Posted on 11/02/2009 10:44:23 PM PST by neverdem
I don’t often write about alternative remedies for serious medical conditions. Most have little more than anecdotal support, and few have been found effective in well-designed clinical trials. Such trials randomly assign patients to one of two or more treatments and, wherever possible, assess the results without telling either the patients or evaluators who received which treatment.
Now, however, in describing an alternative treatment for asthma that does not yet have top clinical ratings in this country (although it is taught in Russian medical schools and covered by insurance in Australia), I am going beyond my usually stringent research criteria for three reasons:
¶The treatment, a breathing technique discovered half a century ago, is harmless if practiced as directed with a well-trained therapist.
¶It has the potential to improve the health and quality of life of many people with asthma, while saving health care dollars.
¶I’ve seen it work miraculously well for a friend, David Wiebe, who had little choice but to stop using the steroid medications that were keeping him alive.
Mr. Wiebe, 58, of Woodstock, N.Y., is a well-known maker of violins and cellos with a 48-year history of severe asthma that was treated with bronchodilators and steroids for two decades. Ten years ago, Mr. Wiebe noticed gradually worsening vision problems, eventually diagnosed as a form of macular degeneration caused by the steroids. Two leading retina specialists told him to stop using the drugs if he wanted to preserve his sight.
He did, and endured several terrifying trips to the emergency room when asthma attacks raged out of...
--snip--
Treatment From the ’50s
Then, last spring, someone told him about the Buteyko method, a shallow-breathing technique developed in 1952 by a Russian doctor, Konstantin Buteyko. Mr. Wiebe watched a video demonstration on YouTube and mimicked the instructions shown...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
What about something preemptive, so people with asthma can do physical activity?
Thanks for posting this - my mom has both asthma and macular degeneration like the guy in the article! I will look into it - she doesn’t have access to YouTube, so I may have to learn it myself, lol.
ping
wow- I dunno- when you are suffering an attack, it’s panic time- I can’t imagine takign shallower breaths. I’ve been on Advair for awhile now, and it’s a great medication- I don’t get short of breath anymore, but If I do, I’ll give the shallow breathing a shot- just seems so whacked though because hwen you’re starving for breath, ya just panic and breath deep
I’ve thought about breathing exercises as an alternative to steroids, but imagined it would be a deep breathing process like a vocalist would use, not a short one like the Buteyko method.
People should be careful about trying new methods to treat asthma especially with the flu season on top of us. It’s also a good idea to check for warnings regarding steroid treatment as it relates to the flu strains we’re now battling.
bump
If someone has exercise induced asthma, they should ask their doc for an albuterol metered dose inhaler prescription if the doc agrees. Maybe mastering this breathing technique would make that unnecessary.
public service announcement time
Thanks!
If we would give them a breathalyzer, and a little treatment. You know, some treatment, and a, a breathalyzer.
A breathalyzer and the Last Rites, LOL!
ping for later (and thanks for posting!)
OTOH, I become very suspicious when I see claims like this: The Method helps in overcoming various illnesses, especially asthma, COPD, allergies, stuffy nose and other breathing difficulties, anxiety, depression, skin problems, issues with metabolism and the immune system as well as many other diseases. This method is a powerful tool in creating general health.
I've seen and heard way too many snake oil salesmen and "miracle ingedients/cures" that were also touted as panaceas, to take this at face value: Dr. Joel Wallach, and his various scams; blue-green algae; drinking urine; acai; vinegar & honey; aromatherapy; macrobiotics; Scientology....
I was a Weblow cub scout leader and had the boys away at camp when a ten year old boy came to me having a severe asthma attack and said he didn’t have his inhaler. We were fairly remote and there was no way to quick get him medical help.
I have never done this previously, or since, but I placed my hand on this boys stomache and pressed in, while telling him to inhale and push my hand outward with his stomache. In 3 or 4 breathes, his attack was gone. I was as amazed as he was that it worked.
Thanks - my daughter has asthma ... I’ll pass this along.
Preemptive treatment is the inhaled steroids. Albuteral will treat an attack without steroids. But that will increase heart rate. No medication comes without a side effect.
Thanks for the ping!
I’ve heard of this from a respiratory therapist years ago. I don’t know why the medical establishment is so resistant to alternative treatments like this. All the doctors I know really, truly do want to help their patients, in spite of the claim by the naturalists that the medical community wants to continue to see people sick because of the profit.
I certainly agree with the author’s point. Much of what the natural/alternative health community purports sounds pretty whacked out, BUT they have been right in the past on a surprising number of rather major issues.
