Asthma is curable – why are people dying?
by Martha Magenta exclusive for infoholix.net
What they don’t want you to know about Buteyko
“Western doctors have now either stopped looking for the sources of asthma, angina and high blood pressure or have faulty ideas of them. That is why these illnesses are still incurable.” K. P. Buteyko[i]
The Buteyko breathing therapy (BBT) is a treatment that can cure asthma and many related disorders, save many lives, and make medications unnecessary.[ii] It was invented by Dr K. P. Buteyko, a Russian scientist of Ukrainian origin whose early research was held back due to lack of funds,[iii] and repression by the medical establishment.[iv] [v] In 1985 BBT was officially recognised by the Russian Government.[vi]
In Western countries the proven success of BBT appears to pose a threat to the consumer oriented medical system and there is evidence that it is suppressed by pharmaceutical companies and their beneficiaries.[vii] As long as we have a health system that puts its own welfare over the needs of the people it is meant to serve, people will continue to die unnecessarily from asthma. This article looks at the reasons why BBT has yet to be integrated into medical practice in the West.
What is asthma?
Asthma is a serious, chronic and potentially life threatening condition.[viii] The term “asthma” comes from a Greek word a?ζειν (aazein), which means “to breath with open mouth or to pant”.[ix] Asthma accounts for one in 250 deaths worldwide.[x]
Western medicine has no clear definition of asthma, nor has it identified the cause or found a cure.[xi] [xii] Dr K P Buteyko claimed that bronchial asthma and other conditions such as high blood pressure and angina are symptoms of an underlying disorder caused by over breathing.[xiii] [xiv] Further research into environmental factors will not find the cause or cure of asthma.[xv]
Why is Buteyko Breathing Therapy important?
The prevalence of asthma has increased by 50% since the 1980s.[xvi] The World Health Organization reported in 2000 that 150 million people suffer from asthma worldwide, and 180,000 die of asthma each year.[xvii] A Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) report in 2004 claimed the number of asthma sufferers worldwide stood at 300 million.[xviii] [xix] This figure is predicted to rise to 400 million by 2025.[xx]
The GINA report 2004 claims the United Kingdom has the highest percentage of people with asthma in the world: over 18% of the population of Scotland has asthma, Wales 17% and England 15.3%, a total of 10 million people.[xxi] [xxii] [xxiii]
A European Commission survey estimates that the number of people with asthma in the UK is almost double the EU average, with 1,500 deaths from asthma each year.[xxiv] [xxv]
Treatment of asthma costs the National Health Service (NHS) ?900 million per year.[xxvi] The total annual costs of asthma in the UK including NHS costs, social security payments and lost productivity have risen to ?2.3 billion.[xxvii] The NHS could save a fortune if people with asthma used BBT, and most asthma deaths could be prevented.[xxviii] [xxix]
Medical statistics for the developed countries in 1999 reveal that there has been an epidemic increase in bronchial asthma in proportion to the increase in intensity of drug therapy.[xxx] The high death rate and the development of allergies indicate that drugs are not effective in controlling asthma. Studies show that drug treatments relieve asthma symptoms in the short term but do not cure the condition; as dependency on medication increases over time, the symptoms, and side-effects of medication, worsen in the long term.[xxxi] [xxxii]
Due to concerns about side effects, long-term dependence and escalation of medication with little improvement of symptoms, asthma patients are increasingly choosing BBT, which is “…most notably reported to enhance symptom control and enable reduction in medication.” [xxxiii]
The problems with current asthma treatment
A public health information service provided by AstraZeneca claims that: “There is no cure for asthma, but there are different types of medicines that will help to keep it under control and relieve symptoms.”[xxxiv] The UK Department of Health claims it has achieved a reduction in the incidence of asthma and that current drug treatments are effective.[xxxv] However, there is much evidence that these claims are not true.[xxxvi]
The results of a clinical study published in the Lancet in 1990[xxxvii] highlighted the dangers of asthma reliever inhalers: “…regular inhalation of a beta-sympathomimetic agent was associated with deterioration of asthma control in the majority of subjects. The trends to use of regular, higher doses or longer-acting inhaled beta-sympathomimetic treatment may be an important causal factor in the worldwide increase in morbidity from asthma.”
