plugs up the tiny airways and the histamine tends to make the inner lining of the airway swell.

It is no surprise to people with this condition that when they have symptoms of asthma that they increase their breathing pattern. It is the natural response to having a restriction in the airways. However, what is less likely to be realised is that this extra breathing starts even before the symptoms become annoying.

It was shown at least as far back as 1968 by McFadden and Lyon that people with asthma are breathing more air each minute than they need to, when their symptoms are very mild. It is the crux of the Buteyko Method that this extra air breathed each minute is what acutally causes the problem of airway narrowing, instead of the airway narrowing causing the hyperventilation.

The Buteyko Method aims to remove this extra breathing that is not required by the body, and is causing the problem. In two clinical trials that have measured breathing patterns, it was shown that people reduced the volume of air that they breathed by an average 30%. This reduced the symptoms by more than 70%, and almost eliminating the need for medication. LINK TO BRISBANE TRIAL AND THE GISBORNE TRIAL.
 
On one level, the connection between breathing extra air each minute and asthma or allergies is obvious. If you are breathing three times more air each minute, as is shown in many studies of people with asthma, then you are going to be inhaling three times more irritants than other people. You will also be cooling and drying the airways to a much greater extent if you are over-breathing.
On another level, that is not so obvious, breathing extra air each minute reduces the body's supply of carbon dioxide. We normally store approximately one hundred times more carbon dioxide inside the body than we store oxygen, which surely contradicts the idea that it is purely a waste gas. In fact, carbon dioxide performs three very important functions that directly affect asthma and allergies. 

When the pressure starts to get too low, smooth muscle that is wrapped around the airways begins to tighten, limiting the volume of air that can flow in and out of the lungs. At the same time, the low pressure stimulates mucus production and also production of histamines. The over-supply of mucus plugs up the tiny airways and the histamine tends to make the inner lining of the airway swell.

It is no surprise to people with this condition that when they have symptoms of asthma that they increase their breathing pattern. It is the natural response to having a restriction in the airways. However, what is less likely to be realised is that this extra breathing starts even before the symptoms become annoying.

It was shown at least as far back as 1968 by McFadden and Lyon that people with asthma are breathing more air each minute than they need to, when their symptoms are very mild. It is the crux of the Buteyko Method that this extra air breathed each minute is what acutally causes the problem of airway narrowing, instead of the airway narrowing causing the hyperventilation.

The Buteyko Method aims to remove this extra breathing that is not required by the body, and is causing the problem. In two clinical trials that have measured breathing patterns, it was shown that people reduced the volume of air that they breathed by an average 30%. This reduced the symptoms by more than 70%, and almost eliminating the need for medication. LINK TO BRISBANE TRIAL AND THE GISBORNE TRIAL.

‘Buteyko works and there is no need for people to destroy their health with huge amounts of drugs due to a misunderstanding of the causes of asthma. ‘ Pam