History of Buteyko

In third-year medical school, in 1949, Konstantin Buteyko was given an assignment to observe the breathing patterns of patients. He noticed the considerable deepening of breathing as death approached. Eventually he was able to accurately predict when a terminally ill patient would die. Buteyko was also able to experiment with healthy subjects and discover if he asked them to breathe deeply for a short period, they became dizzy and nauseous along with coughing and wheezing. Some subjects fainted. He had been told this was due to "oxygen over-saturation of the brain". However Dr. Buteyko had his doubts about this theory. Buteyko suffered from hypertension. His CO2 levels were lower than recommended. Over-breathing lowers carbon dioxide levels in the body. He theorized that if his low levels were caused by over-breathing, then by breathing less, he would raise his CO2 levels and thereby cure his disorder. After reducing his breathing, not only did his hypertension disappear but also headaches and rapid heart beat. This discovery was the beginning of Buteyko breathing techniques as we know them today.For the next 15 years Buteyko battled for research space and money. His studies established that his theories were producing amazing results but the USSR medical establishment refused to endorse his treatments. Finally, in a trial in 1968, he successfully treated 95% of patients with serious conditions not treatable by conventional methods. The Ministery of Health endorsed his method as a standard treatment throughout the USSR. Today over a million Russians have been treated. Since 1990, it has spread to Australia, New Zealand, UK, Europe and North America.