By Dr. Pasquale Fusco
Asthma is becoming an increasingly common disease. In the last 10 years the number of asthmatics in the world has doubled, and unfortunately children are not exempt from this problem, even in countries where medical research is highly developed.
The dott. Buteyko, a Russian doctor, identified the cause of asthma in chronic hyperventilation, that is, in systematically breathing more than necessary, and we know from our experience of every day that a fright or stress make us increase our breathing, increasing even more the hyperventilation. An asthma attack causes a state of anxiety and fear in all asthmatics, and even more so in a child who do nothing but increase the problem.
It is a common belief that the more we breathe and the more oxygen our body has available; instead it is not so, because hyperventilating eliminates large amounts of carbon dioxide and this fact causes the decrease of the amount of oxygen available to the cells of our body, those of the brain, of the various organs, of the muscles. This is because the ability to use oxygen depends on the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. In fact, due to the phenomenon known as the Bohr effect, the ability of hemoglobin to release the oxygen it carries decreases as the amount of carbon dioxide decreases, and the more you breathe, the more the CO2 level decreases.
Dr Buteyko's exercises, in addition to solving the problem of hyperventilation, thus eliminating the problem of asthma at the root, also provide the possibility of controlling an asthma attack with just breathing techniques, without having to take any medication, giving so much relief in the anxious state in which an asthmatic lives; this aspect is even more important in a child, who sometimes does not remember where he put the spry of the bronchodilator or maybe he has forgotten it at home or he does not know how to use it well.
The method of dr. Buteyko is also applicable to children over 3-4 years old: it is sufficient that the child has reached the ability to listen and perform what is asked of him, and the results will not be long in coming. In fact, children react to treatment faster than adults and soon get excellent results.
The little ones must always be followed and encouraged by the parents in performing the exercises, while the older ones after an initial period can also practice alone, but always under the supervision of the parents.
The technique used for children is different from that used for adults, not only because it is masked by the game, but also because of the different kind of reactivity that a child's body usually has.
In the experiments carried out in the former Soviet Union and in Australia, all asthmatic children have responded positively to the method, and attacks of asthma, rhinitis and allergic colds have disappeared or greatly diminished: in one week 83% of children showed noticeable improvements with great reduction in the use of drugs, while 17% had minor improvements.
Not breathing with the nose is one of the main problems of asthmatic children: breathing through the mouth, in fact, the air that is inhaled is not heated, humidified and filtered as it happens instead breathing with the nose, and also inhales a greater quantity air, increasing hyperventilation. The mucus in the respiratory tract (colds, blocked nose) is a defense of the body to the loss of CO2, in fact it will be seen that by applying the method, the nose will be freer and the asthma conditions will improve.
