Asthma, Anxiety, Dust Allergy, Snoring, and Hayfever - What Do They Have in Common?

All these conditions tend to have one thing in common: Overbreathing. Over-breathing is sometimes so severe, it is generally recognized as hyperventilation.

The Russian Dr Buteyko carried out very thorough scientific research and made some very interesting findings.

Basically, this is how it works. We are designed to breathe in and out through our nose and using our diaphragm (lower down near your tummy). When we breathe in or out through our mouth and using the upper part of our chest, then we get too much oxygen in our airways. Dr Buteyko found that we need a certain amount of carbon dioxide in our airways.

When we have too much oxygen, we have too little carbon dioxide. As a result, the whole of our body chemistry changes. We also get far more trapped particles (like pollen or dust) in our airways; and those of us who are sensitive will react accordingly.

The volume of air a normal healthy person breathes in one minute is between three and six litres of air. Dr Buteyko's 40-years of scientific research, plus scientific trials at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane and the Gisborne Hospital in New Zealand, discovered that an asthmatic breathes each minute about ten to twenty litres! And when having an asthma attack, an asthmatic can breathe over twenty litres. That is more than three times as much as the most that a normal healthy person breathes!

And anyone going through an anxiety or panic attack can identify with the following symptoms caused by over-breathing. These include chest pain and palpitations in the heart (often mistaken for a heart attack when an adult gets a big panic attack for the first time), light-headedness, a feeling that something terrible is about to happen, a headache or migraine, numbness of the hands and feet, and sweaty palms.

And notice how anyone simulating snoring deliberately opens their mouth. That is because an open mouth is typical when someone snores. But an open mouth exacerbates over-breathing and so exacerbates snoring. Anyone who sleeps with a partner that snores can do with lower decibels. When the partner's snoring is at a minimum, a blissful night's sleep is possible for both people concerned.

One simple way of correcting the over-breathing and body's biochemistry is to train in the correct breathing. You can see a Buteyko practitioner, or if budget or travel gets in the way, you can learn the Buteyko method from a good book, eBook or DVD.