I suppose that that is what keeps me from blowing them off completely.
I do wish, however, that American healthcare would be more open to new and less invasive, innovative ideas.
I had asthma as a child and had my last serious attack when I was 18. My breathing gets a little tight when I am exposed to things in the air that irritate like smoke and chemical fumes but as soon as I get clean air I am OK. This is very interesting.
There's your mistake. Don't panic. I have always dealt with attacks by taking the smallest breaths I could, so that they were easier. And take them through the nose; the nose warms and cleans air before it hits your lungs so your lungs don't react even more to cold or some irritant. Stay vertical so that you can use the natural aid of gravity to pull down on the diaphragm.
The critical issue, though, is that you should not be having attacks if your disease is being properly managed. Nobody knows better than I do how horrible long-term oral (systemic) steroid use is, but a short-term burst of steroids, long enough to get established on inhaled steroids, is not damaging.
If your personal physician isn't up to the ocmplexities of managing your disease, try to find a provider who has been trained at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver. This is the nation's foremost center for the treatment of respiratory/immune disorders, and they train a number of physicians each year in the management of particularly difficult cases of asthma. See their website at nationaljewish.org for direction and help on the management of your disease.
mark
Our older son had asthma, and fortunately, a ped, who had worked at NIH became his doctor.
Besides being up on the newer drugs (early 1970 to mid 70’s), this ped drove home the importance of staying hydrated to the point of over hydration. He had our son stay hydrated with just water to prevent attacks and to minimize attacks.
Later when he was in high school and participated in varsity wrestling and football, those strains often would dehydrate him and start him into a asthma cycle.
Then, he got some great advice from the PT, who worked the side lines and wrestling rings to minimize injuries. The PT reinforced the hydration and was all over the coaches when they tried to minimize hydration by the athletes.
The PT taught our son others a simple breathing pattern to prevent/ease and often block an asthma attack.
The technique was a simple breath through the nose and to exhale 3 times out the mouth with no panic. This was done until after the asthma attack was aborted.
Flash foward a few decades, and our son’s daughter, a competitive dancer and type A athlete like her dad and mother starting having asthma attacks which were sometimes followed by a migraine.
Like her dad used to be, she felt hydration was a waste of time. However, after a few double attacks of asthma/migraines, she started hydrating herself and takes a couple of water bottles to any event where she expended a lot of energy. Her eye doc, ped, Dad, Grandmother/RN and Dad’s FP told her to stay hydrated to avoid asthma and migraines.
Then, we taught her the breathing in her nose and out 3 times through the mouth. When she hydrates and does the simple breathing exercise, she has no asthma nor migraines.
She hasn’t used her Asthma prevention or rescue inhalers for close to two years. With the hydration, she has only had one migraine in close to 3 years, and that was when she didn’t hydrate herself properly before and after running a mile.
For me the trick is to immediately and consciously relax. Relaxation can be trained, it should be practiced. Singers, shooters, hi-performance athletes, divers, yoga, energy methods, meditation practitioners all use some form of relaxation methods. For me, I learned a whole bunch of great techniques during pain management therapy. I apply some of them during bronchial constriction events and recover within seconds.
Would something like that require a person pushing on the stomach?
Thank you for the ping. Bookmark for later.
[[The critical issue, though, is that you should not be having attacks if your disease is being properly managed.]]
This was mostly before I went on advair- I used to just have the rescue inhalers, and life wasn’t so great then (but was much better than without them)- the attacks would only come when I’d overdo it- running, or hurrying- mostly they would happen during lousy rainy weather if it’d been wet for a few days- humidity was also a killer for me- since being on the advair though, I can do quite a bit more than I used to before gettign to hte point of chest tightness, wheezing, etc- I have slowed down quite a bit htough because of Crohn’s disease as well, but still try to remain as active as possible- just wish I’d had the advair 15 years ago when I was healthier as the asthma inhalers back then weren’t too god- but when I was young, the choices were even worse- that really cramped my active life- had this little device which would crush a pill, and I’d inhale the powder- that stuff didn’t work very well at all
Thanks for hte info- I’ll check that site out
This is sometimes where a second person can be handy, my husband who just passed away had asthma and when he had a problem I would step in and assist him in breathing and it usually helped.
