Asthma-Free Naturally: Everything you need to know about taking control of your asthma. Patrick McKeown
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body processes. Scientific trials have shown clearly that the Buteyko Method can be one hundred per cent effective in the treatment of asthma.
The only real key to the effectiveness of the therapy is that individuals are prepared to set aside the necessary time to learn and practice the exercises.
I commend those of you who, on reading this book, will decide to make that effort. I can honestly say that your investment of time and energy will be gratifying, and that it will transform your life…for the rest of your life.
I can hear you thinking that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and that there’s always a catch. There is no catch this time. Once you learn how to control your own asthma, you are in charge of your own life and treatment. This therapy is about teaching you the skills to deal with your own asthma problem; my job is essentially to make myself redundant.
This book, written by a person with asthma for people with asthma, contains essential information to help you deal with your condition. Each exercise is a simplified version to make the contents as user-friendly as possible in the hope that you will be able to understand and appreciate this approach, and that you will be able to apply it practically to your own asthma problem.
Included is a special section for children who naturally will have difficulty understanding breathing patterns. Every child who comes to me is told how lucky he or she is to be learning a therapy as effective as this, a therapy that deals with what otherwise would be a life-long illness…without medicine, tablets, hospital visits or injections.
At our clinics throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, patients receive practical help and advice and our training exercises are designed to suit the individual needs of each person. My clinics also address lifestyle factors such as correct breathing during physical activity, diet, sleeping, stress and much more. Clinics are a very useful way of exchanging information and answering any questions participants may have.
Feedback from those who attend our clinics has been extremely helpful in furthering my own knowledge of asthma, in developing the content of future clinics, and also in the writing of this book.
There’s another simple question you may have at this point: why is the Buteyko method not better known? That’s a good question, and one to which I don’t have a clear answer. Looking at the current situation openly, however, one of the most striking features is that medical research is mainly funded by pharmaceutical companies, in one form or another. Asking the pharmaceutical industry to fund research into a method such as Buteyko – with its non-medication approach – is perhaps like asking turkeys to vote in favour of Christmas. The usual answer is that there has been insufficient research for authoritative judgements to be made.
If a non-medication approach to asthma such as the Buteyko Method achieved widespread acceptance in Ireland, there would be massive savings in the national health budget. Given the potential for savings, the Department of Health should be interested in commissioning or supporting research into the method. To date, there has been no indication of any awareness of this potential by the Department.
My main aim is to help people overcome their asthmarelated problems by using the Buteyko Clinic Method and lifestyle changes. When enough people have experienced the benefits, I hope that public opinion might have enough leverage on medical authorities to encourage them to assess Professor Buteyko’s method with an open mind. If that happens, then at least there will be a long-delayed debate on the subject.
I am open to any comments, suggestions or criticism which you may have regarding this book. Constant feedback from my patients has already improved my understanding of asthma and my ability to help people.
All this therapy involves is a commitment to observation of breathing and practice of simple breathing exercises, plus a reasonably well-balanced lifestyle. The reward is freedom. The prize is freedom from asthma.
I wish you every success in applying this tried and tested method developed by an extraordinary Russian doctor.
Patrick McKeown BA MA (TCD) Dip. Buteyko (Moscow)
Chapter 1 Asthma for beginners
‘No matter what treatment you avail of and no matter what medications you take for your asthma, as long as you continue to overbreathe, you will continue to have asthma.’
This book is about taking control of your asthma safely and without the need for medication. You will read about how I transformed myself from an acute asthmatic with a permanent illness requiring daily drug intake – and hospitalisation from time to time – to a virtual non-asthmatic who is totally free from asthma symptoms, attacks…and medication.
You may not believe that this scenario is real. It is. I achieved it and any asthmatic can achieve it too. This non-medical treatment is based on the life’s work of Russian respiratory physiologist, Professor Konstantin Buteyko, who developed a programme of exercises to foster correct breathing. The Buteyko Method is based on bodily processes, not on a placebo or any other effect. All persons with asthma can learn it and use it; the method is very simple, will entail minimum disruption to your life, and you will notice an improvement in as little as seven days. Like I said, you still may not believe this scenario is real. Believe it now.
Asthma was diagnosed when I was very young. Initially my condition was mild and consisted of just occasional wheezing and breathlessness. The treatment consisted of using an Intal inhaler. I only had an attack occasionally, so my asthma didn’t really disrupt my life.
When I reached the age of ten, my asthma deteriorated a little so I was prescribed a Ventolin inhaler which guaranteed me immediate relief from the symptoms. I had to take a Uniphyiulum tablet each night as well. At the time, just one puff of Ventolin dealt with any breathing difficulty I experienced. My asthma was under control.
With the best of intentions, our doctor told my mother that children with asthma very often ‘grow out of it’ during their teenage years. Time and time again, I was assured that this should happen, and it offered a ray of hope for me, but this hope was never realised. As I grew into adulthood, the dose needed to maintain control of my asthma increased. One puff of Ventolin per day was no longer enough. Soon I was taking two, five, eight and even ten puffs a day. My lifestyle during my school and college years didn’t help, but I had my Ventolin inhaler to help me overcome any problems so I wasn’t too concerned about it.
One weekend, when I was in my early twenties, I was brought to James Connolly Memorial Hospital with an asthma attack, and I was told that I was being treated for acute asthma. Two weeks of large doses of oral steroids later, I returned home.
As the years passed, the amount of medication I needed continued to increase. There was no great discussion about this with my doctor, nor any indication that the amount of drugs I needed would ever decline. It seemed to me that I was going steadily downhill, and I became gradually more concerned about the effect that the increasing levels of medication might be having on my general health and well-being.
Many people with asthma can relate to this summary of the steady progression of the condition. What starts off as an occasional wheeze soon develops into continuous symptoms; while one puff of medication deals with symptoms in the early stages, dependency on medication increases remorselessly.
Over time, my asthma developed into a seriously debilitating condition that prevented me from taking part in sport and outdoor activities. I always avoided opportunities to play a match or work out in the gym. The physical limitations were one thing, but the stigma attached to me because of my asthma was another. I had ‘weak lungs’, and I was not as physically strong as lads of my age. Initially, when I was very young, I thought it was cool to carry an inhaler – it was a neat gadget that made me different – but as I got older it labelled me in a way I didn’t like. When I realised this, in the succeeding years I always tried to take my inhaler when there was no-one else around, for all the world like a secret drinker.
While I grappled with the daily realities of