A clinical trial shows that the risk for asthma attacks increases when patients develop a tolerance for beta-agonist reliever drugs; a second study shows that beta-agonist use increases the risk of heart attack.[xxxviii] Pharmacists claim that the asthma reliever drug albuterol (Ventolin) can cause headaches,[xxxix] palpitations, fast heart rate, high blood pressure, tremor, nausea, nervousness, dizziness, heart burn, throat irritation, nose bleeds,[xl] urticaria, angioedema, bronchospasm, hoarseness, oropharyngeal oedema, and arrhythmias.[xli]
Many asthmatics are prescribed higher steroid doses to get worsening symptoms back under control, but research shows that increased doses of steroids have no effect on asthma.[xlii] Many studies show that corticosteroid drugs can have serious side effects.[xliii] Corticosteroids reduce airway inflammation by preventing the immune system from overreacting to allergens, but they suppress natural immunity and promote systemic bacterial infection and fungal growth.[xliv] Other side effects include: sore throat, oral thrush, hoarseness, dysphonia, easy bruising, dermal thinning, cataract formation, osteoporosis, glaucoma, adrenal failure, bone fractures,[xlv] [xlvi] allergic reaction (difficulty breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives); numbness, tingling, open sores, and worsening respiratory symptoms.[xlvii] Steroids also cause psychiatric side effects such as depression, mood swings, aggression, irritability, insomnia and occasionally “steroid psychosis”.[xlviii] [xlix] [l] [li] [lii]
Clinical trials have shown that drugs containing salmeterol, long-acting beta-2-agonist bronchodilators, such as Advair, Serevent and Foradil, improve symptoms but make the underlying problem worse.[liii] There is evidence that long acting beta-agonists increase the risk of severe, potentially life-threatening asthma attacks in some people. A British study shows that the risk of dying as a result of asthma is three times higher in asthmatics using long-acting Serevent than short-acting Ventolin, yet long-acting beta-2 agonist bronchodilators continue to be the most widely prescribed asthma medications, with both the public and primary care doctors unaware of the dangers.[liv] [lv]
Salmeterol is now aggressively marketed as part of a combination asthma drug with inhaled steroids.[lvi] A large population study showed that combined salmeterol and inhaled corticosteroid was associated with an increased risk of asthma-related death.[lvii]
Buteyko Breathing Therapy
BBT is a highly effective, safe asthma management therapy that is totally free from side effects.[lviii] The inventor of BBT, Dr. K. P. Buteyko, found that asthma and many other chronic conditions such as allergy, rhinitis, high blood pressure and angina were protective mechanisms caused by habitual over breathing. The technique he developed stops attacks of asthma and brings about recovery in at least 90% of patients within a few days of training. In addition, drug use is markedly reduced and eventually patients no longer need them.[lix] The therapy is easy to learn and can be taught to children from three years of age. It can be used with very ill patients and is most effective in acute bronchial asthma.[lx] If BBT were taught to all schoolchildren the incidence of asthma would decline within five years.[lxi]
Buteyko found that conditions such as asthma, angina, and high blood pressure are not illnesses, as diagnosed by Western doctors, but symptoms that result from the disease of deep breathing; also that there is a direct correlation between the depth of breathing and the degree of symptoms – the deeper the breath, the worse the symptoms become. Conversely, the shallower the breath, the healthier and stronger the organism becomes. Buteyko found there were no adverse effects from correcting over breathing.[lxii] However, recovery from a chronic hyperventilation involves overcoming at least one period of worsening of symptoms as the mechanisms of regulation and restoration are reset to accept a higher carbon dioxide (CO2) level as the norm.[lxiii] Bronchodilators have the reverse effect, opening up the airways to allow more oxygen in and expelling CO2.[lxiv]
In “The First Hand Buteyko Method” M. Buteyko and V. Buteyko describe how the extent of incorrect breathing is identified by means of the dual measurement of the control pause and pulse.[lxv] They explain that BBT reduces breathing primarily by means of breathing through the nose, relaxation, reduction of breathing until “slight air hunger” is felt, and avoidance of breath-increasing factors: drugs, chemicals, synthetic fumes, overeating, lack of exercise, emotional excess and overindulgence.
There are less than 300 people teaching versions of BBT in the western world, fewer than 20 full-time Buteyko practitioners in any Western country.[lxvi] They work independently, competing against each other for clients, and have not contributed to a central research fund. Buteyko classes are available only in a few countries: Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, USA, Canada, Germany, Holland and the United Kingdom. Millions of asthmatics worldwide do not have access to Buteyko therapists.[lxvii]
It is important to note that BBT was never meant to be a complementary or alternative therapy; rather, it was intended to constitute a revision of medical diagnosis and treatment of disease. Dr Vladimir Buteyko and Dr Marina Buteyko explain this in ?The Buteyko theory about a key role of breathing for human health?[lxviii]
Dr M. Buteyko and Dr V. Buteyko write that many opportunistic “pseudo-Buteyko” practitioners with no medical knowledge teach a distorted version of BBT.[lxix] They state that: “The rules discovered by K.P. Buteyko prove that direct control of respiratory movements (inhale/exhale/pause amplitude and/or duration) is extremely dangerous. This means that almost all known methods of ‘respiratory gymnastics’ have nothing to do with BBT and may turn to be quite hazardous.”[lxx] They also point out that it is incorrect to refer to BBT as ?the breath-holding technique? as breath holding is used only for special purposes.
