Breathing, so immediately essential to life, must meet certain conditions and people with asthma need to know this more than most. Michelle McDonagh reports
Imagine trying to breathe while a pillow is being pressed firmly over your face. That awful feeling is how somebody who suffers from asthma feels during an attack. If you don't have asthma, the imaginary pillow can be easily removed to allow you to breathe effortlessly, but for an asthmatic, a remedy is not so simple.
Or is it? According to Patrick McKeown, of Asthma Care Ireland, there is hope for asthma sufferers and it comes in the form of a very simple breathing therapy called the Buteyko (pronounced Bhew-tae-ko) Breathing Method.
This non-medical treatment is based on the life's work of Russian respiratory physiologist Prof Konstantin Buteyko, who developed a programme of exercises to foster correct breathing.
The premise behind the method is that the greater the volume of air a patient inhales, the worse their asthmatic symptoms are. So the aim is to reduce the amount of air that passes through the lungs.
There are three ways of controlling asthma, according to McKeown whose new book, Asthma Free Naturally deals with the Buteyko Method.
The first and most important is learning to breathe properly through the lungs' natural defence, the nose, while the second is living a life balanced by proper nutrition, regular exercise and relaxation.
The third avenue is using preventative and relieving asthma medication. "Think of it as a three-way junction where you, the person with asthma, can choose the direction. The first two avenues are like the scenic routes: they're entirely natural, proven and improve overall health, but require personal commitment and an investment of time and energy.
"The third avenue is the one most often travelled by people like you, but it never addresses the root cause of your breathing problem. It also involves taking chemicals which are alien to your body. Sooner or later, your body fights back or submits to the continuous use of powerful drugs."
McKeown was diagnosed with asthma as a child and his condition worsened as he grew older until he discovered the Buteyko method through a newspaper article. Through learning and self-teaching the technique, he found himself gradually reducing the amount of medication he had to take to control his asthma.
He transformed himself from an acute asthmatic with a permanent illness requiring daily medication and occasional hospitalisation to a virtual non-asthmatic who has been totally free from symptoms, attacks and medication for three years and who runs 12 miles every evening.
He enrolled at the Buteyko Institute of Moscow and since he completed his training in March 2002, he has worked with asthma patients at his Irish clinics and workshops.
The real key to the success of the therapy, according to McKeown, is that individuals are prepared to set aside the necessary time to learn and practise the exercises. He says any asthma sufferer can learn the simple method which entails minimum disruption to your life and can lead to an improvement in as little as seven days.
McKeown points out that humans can live without water for days and without food for weeks, but we cannot live without air for more than a few minutes.
"Why then does the quantity and quality of our breathing receive so little attention? Surely breathing, which is so immediately essential to life, must meet certain conditions? Why have other cultures, particularly in the Eastern world, recognised the importance of correct breathing in health for thousands of years when we clearly don't?"
Asthma now affects more people throughout the world - up to 150 million - particularly in more developed countries, than at any other time. It causes greater economic and social damage in Western Europe than either TB or HIV, according to the World Health Organisation.
The 1998 International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood showed that the countries with the highest 12-month incidence of asthma were the UK, Australia and New Zealand followed by Ireland. Here an estimated 300,000 people, or 7.7 per cent of the population, suffer from asthma.
Further information on obtaining copies of Asthma Care Naturally can be obtained from www.asthmacare.ie or freefone 1800 931 935.