It strikes 1 in 15 Americans, causes 11 deaths each day, and costs the nation more than $10 billion a year for drugs and hospital care.

Asthma is the most common chronic health condition in children, and the number of U.S. cases has been rising since the early 1980s.

But what if doctors could come up with an effective technique that costs nothing, is easy to use, and works as well or better than drugs but without the side effects? Such a treatment has been used by doctors in Russia, Europe, Canada, and elsewhere for 60 years, and it’s finally starting to gain favor with American doctors.

The method is called Buteyko Breathing – named after the Russian doctor who developed it – and a growing number of scientific studies have found that it is as effective as conventional drugs.

“Buteyko is definitely growing in popularity,” said Carol Baglia, a licensed respiratory therapist and certified Buteyko instructor with Cleveland-based Correct Breathing Concepts. “Access to it was limited until the past few years.”

Baglia stressed that Buteyko practitioners don’t advocate throwing away asthma medications; they always instruct clients to consult their doctors before reducing medications.

But as asthmatics’ symptoms disappear after learning the breathing technique, the need for medications is typically lessened.

“Most people are able to eliminate the need for drugs,” she said.

Buteyko’s Origins

The Buteyko method is essentially a shallow-breathing technique developed in the early 1950s by a Russian doctor, Konstantin Buteyko. It’s based on the knowledge that asthmatics tend to over-breathe or hyperventilate – taking in more air, more deeply, at a faster rate – than people who don’t have asthma. The Buteyko breathing method – taking small, measured, shallow breaths through the nose – was designed to help people with asthma gain control over their breathing.

During an asthma attack, the lung’s airways narrow because of inflammation and muscle spasms. Most asthmatics naturally respond by breathing more heavily and deeply to pull in more oxygen.

The Buteyko method requires practitioners to do something that seems counterintuitive – take slow, small, shallow breaths through the nose. Doing so helps asthmatics avoid hyperventilation and “resets” the breathing rate at a naturally lower pace, Baglia says.

Proof it Works

A recent study, published in the “New Zealand Medical Journal,” tracked children with asthma who used the Buteyko technique over a 12-week period. By the end of the study, researchers said about 66 percent of the child participants reduced their use of asthma drugs.

A British study found that diligent Buteyko practitioners can expect a 90 percent reduction in the use of inhalers and a 50 percent reduction in the need for steroids within three to six months.

Another recent study by University of Calgary researchers found that patients who started using Buteyko had better control of their asthma after six months and 21 percent were able to stop using inhaled corticosteroids, a standard asthma treatment.

Dr. Bob Cowie, the lead researcher, said: "The results of this study show (Buteyko) is a wonderful adjunct to conventional treatment of asthma. We had super results that match even with the best medication."

Learning Buteyko

YouTube videos and web-based instruction techniques are available. But Baglia said the best way to learn the technique is in a small classroom setting – typically with 5-10 people – with an instructor certified by the Buteyko Institute of Breathing & Health. Another option is to purchase a self-help home study kit or one of several books written on this subject. Several websites also offer instruction, including: buteykoeducators.org, correctbreathing.com , buteyko.info, and buteyko-usa.com. But the technique is not easy to learn by yourself, she says. Buteyko workshops are covered by medical insurance in several countries, but not yet in the U.S.

Says Baglia: “The biggest complaints that I get is that people wished that they had known about Buteyko sooner and complain because their doctor did not tell them about it sooner.”

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