BBT and other chronic conditions
BBT has been shown to be effective in curing or at least improving many other chronic conditions such as allergy, rhinitis, high blood pressure, angina,[lxxi] obstructive sleep apnoea,[lxxii] arthritis, weak immunity,[lxxiii] bronchitis, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, sinusitis, anxiety, migraine,[lxxiv] and panic attacks.[lxxv]
A BBC Inside Out programme [lxxvi] featured a woman with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (C.O.P.D.) who had a poor quality of life, severe mobility problems due to breathlessness and relied on many medications, including a nebulizer, reliever and preventer. Since the Buteyko training her quality of life has improved substantially; she no longer needs to use her nebulizer or the reliever, and is able to walk up hills without stopping for breath.
Clinical trials prove the efficacy of BBT
Clinical trials have all demonstrated that most people who complete the Buteyko course no longer need their reliever medication and eventually give up preventive steroids as well. K. P. Buteyko conducted a six-year trial of 100,000 patients with asthma who were being treated with drugs. Approximately 92,000 of the subjects do not take drugs today.[lxxvii]
Buteyko tested his theory on very ill children with asthma and other chronic disorders. Most had allergic reactions to drugs that had little effect on their symptoms. The children learned BBT quickly, and after 1-5 days asthma and related symptoms disappeared. 73% of patients stopped their medication at the start of the trial, and most of the remaining subjects reduced drug use after 4 days. All patients showed improvement in asthma control: 83% showed considerable improvement and 17% showed some improvement.[lxxviii]
Subsequent trials have confirmed Buteyko’s results. In 1995 a four month trial in Brisbane, Australia, showed an average reduction in reliever medication of 90% in the Buteyko group, and after three months, a reduction of 49% in steroid preventive drugs, as compared to no significant changes in the control group.[lxxix]
A six month trial in New Zealand in 2000 showed similar results to the Brisbane trial, with a reduction of reliever drugs of 85% and steroids by 50%.[lxxx] An Australian trial of BBT taught by video showed a 60% reduction of reliever drugs and a major improvement in quality of life in the Buteyko group.[lxxxi]
A major two-year trial in Glasgow, Scotland, UK showed similar results to the Brisbane study. In the BBT group asthma symptoms decreased by 98%, and remained the same after six and twelve months. Use of reliever medication decreased by 98%, preventive medication decreased by 92%, reliever oral medication decreased by 100%, preventive oral medication decreased by 96%, and incidence of cold or viral infection decreased by 20%. The quality of life increased by 100%. There was no significant change on any of these outcome measures in the placebo and control groups.[lxxxii]
In addition, there have been two trials comparing BBT with other breathing techniques. A six-month trial in Nottingham compared the effects of BBT with pranayama yogic breathing.[lxxxiii] The BBT group decreased use of reliever medication by 100%. After six months 40% of remaining participants reduced steroid use by 75-100% and 15% of subjects reduced steroid use by 25-50% – significantly more than reductions in the pranayamic or control groups.[lxxxiv]?
More recently a study in Calgary, Canada, compared results of BBT with breathing techniques used by physical therapists for asthma.[lxxxv] The findings show that at six months, while both the BBT and control groups substantially improved in terms of asthma control and quality of life, the BBT group showed significantly reduced symptoms and decreased use of steroid drugs. 29% of the remaining BBT subjects stopped using steroid drugs, compared with just over 6% of the control group.
A recent three-month study of children at Gisborne Hospital, New Zealand showed results similar to studies of adult asthmatics: There was a 66% reduction in bronchodilator medications and a 50% reduction in steroid use.[lxxxvi]
Without doubt, BBT “…has been scientifically proven to be a safe, highly effective and complementary technique for treating asthma.”[lxxxvii] Moreover, it has saved many thousands of lives, and if it were introduced to mainstream medical practice in the West, it could save many more lives.[lxxxviii] It has also proven to be highly cost effective since it requires a course of just five 90 minute sessions at a cost of around ?300,[lxxxix] [xc] which is very little compared to the huge potential savings in terms of lives and medication costs.
