Russian scientist and medical doctor Konstantin Buteyko, in 1952, discovered that the real cause of asthma and other related diseases is a radical depletion of CO2 – carbon dioxide – in the lungs. This isn’t so strange when we learn that oxygen cannot be assimilated by cells without adequate amounts of CO2. There is only 0.03% carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today. Yet to absorb oxygen a healthy body requires about 6.5% carbon dioxide in the alveoli of the lungs. Therefore your lungs act to trap in some of the carbon dioxide produced by your body. Should the level of carbon dioxide in human lungs fall to 3%, it is fatal.
It acts as the main regulator of all functions in the organism;
it is the main internal environment of the organism; it is the vitamin of all vitamins.”
– KP Buteyko
According to Buteyko’s research, asthmatics and sufferers of other related conditions have adopted a breathing pattern which causes them to release more carbon dioxide than they produce. To prevent the level from dropping to far, the body has developed certain defence mechanisms. These include constriction of the bronchial muscles and increased production of mucus in the membranes of the breathing passages.
Signs of overbreathing are lightheadedness, dizziness, poor concentration, shortness of breath, over sensitivity of the airways, excessive production of mucus, blocked or runny nose, mouth breathing, palpitations, skipped heart beats, muscular spasms, different degrees of anxiety, tension, apprehension, fatigue, insomnia, abdominal bloating, loss of consciousness, and the list goes on!
Paradoxically, while overbreathing means we are taking in more air,
we are actually receiving less oxygen in vital areas of our brain and body.
