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Asthma
- 700 - 800 Australians die from asthma
each year.
- 2 million Australians have been clinically
diagnosed with asthma.
- Over 30% of Australian school aged
children have asthma.
- Over 12% of Australian adults have
asthma.
- The incidence of asthma in Australian
school aged children has doubled in the last 10 years.
- The number of prescriptions for asthma
treatment in Australia is estimated to be 10 million per
year.
- Asthma is the most common chronic illness
of children and adolescents.
- The total cost burden of asthma to
the Australian community is estimated to be $700 million
per year.
- This total of $700 million consists
of around $340 million in medical related costs and around
$360 million in indirect costs due to lost productivity.
The Buteyko Method
- The Buteyko Method is a safe and effective
way to relieve and prevent asthma as evidenced by the
Australian clinical trial at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane
in 1994, and the Victoria University trial in 1999, and
the Gisbourne, New Zealand trial in 2001.
- In the Brisbane trial the Buteyko Method
achieved a significant reduction in asthma symptoms, (an
average 96% reduction in the need for reliever medications,
and an average 49% reduction in the need for preventer
medications at the 12 week stage). The Victoria University
trial showed an average 92% reduction in the need for
reliever medications.
- Buteyko clients are instructed to follow
National Asthma Campaign Guidelines as described in the
Asthma Management Handbook - reliever medications on an
as needed basis and preventer medication as prescribed
by the doctor.
- Buteyko clients are instructed (in
5 daily sessions of 90 minutes plus a follow-up session)
to recognise their overbreathing pattern and to retrain
and recondition their breathing to normal levels.
- Buteyko clients notice immediate improvement.
By the end of the 5 day workshops significant improvement
is achieved.
Consistently reported side
effects of breathing correction are: better sleep, no snoring
or apnoea, reduction in mucous and cough, increased energy,
improved exercise capacity.
People of all ages and severity
and whose asthma is induced by any of the vast range of triggers
can improve their health by correcting the characteristic
underlying problem of chronic hyperventilation.
Asthmatics can expect a significant
improvement in their condition and reduction in their need
for medication within the first week.
The Brisbane Buteyko
Asthma Trial
The first official clinical
trial of the Buteyko technique outside the Soviet Union was
conducted at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane for the Australian
Association of Asthma Foundations in 1994-95. This study recorded
the symptoms, medication, quality of life and lung function
in 40 moderately severe asthmatics. Half of these learnt the
Buteyko breathing technique. The results of the trial were
published in the Medical Journal of Australia in December
1998.
The Buteyko group:
- experienced an average 96% reduction
in bronchodilator (reliever) medication, which was maintained
over the 8 months of the study.
- experienced an average 49% reduction
in steroids by 3 months
- had a 71% reduction in symptoms and attacks
- experienced a 54% improvement in quality
of life score after 6 weeks.
The Control group:
-
experienced no reduction
in bronchodilator or steroid use or symptoms, nor any
improvement in quality of life. After 8 months the Control
Group undertook the Buteyko training, with the same results
as the initial Buteyko group.
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