Ivan, I read the Buteyko info with great fascination. (BTW I am not the one with the asthma...I am researching for a friend.)
A scattering of thoughts I would love you to respond to. **There is an institute that works with brain-damaged children...one of the exercises is breathing into a paper bag to increase carbon dioxide. Is Buteyko anything like that? How would increasing carbon dioxide help brain damage? **Wm Campbell Douglass (or Douglass Campbell?) talks about EWOT or Exercise With Oxygen Therapy. You hook yourself up to an oxygen tank and exercise for 20 minutes. He claims it is very good for one. I finally got the whole thing together, the oxygen tank, etc, and did it. And I felt AWFUL. I only tried it a few times. **In Germany cancer patients exercise with ionized oxygen with very good results. There is a book out about it...big expensive book...anybody know the title? **An exercise program called Oxycise uses very deep breathing combined with stretches and isometrics. I've done it off and on...and I read the letters that come in...people claim to loose weight and feel great. In the Oxycise book it says that the weight loss occurs because of increased carbon dioxide. **Has Buteyko helped any diseases other than those of the lungs? **How would this fit in with the fact that some people have gotten better using antibiotics? **I get asthma only around cats. How would this relate? Very very fascinated and looking forward to hearing what you have to say! ~^^V^^~ At 12:15 AM 7/25/99 +1200, you wrote: >Here is an interesting view of the causes of Asthma, found at: >http://www.nqnet.com/buteyko/asthma_relief.html > >Ivan. > > > >What Is The Theory Behind It? [Asthma/Hay fever] >According to Buteyko, the key to asthma and other diseases lies in the >gas - carbon dioxide. Consider the following facts: > >The basic reaction that produces the energy inside each of our body >cells involves two main gases. Most energy comes from the breakdown >[or burning] of sugars [carbohydrates] in the presence of oxygen [O2]. >This produces a nice amount of energy that we use to run our bodies. >It also produces water and very importantly carbon dioxide. So we >have: > > >Carbohydrate + Oxygen > >Are reacted in the cells to produce > >ENERGY + Water + Carbon Dioxide > > > >The amount of carbohydrate and oxygen used up and the amount of water >and carbon dioxide produced depends on the energy need of the cell. >For example running up a flight of stairs will use up more oxygen and >produce more carbon dioxide than sitting quietly in front of your >computer. > > >To keep the levels of both oxygen and carbon dioxide within safe >levels our body adjusts your level of breathing. You will breathe more >deeply when you are more active and produce more carbon dioxide, and >less deeply when you are quiet and produce less carbon dioxide. You >will note that it is the levels of carbon dioxide that regulates your >breathing, not oxygen. [The exception is when you are being >strangled.] > > >So our breathing is how we release the carbon dioxide that we have >produced [and also replenish our oxygen.] > > >A Little More About Carbon Dioxide >There is only 0.03% carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today. This is >almost none at all. > > >If you are perfectly healthy you will have about 6.5% carbon dioxide >in the alveoli of your lungs. This is more than 200 times more than is >present in the air around us. > > >Therefore your lungs act to trap in some of the carbon dioxide >produced by your body. > > >This carbon dioxide is critical for keeping the pH [A chemical measure >of how much acid is in our body fluids] at a safe level. Our pH is the >ratio of bicarbonate to carbonic acid, which are both forms of carbon >dioxide. The level of your carbonic acid depends on the amount of >carbon dioxide that is in the alveoli of your lungs. If the carbon >dioxide level drops [or rises] too much it can make fatally large >changes to your pH. > > >More simply, the amount of carbon dioxide you keep in your lungs is >very important. It affects the chemistry all of fluids of your body. > > >If you adopt a breathing pattern which causes you to release more >carbon dioxide than you produce, the level in your lungs will drop. If >it drops too far, the level of carbonic acid will be altered, and so >the pH will also change. Even a slight change in your pH is usually >fatal. > > > >Now stay with me, this is the interesting part! > > >To help prevent the loss of carbon dioxide to a fatally low level, the >body has developed certain defensive mechanisms. These include spasms >of the airpipes and bloodpipes, and the increased production of mucus. > > >ASTHMA Is A Defense - Your Body Works Perfectly! >To use asthma as a simple example, let's think like a plumber in talk >in terms of pipes. > > >Let's say that your breathing is too great. As you are breathing out >air that is rich in carbon dioxide, and breathing in air that has >almost no carbon dioxide, the more you breathe - the less you trap in. >If the level of carbon dioxide in your lungs gets too low - you really >will have a serious problem. As you continue to release more carbon >dioxide than you produce, your level gets lower and lower. Now your >body does not want you to die, so if it is [genetically] able it will >act to restrict the airflow to trap in some carbon dioxide. > > >It will do this by either reducing the size of the opening in your >airpipes, or by increasing the production of mucus in the pipes, >clogging them up. The first defense will make you feel tight or >wheezy, the second will give you a cough. Both will cause more carbon >dioxide to be trapped in - as you physically cannot get as much out of >your body through a smaller or blocked airpipe. The harder you try to >breathe deeply during an asthma attack, the more your airpipe will >constrict. > >If you can learn to reduce your breathing depth more than your asthma >is making you, the attack will subside. That is what Buteyko method >gently and carefully teaches you to do. > > >Even more than that, Buteyko method shows you how to gently condition >the section of your brain that is sensitive to carbon dioxide to get >used to higher levels of carbon dioxide in your lungs! This means that >as you have started with a normal higher level in your lungs, you will >have a "safety" or "buffer" zone between you and any asthma at all. >You will then have fewer and less severe attacks. > > >This is how the extraordinary results of Buteyko and asthma are >achieved. For people who have personal classes with me, I have >maintained a full guarantee of significant improvement in one week. > > >The average decrease in symptoms and relief medication use in my >clinic in 7 days is 92.5%. > >You have now been given a very basic part of the theory of what causes >asthma, and how Buteyko training stops it. The next step is the >application of the theory. You can figure it out for yourself, or you >can learn it the most efficient way, which is preferably with a good >instructor, or second best with a good instruction kit. >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >---------- > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >---------- > >Important Points: >Even when you are breathing three or four times more air than you >need, it feels like you are breathing normally. >In fact, because of your body's defence of reducing the airflow, it >usually feels like you are not getting enough air! >If you measure your resting "minute volume", it will be far above the >normal of around 5 litres. >You are so used to breathing far too much, it feels normal to you. >What about oxygen? For most of the time our blood is almost completely >saturated with oxygen. You can only force in a small amount more no >matter how much or how deeply you breathe [and this will lose extra >CO2, which can cause a further restriction of your airways - causing a >further lowering of your blood oxygen! > > > > > > >-- >The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. > >To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: >[email protected] -or- [email protected] >with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. > >To post, address your message to: [email protected] > >List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]> > > > -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