Yeah, I’m probably not goign to survive the swine flu- our town isn’t even close to getting hte shots yet- people in surrounding towns are dying fro mthe flu, and it’s coming up close to our town now- my neighbor went to college in Boston, got the flu, ended up with pnemonia, and got Guillian Barre (sp?) syndrome- she was a healthy active person, and dang near died from the flu- I don’t htink I’m going to fare well if/when I get it- anytime I get somethign in the lungs liek Bronchitis or infection, I always end up in hospital, and htis swine flu definately attacks the lungs, or rather causes pnemonia- I’ve had hte pnemonia shot- just hope it works- otherwise, I’m not sure i’m strong enough to survive the lfu due to other health issues liek hte Crohn’s, and sleep apnea (not gettign proper sleep really weakens a person’s ability to fight off colds and flus)- oh well- we’ll see
Would something like that require a person pushing on the stomach?
I was firm with the pressure but not severe. It was a combination of an authorative voice from me, focus on his stomache rather than his breathing, the resistance to the hyperventilation due to my pressure on his diaphram, the power of suggestion which really works with children, and a validation statement that everything would be ok, just relax! Oh, by the way I also moved my hand in a circular pattern to increase stimulation from my hand. IMHO, a lot of children create a psychological addiction to the inhaler. In this instance, the boy, who was overweight, was running for first base in our baseball game and was thrown out. I have a feeling that if he would have been safe the attack would not have happened. Im not generalizing this situation to all attacks!
That week was interesting as two of us were the leaders for 25 age 10-11 yr olds. Several were ADD and ADHD who were off their medication for the summer. They were all angels. I had no problem until Wed. evening campfire when the parents visited. It took me about 24 hrs after they left to settle them down again and they were fine until I delivered them to their parents Sat. afternoon. It was a profound week for me.
So you found that the kids had no problems when they were away from their parents, but the problems surfaced immediately when they were with them?
So you found that the kids had no problems when they were away from their parents, but the problems surfaced immediately when they were with them?
Exactly.... I grew up on a farm and have worked with animals my entire life. I use the same philosophy with children. If my dogs for example, are validated for good behavior, gently reprimanded for bad, and treated consistantly in the same pattern, they learn to know what to expect and calm down. Never, ever retroactively punish for a non communicated expectation. Otherwise they jump up and down, bark and are uncontrollable.
If you administer discipline without establishing and communicating the expectations prior to the behavior, their tension level goes through the roof as they are constantly on edge wondering how you will respond to their actions. I have always followed a policy of communicated responsibilities and expectations accompanied by agreed upon consequences if they are violated. This way I empower them and they know exactly where they stand and where their boundaries are. This worked with my four children, all of whom are self motivated and in college now...
Ping... (Thanks, neverdem!)
Keep up with other H1N1 update stories on this thread: H1N1 flu victim collapsed on way to hospital [Latest H1N1 updates downthread] thanks to DvdMom and others.
That’s how I plan to be with my future children. My parents weren’t like that with my sister and I. As a result, we’re both lazy bums.
But, I believe I’ve turned out well despite that.
Keep us posted and especially let us know if you start to dome down with something. We’ll get going on the praying then.
I also don’t like when FRiends just disappear from FR. I always worry that something may have happened to them.
If you really think that this is that much of a danger, have someone you know and trust be able to get on your account and keep us posted.
will do MM- This flu is realy gonna be somethign else- they say however that older folks might have had previous exposure to similar virus, and usually end up getting the milder form of it, hopefully I’ve been exposed to it before and won’t have that rough a time- but we’ll see- kinda like waiting for the plague to strike lol- thats’ what iot feels like anyways
The cases around the Syracuse area of the flu have been pretty mild. My daughter, who has some health concerns, had a case of it and her biggest complaint was the low grade fever. She’s been far sicker with other illnesses not considered as serious.
My allergist told me last month that anyone over the age of 50 has had a swine flu 2-3 times and he didn’t seem concerned about me getting it at all.
I’m not quite that old (but close) but hopefully I’ve had it aLready- gonna be interesting for sure-
Got an update on my neighbor, her Guillian barre has ‘peaked’ and she’s on her way toward recovery I guess (gettign t6his info third hand, so not sure about the accuracy) She;s gonna need therapy I guess as she was paralyzed up to her waist for a bit (it was spreading higher, but I guess the treatment has helped stop it’s progression- will know more rtomorrow- We’ve had 3 people in surroundign are die from this flu (confirmed) 2 adults, and one child- Yuck
Advair is a good medicine.
Marking for later.
Yep it sure is- Wish I’d have had it as a child instead of that crappy spin inhaler/pill crusher- that stuff just didn’t work well at all- went into my early 30’s with the regular rescue inhalers- those were better than spin inhaler, but still had to keep ihtting it throughout the day- with htis advair, I only have to use it once in morning and at night- good stuff for sure
BTTT
Mark for future reference - thanks for posting!
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