Alternative
Aid for Asthma
Buteyko program stresses a simpler breathing method
By JULIE DAVIDOW
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Diagnosed with asthma at 7, Liv Browning had spent her whole life
fighting for air.
So, when practitioners of a breathing method called Buteyko told
her she was breathing too much, she didn't believe it.
"I thought you're absolutely crazy! When I have asthma, I
can't breathe."
Now, eight years later, Browning says the Buteyko Method, which
promotes breathing exercises to help asthmatics avoid attacks and
reduce their dependence on medications, changed her life.
Buteyko's premise -- that asthma attacks are triggered by over
breathing -- is grounded to some extent in what's already known
about the disease, said Dr. Teal Hallstrand, a pulmonologist and
assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington.
"There is some evidence that people with asthma ... breathe
more than they actually need to," Hallstrand said.
But it's unclear, he added, whether drops in carbon dioxide levels
are responsible for asthma attacks, as Buteyko advocates claim.
While Buteyko may be useful in combating asthma, as a relaxation
tool, if nothing else, it hasn't been studied carefully enough to
understand how or if it works, say Hallstrand and other asthma experts.
"I wouldn't think it's likely to be harmful," Hallstrand
said. "I wouldn't want (people with asthma) to do this is lieu
of treatments that have been clearly shown to be beneficial for
asthma."
Still, Browning is convinced.
In 2000, she started a business called Northwest Buteyko (she later
changed the name to Kick Asthma) to teach fellow asthmatics about
Buteyko.
Before Buteyko, Browning said, she used an inhaler two to four
times a day, blowing through two a month. In the past seven years,
she's refilled her prescription only twice.
"It was the only thing I'd ever known," said Browning,
37. "I didn't think there was an opportunity that I could ever
really live without asthma."
The method gets its name from Konstantin Buteyko, a Russian physician
who developed the breathing program in the 1950s.
The basics of Buteyko involve learning to inhale almost exclusively
through your nose to moderate breathing and holding your breath.
Browning encourages clients to continue following their doctors'
instructions, but she hopes by integrating Buteyko breathing, they
will be able to cut their ties to medications.
Kristin Thomas, 33, first heard about Buteyko three years after
an asthma attack landed her in the emergency room.
Thomas woke up so short of breath she couldn't talk. Her husband
frantically searched the house for her inhaler, with Thomas pointing
and scribbling notes from their bed.
Robin Evans-Agnew, director of programs and advocacy for the American
Lung Association's Washington chapter, said there should be more
dialogue with patients about alternative therapies for asthma.
"Most people refill their asthma medications about twice after
they go home, which is not enough," Evans-Agnew said. "People
need to have more choices for controlling their asthma."
About 520,000 people have asthma in Washington.
The American Lung Association includes a discussion of Buteyko
in its training on alternative and complementary therapies for asthma
educators, but the organization does not recommend the method.
Since that near-fatal attack three years ago, Thomas has stashed
emergency inhalers in her purse, both cars and a special place in
the house.
But she doesn't relish relying on medications for the rest of her
life. It's hard to avoid her attack triggers: dust, pollen, cats,
cold weather and stress.
Last month she attended one of Browning's introductory sessions
in West Seattle.
Now, when she feels her chest tightening, she uses the Buteyko
breathing techniques first. More often than not, she said, the breathing
is enough. When the method fails, she reaches for her inhaler.
"I feel like there's a nice balance between the two,"
Thomas said.
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