BBT is highly cost effective
A report by the research company Dr Foster Intelligence shows that ?64 million a year is spent on emergency asthma admissions to hospital in the UK.[xci] A report commissioned by Asthma UK argues that given that asthma costs the UK more than ?2.3 billion a year in NHS services and drugs, benefits and lost productivity, it would make more financial sense to invest in primary care programmes to help people with asthma control their symptoms.[xcii] Besides saving lives and keeping asthma patients out of hospital,[xciii] BBT is inexpensive and can save health services a lot of money.
A QED Science programme told how Dr Spence, a Glasgow GP, taught BBT after the expensive drug treatments currently on the market failed to improve his patients’ asthma. Dr Spence said: “The simple fact is that 34 patients, prior to BBT, were costing ?15,000 for their asthma medication. After BBT, they were costing ?5,000. That’s a reduction of two-thirds in their drugs bill. If this was extended to the rest of the country, very significant savings could be made.”[xciv]
A Cornish GP, Dr Rupert Manley, carried out a pilot study of BBT and found that most of his patients used fewer drugs as a result of the breathing training. He claims BBT could save the NHS ?270m – more than half of what it spends nationally on asthma drugs.[xcv]
Asthma is curable – so why are people dying?
Evidence has shown that asthma is curable, yet the official line is that there is no known cure for asthma.[xcvi] [xcvii] The Department of Health claims it has achieved a reduction in the incidence of asthma, and that current drug treatments are effective, despite evidence to the contrary.[xcviii]
Evidence also demonstrates that BBT is highly cost effective, that it could reduce the burden on the NHS, improve the health of people with asthma and other chronic conditions without drugs, and save many lives. Yet respiratory specialists still do not prescribe it; it is still not available on the NHS. BBT is portrayed as a complementary therapy with no proven scientific basis, and this view is difficult to change due to the lack of willingness on the part of funding bodies to support further research.[xcix] Despite repeated parliamentary debates the Department of Health remains dismissive of BBT.[c] [ci] [cii] [ciii] [civ]
The House of Commons debates
Despite the official Government stance, and the reluctance of the medical profession to take the Buteyko theory seriously,[cv] Ministers of Parliament, including Anne Campbell[cvi] and Jonathan Aitken, have been among the first British asthma patients to benefit from BBT.[cvii]
In November 1998 Mr Letwin MP asked the Health Secretary to assess the advantages of using BBT in the NHS for the treatment of asthma. Mr Hutton replied that there were no plans to carry out a trial of BBT and the Medical Research Council was not currently funding research into BBT.[cviii]
The positive results of the Glasgow trials of BBT, pioneered by Jill McGowan, seemed to herald a new era of hope for asthma sufferers.[cix] The success of the trials led to a new Parliamentary debate. On 10th June 2002 Anne Campbell MP asked the Health Secretary what assessment had been made of the effectiveness of BBT in asthma treatment, but there was little change in the response. Ms Blears answered that the Department of Health had not commissioned an evaluation of BBT, and the Medical Research Council was not currently funding research into BBT.[cx]
John McDonnell then asked what the cost would be of providing free medication to all asthmatics. Ms Blears replied “We estimate that the loss of prescription charge income in England would be over ?50 million a year…”[cxi]
On the 25th June 2002, Anne Campbell brought BBT to the House of Commons again.[cxii] She described the increase in asthma cases, the rising death rate, the financial costs, and the theory and practice of Dr Buteyko. She said: “It is time we admitted that the current treatments appear to be making us worse, not better…” She described how, as asthma sufferer, after learning BBT her symptoms were significantly reduced, and her use of reliever medication dropped from four or five doses a day to occasional use.
Mrs Campbell referred to evidence provided by the New Zealand and Brisbane trials and a UK pilot study that showed a 90% reduction of reliever drugs within a few weeks. She explained that the success of these trials had led to a two-year clinical study in Glasgow, and asked that the chief medical officer examine the evidence and support further trials to prove the efficacy of BBT.[cxiii]
The Under-Secretary of State for Health, David Lammy, replied to Mrs Campbell that he wanted to see ?robust scientific evidence? that BBT is effective in the treatment of asthma, and that it would be as effective as existing drug therapies.[cxiv]
On the 3rd December 2002, Anne Campbell once again asked the Health Secretary what assessment had been made of BBT of asthma management. Ms Jacqui Smith replied that the chief medical officer found that more research was needed into BBT, “…to show that this method would be as clinically effective as the drug treatments that are proving effective at the moment.” When Mrs Campbell pointed out that the Glasgow trial had achieved a 98% reduction in reliever medication and a 92% reduction in preventive medication, indicating a great saving for the NHS, Ms Smith dismissed the evidence saying that the trial would not be finished until April 2003.[cxv]
David Tredinnick argued that sufficient evidence had already been provided by the Brisbane trial results, to which Ms Smith gave the stock response: “… there is no robust scientific evidence that any complementary therapy on its own can provide a lasting cure for asthma.” She repeated that the chief medical officer and the Medical Research Council agreed that more research was needed.[cxvi]
Why isn’t more research undertaken to prove the efficacy of BBT?
