What was discovered by Konstantin Buteyko in patients who were hyperventilating

 What was discovered by Konstantin Buteyko in patients who were hyperventilating by Graeme Ward

Buteyko discovered that chronic hyperventilation in elderly patients, like in other patients,

leads to low blood carbon dioxide levels (CO2) This state of hypocapnia can cause blood

vessels and airways to constrict, compromise oxygen delivery to tissues, and trigger

various symptoms, including those associated with asthma and hypertension. His theory

suggests these mechanisms lead to a range of symptoms and conditions that can be

alleviated by breathing exercises designed to restore normal CO2 levels and promote

slower, shallower breathing.

Buteyko's discoveries regarding hyperventilation and elderly patients

• Hypocapnia and its effects: Hyperventilation causes a drop in blood CO2 levels

(hypocapnia), which leads to the body triggering defensive mechanisms.

• Physiological consequences: These mechanisms include the constriction of

blood vessels and airways, which can increase blood pressure and contribute to

asthma symptoms like broncho-constriction.

• Oxygen delivery issues: Despite there being plenty of oxygen in the blood, the

constricted blood vessels reduce the amount of oxygen that can be delivered to the

body's tissues.

• Symptom trigger: Buteyko theorized that this cycle is a root cause of many health

problems, including heart conditions, high blood pressure, and anxiety, which are

common in the elderly population.

• Potential for treatment: Based on these discoveries, Buteyko developed a

breathing technique that uses exercises to encourage slower, more controlled

breathing and nasal breathing, aiming to increase blood CO2 levels and alleviate

symptoms.

Konstantin Buteyko discovered that elderly patients with hyperventilation, or chronic over-

breathing, often developed more severe health conditions as their breathing rate

increased. By observing patients in a hospital setting, he found that the sicker the patient,

the faster and deeper their breathing became, a pattern that intensified as their condition

worsened.

Buteyko's key insight was that this dysfunctional breathing was not merely a symptom of

illness, but a contributing factor to it. He hypothesized that chronic hyperventilation, a state

of breathing more air than metabolically needed, leads to a cascade of negative

physiological effects.

Physiological effects of chronic hyperventilation

• Reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) levels: Over-breathing causes the body to exhale

excessive amounts of CO2, leading to a decrease in its blood levels (hypocapnia).

• Bohr effect impairment: CO2 is crucial for releasing oxygen from hemoglobin into

the body's tissues. With less CO2 available, oxygen delivery to organs is

compromised, causing tissue hypoxia.

• Blood vessel and airway constriction: Low CO2 levels can cause the smooth

muscles in blood vessels and airways to constrict, leading to conditions like high

blood pressure and asthma.

• Increased acidity: Despite the initial rise in blood pH (alkalosis) from low CO2, the

lack of proper oxygenation can lead to a buildup of acids like lactic acid, causing

fatigue and muscle pain.

• Overstimulated nervous system: Hyperventilation can trigger the "fight or flight"

response, leading to increased anxiety and other mental health symptoms.

The Buteyko method in practice

Based on these discoveries, Buteyko developed his breathing technique to help retrain

patients' breathing patterns to be slower and shallower. The goal is to correct chronic

hyperventilation and increase the body's tolerance to CO2. Key components of the

Buteyko method include:

• Nasal breathing: Encourages breathing through the nose to filter, warm, and

humidify the air, as well as to produce beneficial nitric oxide.

• Reduced breathing exercises: Consciously decreasing breathing volume to

trigger a mild "air hunger," which helps normalize CO2 levels.

• Breath-holding exercises: Techniques like the "Control Pause" (the comfortable

breath-hold time after an exhale) are used to monitor progress in restoring proper

breathing.

By controlling their breathing, Buteyko found that patients were able to alleviate symptoms

of chronic hyperventilation and improve conditions exacerbated by it.

This method retrains people to breathe in accordance to medical norms which in a healthy

person is around 4-8 litres of air per minute ( or minute volume). But the average person

these days is estimated to breathe 3 times what is healthy, and this sets up a situation of

chronic undetected hyperventilation. For asthmatics the minute volume can even get up to

around 25 litres.

His method gently retrains the respiratory centre in the brain, to not be triggered to take a

big gulp of air as soon as it detects an uncomfortable accumulation of CO2 in the lungs.

The retraining needs to be carried out slowly and gently along with muscular relaxation as

otherwise it could even exacerbate the over breathing due to stress, especially so in the

case for survivors of near drowning or choking.

The foregoing, as noted above, pertains to any cohort, not only the elderly.

A side note regarding asthma. There is evidence that asthmatics, like a large proportion of

the population are chronically dehydrated. This can often be the primary cause of

hyperventilation as a result of the body trying to conserve moisture being lost through the

breath. This causes broncho-constriction in the lungs resulting in hyperventilation

exacerbating all that is considered previously.