A
Breath of Fresh Air for Asthmatics
By ANDREW DENHOLM,
The Daily Mail, Page 21, 07th Jan 1997
ASTHMA sufferers in Scotland yesterday hailed a controversial Russian
breathing technique that is currently confounding established medical
opinion.
The little-known Buteyko method, currently being used by a group
of 40 asthmatics, is showing remarkable results. Two months after
a week-long Buteyko course costing pounds 295 per head most of the
group had reduced their medication dramatically and were able to
control their asthma attacks.
'It's been a very interesting experience, hard but very helpful,
' said 77-year-old Anne Kemp, from Milngavie, near Glasgow. 'Before,
my breath would catch all the time and I couldn't even walk back
up the hill to the shops without getting out of breath, and I would
take Ventolin and steroids to counteract that.
'Two months is not a long time to make a big statement about it,
but I think it has been of benefit to me.'
Thirteen-year-old Donna Esslemont, from Eaglesham, outside Glasgow,
has also been helped by the programme.
'I think it has worked. I do all the breathing exercises every
day and I am getting better and better, ' she said. 'I can do a
lot more sport and play with my friends without having to worry
about an attack, and I am using less drugs.' Buteyko practitioner
Alexander Stalmatski says the technique works because asthmatics
breath more than they should do. 'The degree of over-breathing determines
the severity of the asthma and by improving breathing we can improve
asthma, ' he added.
However, despite the seemingly high rates of success, the majority
of doctors remain sceptical and both the medical profession and
the National Asthma Campaign are concerned that people will stop
taking their medication. According to a BBC Scotland Frontline investigation
being screened tonight, about 1,500 people die from the disease
in the United Kingdom every year, and there are an estimated three
million sufferers. The number of children admitted to hospital with
asthma has increased fourfold since the 1980s and there is no known
cure and no known cause.
The only treatment is increasingly higher doses of drugs such as
Ventolin and steroids. Last year the health service spent nearly
pounds 500 million on these drugs, 70 per cent up in the previous
six years.
Dr Gerald Spence, a GP at Shettleston in Glasgow, says his practice
spends 19 per cent of its budget on asthma drugs and he is now taking
a serious look at the alternatives.
'There does seem to be an inexorable increase in the use of these
drugs over the years. It was because we seem to be having to up
the ante all the time that I decided to take a look at an alternative,
' he said.
'I must admit I was flabbergasted by it because it is so simple
and so easy. I felt uncomfortable because for years I have been
prescribing drugs in increasing amounts, and this breathing technique
provides a great deal of relief.'
Dr Spence has now decided to conduct tests of the technique at
his practice with a view to paving the way for proper clinical trials.
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