K. P. Buteyko demonstrated a success rate of 96% in curing high blood pressure and angina, and 98% recovery rate for asthma, bronchitis, allergy and rhinitis.
The recovery rate of conventional medicine at that time for all of these conditions was nil. On the basis of this proven success, BBT was granted a patent in 1985, number N 1067640, and USSR Minister of Health initiated the use of BBT in general medicine.[cxvii]
In the UK, the public organisations that claim to be dedicated to helping asthmatics, such as the Government Department of Health and the Medical Research Council, say that more research is needed before BBT can be prescribed by the NHS, but they are not willing to support further research.[cxviii] [cxix] [cxx] In 1996 the Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell announced a five-year ?5 million research programme to find the cause of asthma. None of this money went towards research of BBT.
The government spends a mere ?3 million a year on asthma research – the amount spent by the charity Asthma UK.[cxxi] Compare this with ?900 million per year that is spend on hospital admissions and medications for asthma.[cxxii] All the clinical trials of BBT in the West have been funded by private donations or by charities.[cxxiii] When researcher Jill McGowan was denied funding for a pilot study she sold her house to fund it herself, and donated three quarters of her salary to fund the two-year clinical trial in Glasgow.[cxxiv]
In April 2004 Mr Watson asked the Health Secretary what research the Department of Health had conducted into reasons for increases in asthma rates in the previous twenty-five years. Mr Ladyman replied that King’s College, London led a ?2.1 million European Commission funded study of allergy and low lung function of adults in Europe, and the National Asthma Campaign (now Asthma UK) produced a consultation document that listed seven key areas of asthma research including airway remodelling.[cxxv]
Asthma UK and the Medical Research Council
Asthma UK is the only charity that claims to be “…dedicated to improving the health and well-being of people with asthma.”[cxxvi] Funded by private and corporate donors, it spends ?3 million per year on asthma research. It has spent a total of ?30 million on research aimed at finding the cause of asthma and identifying new treatments to control and prevent asthma.[cxxvii]
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is funded by the Government Department of Trade and Industry. Its main objectives are “…to promote the balanced development of medical and related biological research, with the aim of maintaining and improving human health.”[cxxviii] Its accounts for the year 2005-2006 show that its parliamentary grant-in aid totalled ?459.5 million.[cxxix] Since 1998 it has generated an income of more than ?200 million from its involvement in antibody technology and the formation of biotechnology companies. The MRC spends more than ?500 million a year on its 40 Institutes, Units and Centres, grants and training awards to individuals and teams in universities and medical schools. King’s College is in the top group of UK universities for research income with grants and contracts of ?100 million.[cxxx]
In September 2005, Asthma UK and the MRC launched a new, jointly funded research centre: The MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, based at King’s College, London and Imperial College, London. The research at King’s College is studying the effects of vitamins and steroids on asthma.[cxxxi] Research at Imperial College London involves protein production, molecular structural studies, cellular work on allergy and asthma, animal airway function, and animal testing of potential new drugs. Guys Hospital and other hospital based research institutions are researching “airway re-modelling” i.e. how genetics, environment and drugs alter the structure of the airway wall in asthma.[cxxxii] [cxxxiii] [cxxxiv]
The MRC and Asthma UK are also spending their combined research budget on inhalers that deliver anti-viral proteins to the lungs to prevent severe asthma attacks during viral infections.[cxxxv] Asthma UK provides ?2 million every five years to research geared towards the development of “targeted treatments”[cxxxvi] Studies include the causes and triggers of asthma in childhood, such as family history, home environment and physical activity.[cxxxvii] [cxxxviii] Asthma UK also supports Professor Anne Tattersfield’s research into how drugs work in asthma, with the aim of ensuring the optimum use of drugs.[cxxxix]
Asthma UK claims it is committed to supporting research into non-drug approaches to control asthma, yet the Asthma UK Fact File is dismissive of BBT. It makes the false claim that studies showed that the Pranayama breathing technique was more successful in reducing asthma symptoms than BBT.[cxl] This statement is based on Anne Tattersfield’s report of the Nottingham trial, which she claims found that BBT reduced asthma symptoms and the need for reliever drugs but had no effect on the underlying condition or the need for preventer medicine.[cxli] This is a misrepresentation of the results of the trial. In fact, the results showed a 100% reduction in bronchodilators, and after six months 40% of participants reduced steroid use by 75-100% and 15% reduced steroid use by 25-50%. There was no reduction in bronchodilators in the pranayamic or placebo groups. Tattersfield describes this result as ?non-significant.? [cxlii] [cxliii] Could this researcher’s integrity have been compromised?
