Buteyko Breathing Spells an End to the Runny Nose and Asthma

Buteyko breathing is a clinically proven method for treating asthma but did you know it can also stop a runny nose or free up a constantly blocked nose?

The September, 2008, issue of The Lancet medical journal featured a study that showed a link between rhinitis (runny nose, in medical-speak) and adult-onset asthma. What the authors of the study found by looking at various populations in Europe was that adults who suffer from runny noses have an increased risk of getting asthma. The authors concluded that, "Rhinitis, even in the absence of atopy, is a powerful predictor of adult-onset asthma." Atopy is a sensitivity to some type of allergen -- it could be pollen, dust mites, pet dander and so on. The list of potential allergens is long and many people are affected by several of them.

This is an interesting and not unexpected finding by these medical researchers and it also relates to the work of Dr. Konstantin Buteyko. The Buteyko Breathing method, which was developed by Professor Buteyko of Russia in the 1950s and is now used around the world to treat asthma, is based on the theory that asthma is caused by chronic hyperventilation (overbreathing). Many of us unknowingly hyperventilate on an ongoing basis. In fact, published reports suggest that between 5-10% of the population have signs or symptoms of hyperventilation to some degree. According to Buteyko, people who are predisposed to getting asthma i.e. they have hypersensitive airways, will respond to this ongoing hyperventilation by developing asthma symptoms.

Supporting this theory are two pieces of evidence. Firstly, hyperventilation is well known in medical circles to cause bronchoconstriction (airway narrowing). Secondly, there have been studies that show that people with asthma hyperventilate. A normal tidal volume (volume of air breathed in one minute) is 3-5 liters per minute. Asthmatics, in several studies, have been shown to breathe anywhere from 10-19 liters of air per minute, and this is not even when they are having an asthma "attack". During an acute asthma episode the volume of air breathed increases even further.

So, asthmatics over-breathe and over-breathing causes airway narrowing, but what does this have to do with runny noses? Professor Buteyko argued that the airways swell during asthma (one of the main problems in asthma is inflammation of the airways) in order to reduce further carbon dioxide loss. Carbon dioxide is blown off when we breathe out, and over-breathing, or hyperventilation, leads to too much carbon dioxide loss. Buteyko considered this to be a protective mechanism the body has because losing too much carbon dioxide affects both the acid-base balance of the body, as well as how much oxygen vital organs and tissues receive.

This theory can be expanded to include the nose. Many of us are mouth breathers and mouth breathing encourages hyperventilation, since more air can be gulped down via the mouth than through the nose. If you breathe through your mouth, one of the ways your body can respond to the over-breathing this induces is to cause swelling and mucus formation in the nose in order to prevent the loss of more carbon dioxide - your nose blocks or runs so that you cannot lose more carbon dioxide. Unfortunately this also makes it harder to breathe through your nose and so a vicious circle is established.

The Buteyko Breathing Method is not difficult to learn and there are many certified practitioners around the world that teach this method. They can be found on the Web. The method has gained substantial press and approval since the British Thoracic Society endorsed it with a "B" rating. This confirms that the health and symptom improvements gained from learning how to breathe less and breathe through the nose (essentially what the Buteyko Breathing method teaches you to establish as a habit) are a direct result of applying the Buteyko method.

Anyone with asthma, or anyone who finds it difficult to breathe through their nose, could usefully consider learning some strategies for nose clearing, nose breathing and reduced volume breathing via the Buteyko Breathing method.