The Asthma UK Fact File also claims that: “Very little research has been published in medical journals about BBT.”[cxliv] This is untrue. Numerous studies have been published in medical journals worldwide that prove the efficacy and safety of BBT.[cxlv] [cxlvi] [cxlvii] [cxlviii] [cxlix] [cl] [cli] [clii] [cliii] [cliv] [clv] There is no evidence that BBT is not safe and effective. However, abundant evidence has been published in worldwide medical journals that asthma medications are unsafe and ineffective.[clvi] [clvii] [clviii] [clix] [clx] [clxi] [clxii] [clxiii] [clxiv] [clxv] [clxvi]
The honesty and integrity of Asthma UK is further called into doubt by the lack of veracity in the figures it quotes as to the number of people in the United Kingdom with asthma. A report commissioned by Asthma UK in 2004 claimed the number of people diagnosed with asthma in the UK was 5,200,000.[clxvii] [clxviii] [clxix] In an Audit in 2001 the charity claimed that 8 million people in the UK were diagnosed with asthma.[clxx] Given the evidence that asthma is increasing and not decreasing,[clxxi] [clxxii] these figures are impossible. Since the population of the UK in 2004 was about 60 million,[clxxiii] [clxxiv] an average of the percentages quoted by the GINA report indicates that the figure given by Asthma UK is about half of the real number of people in the UK with asthma.
The direction that Asthma UK has taken in the research it selects to support, together with its dismissive stance towards BBT, suggests that there are greater benefits to be gained from supporting drug companies rather than research that would ascertain the cause and cure of asthma. The charity’s Accounts for 2005/2006 lists many pharmaceutical companies among its corporate donors: GlaxoSmithKline, Altana Pharma Ltd, Lloydspharmacy, Novartis Pharma UK Ltd, Superdrug Stores plc, AstraZeneca UK Ltd, Boots The Chemist, IVAX Pharmaceuticals UK, Schering-Plough Ltd, and Ranbaxy UK Ltd.[clxxv]
The pharmaceutical companies
Most clinical trials are funded by drug companies for the purpose of proving that their products are safe and effective. They have no incentive to invest in research that will find a drug-free cure for asthma.[clxxvi] The total sales for asthma drug treatments worldwide in 2005 was more than $35 billion.[clxxvii] The leading asthma drug companies are GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. The shareholders of these companies are likely to resist anything that threatens profits.[clxxviii]
The pharmaceutical companies are spending their research money on developing new combinations of existing drugs, such as a combined broncholidator/steroid inhaler,[clxxix] that have been proven unsafe.[clxxx] GlaxoSmithKline has developed a range of asthma products, most of which contain long-acting beta-2 agonists.[clxxxi] Novartis and Schering-Plough are developing a once-daily combination drug for asthma and COPD.[clxxxii]
Due to reports of adverse reactions of salmeterol,[clxxxiii] [clxxxiv] GlaxoSmithKline began a clinical trial of the drug (SMART) in 1996, but abandoned it in 2003 after analysis showed four times as many respiratory related deaths among those on salmeterol than those on existing asthma medication.[clxxxv] A report by the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee in 2005 shows how GlaxoSmithKline failed to publish the results and manipulated the data it submitted to the FDA in order to diminish the apparent risks of the drug.[clxxxvi] In 2003 it was reported that salmeterol was subject to a government investigation in the UK.[clxxxvii] Doctors have called on the European Medicines Agency to review the use of long acting beta-agonist drugs, including salmeterol and formoterol.[clxxxviii] [clxxxix]
Following the Serevent news, Merck also stopped trials of their asthma drug due to safety concerns. This was followed by news of a link of Novartis’ asthma drug Xolair to cancer. Other asthma drugs, Acculate and Flovent were found to cause fatal illnesses, and Isoprenaline caused the deaths of over 3,500 children and young adults in the UK.[cxc]
It is interesting to note that Dr Seif Shaheen’s research at Kings’ College found that countries with the highest rates of asthma also have the highest levels of paracetamol sales. The prevalence of wheeze in adolescents increased by half a percent for each gram increase in paracetamol sales per head of population.[cxci]
The Medical Profession
Buteyko’s deep breathing disease theory is a fundamental challenge to orthodox medicine.[cxcii] The medical profession is reluctant to examine the theory seriously. Peter Kolb suggests that the reasons for this include: fear of loss of credibility and respect, and fear of loss of an important area of the health care industry, but the most sinister reason is the influence of the pharmaceutical industry’s dependence on asthma remaining incurable.[cxciii]
Medical resistance would seem to be influenced by the relegation of BBT to the ‘alternative and complimentary therapies’ category, combined with a denial of the mounting evidence that disproves the efficacy of current drug treatments for asthma. Credibility of BBT is further undermined by opportunistic ?pseudo-Buteyko? practitioners.[cxciv]
Some doctors express concern about asthmatics stopping their medication.[cxcv] However, BBT does not involve stopping medication before there is a cessation of symptoms. Wendy Haddock, a physiotherapist who teaches a version of BBT, has found that doctors are happy to reduce drugs that can have side effects in the long term, providing their patient?s condition is improving.[cxcvi]
Jennifer Stark claims one area of scientific contention is the lack of improved lung function results in trials, but BBT researchers claim that lung function tests have been shown to cause airway narrowing and asthma symptoms, which casts doubt on their accuracy.[cxcvii] [cxcviii] Jill McGowan claims the Australian study measured responses too soon. In her Strathclyde study, lung function and CO2 levels measured normal after 24 months, but because only a random group was measured the results were viewed as inconclusive.[cxcix]
The Times published a letter addressed to the chief executives of all 476 acute and primary care trusts in the UK, from Professor M. Baum who objects to non-drug therapies and claims to be “concerned about ways in which unproven or disproved treatments are being encouraged for general use in the NHS.”[cc] Baum states: “…we want patients to benefit from the best treatments available,” but he would put an end to the benefits that people derive from non-mainstream treatments. Sixteen British Professors signed the letter. Further research may reveal that pharmaceutical companies fund their work and research.
The letter coincided with Prince Charles’ speech in which he expressed his support for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). A spokesman for the prince?s Foundation for Integrated Health accused Baum and the other signatories of being ?clinical barons? and much of the media also attacked them.[cci]
The scientific and physiological basis of Buteyko?s theory
Dr Mike Thomas, a consultant in Aberdeen, claims that BBT has no physiological or scientific basis.[ccii] All the evidence indicates this is untrue.
Dr Buteyko was an outstanding scientist and doctor. He held a scientific degree of the Candidate of Medical Sciences and published more than 40 scientific publications. He was head of the laboratory of functional diagnostics at the Institute of Cardiology of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences, USSR.[cciii] The scientific basis of his work in the laboratory and hospital trials has been well documented.[cciv] [ccv] [ccvi] [ccvii] [ccviii] [ccix] [ccx] [ccxi] [ccxii] [ccxiii]
BBT is based on Buteyko’s well substantiated, scientifically proven, theory of disease: disease is a disorder of the mechanisms of regulation and restoration of an organism’s function. Since breathing is the highest in the hierarchy of functions, hyperventilation, with the consequent depletion of CO2 leads to disease that manifests in a variety of forms, including asthma, high blood pressure and heart disease. If breathing is corrected, it leads to correction of the other functions, and restores the patient to good health.[ccxiv]
K. P Buteyko claimed that CO2 is the staple for all living matter on the Earth, and the principal regulator of all functions in the organism.[ccxv] The depletion of CO2 from the atmosphere, pollution, drugs, and bad breathing habits, combine to reduce the level of CO2 in our lungs to a dangerously low level. This prevents normal metabolism, and gives rise to protective mechanisms such as bronchospasm, vasospasm, high cholesterol, and unstable blood pressure as the body tries to stabilise the CO2 level. The consequences are respiratory, metabolic, cardiovascular, nervous and immune system disorders, allergies and cancer.
The underlying basis for Buteyko?s theory was developed in the nineteenth century by C. Bohr in his theory of the role of CO2 in the body.[ccxvi] CO2 is not merely a waste gas as it is taught in the West, but plays a substantial role in body functions. [ccxvii] [ccxviii] [ccxix] [ccxx] [ccxxi] [ccxxii] [ccxxiii] Shortage of CO2 in the blood and cells causes physiological and biochemical imbalances, which lead to many chronic conditions. As the blood circulates through the alveoli in the lungs, molecules of oxygen bind to haemoglobin and are carried to the internal organs. Bohr found that CO2 is necessary for oxygen to bind to haemoglobin, and a 6.5% CO2 level in the blood is required for oxygen to be released from haemoglobin to the tissue cells. If the CO2 level in the blood is too low, this leads to a decreased oxygen supply to the body cells and organs including the brain, heart and kidneys.[ccxxiv]
BBT is based on the elimination of excessive ventilation of the lungs, which causes depletion of CO2. Bronchial asthma may be a protective reflex to resist loss of CO2 through hyperventilation.[ccxxv] Buteyko found that oxygen does not improve severe asthma and can result in death. The more severe the bronchial asthma, the more hyperventilation decreases CO2 and increases oxygen. As the CO2 in the lungs decreases, oxygen increases; at the same time CO2 in the blood increases and oxygen decreases; as a result the blood supply to the tissues worsens and cells suffer from hypoxia – a loss of oxygen to the brain – in which case the patient will die even though the lungs are full of oxygen.[ccxxvi]
It is interesting to note that Dr Mike Thomas “…is now investigating a breathing retraining programme using respiratory physiotherapists to see if it improves people’s breathing.”[ccxxvii] The scientific and physiological basis of his research is unclear.
Conclusion
Asthma costs the UK ?2.3 billion in terms of drugs, hospitalisation, social security payments and lost productivity.[ccxxviii] It would make more financial sense to invest in BBT at primary care level; this would save lives as well as money.[ccxxix] But the Department of Health, the Medical Research Council, and Asthma UK say that more research is needed before BBT can be prescribed on the NHS, but they are not willing to support further research.[ccxxx] [ccxxxi] [ccxxxii] All of these institutions appear to have been compromised directly or indirectly by income from pharmaceutical companies.[ccxxxiii] [ccxxxiv] [ccxxxv] [ccxxxvi] [ccxxxvii]
The medical profession is also influenced by drug companies that invest in hospital based research and pay the salaries of research scientists and professors.[ccxxxviii] [ccxxxix] [ccxl] [ccxli] The relegation of BBT to the status of a complementary therapy with no proven scientific basis is convenient for a medical system that denies the evidence that disproves the efficacy and safety of current drug treatments for asthma.[ccxlii] [ccxliii]
Those elected to represent our interests lie to us and claim that there has been a reduction of asthma cases, and that current drug treatments are effective.[ccxliv] [ccxlv]
They also mislead us about the number of people diagnosed with asthma.[ccxlvi] [ccxlvii] [ccxlviii] [ccxlix] [ccl] [ccli] There is mounting evidence that asthma medications are unsafe and ineffective and this has been published in many worldwide medical journals.[cclii] [ccliii] [ccliv] [cclv] [cclvi] [cclvii] [cclviii] [cclix] [cclx] [cclxi] [cclxii]? On the other hand, many studies published in medical journals conclusively prove the efficacy and safety of BBT.[cclxiii] [cclxiv] [cclxv] [cclxvi] [cclxvii] [cclxviii] [cclxix] [cclxx] [cclxxi] [cclxxii] [cclxxiii]??
A cure that requires no drugs is seen as a threat to the drug industry and the system that depends on its revenues.[cclxxiv] With a global asthma drug industry of more than $35 billion, the drug companies have no incentive to invest in research that will find a drug-free cure for asthma.[cclxxv] [cclxxvi] The future profits of drug companies depend on a rapidly growing incurable market of asthma sufferers that is predicted to rise to 400 million by 2025.[cclxxvii]
BBT constitutes a challenge to current theories of medical diagnosis and treatment of disease.[cclxxviii] [cclxxix] It threatens to destroy the doctrines of western medicine that operate in a system in which disease has become a consumer industry. Capitalism is thriving on our illness and has no interest in promoting our well being.
The Health Secretary said in her summary to Mrs Campbell: “Complementary medicine treatments may be provided on the national health service if those responsible for commissioning health services on behalf of patients locally (primary care trusts) consider that they are a clinically and cost effective means of meeting an identified health need.? [cclxxx] General practitioners Dr Spence and Dr Manley[cclxxxi] [cclxxxii] found that BBT fulfils these criteria. Therefore it would seem that the future of BBT lies with people with asthma who want a better quality of life and doctors who genuinely want to help their patients.[cclxxxiii]
BBT has proven to be a cost effective, efficacious and safe treatment for asthma, but it is perceived by the health system as potentially destructive. This is because the health system is dominated by a belief that the only effective way to treat disease is by means of drugs. The integration of BBT into medical practice in the West needs a health system that is genuinely concerned about the health of the people, investment in unbiased research that has no conflict of interests, and a change in the way we think about medicine.
? By Martha Magenta 2006.
6501 words
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