The Buteyko Breathing Method is a clinically proven effective treatment for Asthma.
Welcome to the website of Steve Donald, a Buteyko Breathing Method educator living in Toronto, Canada.
I was a member of the first class in the Buteyko Breathing method taught in Toronto by Chris Bauman. Frustrated with how dependant I was becoming on asthma medications I found out about the Buteyko method while researching asthma treatments on the internet. I have had amazing results with the method. Within several weeks I was no longer getting asthma symptoms and gradually reduced my medication. I haven't used any asthma medications since 2005. In 2006 I trained to become an educator of the method in the first Buteyko educator training in Canada, led by Jennifer Stark. To read more about my experiences with the Buteyko method click on ABOUT STEVE above. For more on the Buteyko method, read on...
Inspired by observations and discoveries he made as a medical student, Dr. Konstantin Buteyko made the study of breathing his life's work. He developed a method that became so successful in treating asthma and many other conditions that it was adopted by the USSR Ministry of Health in 1980.
Dr. Buteyko's method reached Australia in 1990. The following is excerpted from a book about the method by Australian physician Dr. Paul Ameisen:
"... more than six years ago, I first became aware of the work and methods of a certain Dr. Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko, a diagnostic physician whose techniques were considered a breakthrough in Russia, after a lifetime of research and treatment of asthma patients. It was two of my patients who told me about it- a mother and daughter who had attended a clinic in Sydney and had both derived extraordinary benefit from the simple breathing technique that they were taught by the Buteyko practitioner."
"I became interested, and I observed the technique over a long period. Doctors are always cautious about any new research or treatments they observe, and I was no exception. But there is nothing more convincing to a scientific mind than genuine, sustained and verifiable results and I eventually became convinced, from the objective evidence, that I was looking at a dramatically effective treatment for asthma."
"I began referring patients to the clinic and became supervising medical officer, which enabled me to monitor and help my patients and others even more effectively."
"Consequently I've also been able to make a study of the 8,000 patients treated so far in Australia, and when invited I have spoken on radio and television about the far-reaching beneficial effects of this natural, benign method. My book is the result of six years of research into the method and the results it has achieved for asthma sufferers... the results are astonishing... "
DR. PAUL AMEISIN, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
Excerpted from "Every Breath You Take" 1997
The Buteyko method is an effective treatment for the following conditions: ASTHMA; SLEEP APNOEA; SINUSITIS; ECZEMA; HAY FEVER; SNORING; CFS; COPD; IBS; PANIC/ANXIETY ATTACKS. The method has shown significant quality of life improvement for those with EMPHYSEMA.
Clinical trials of the Buteyko method as a treatment for asthma have produced the following results:
Medical trial sponsored by the Australian Association of Asthma Foundations, Brisbane Australia, 1995:
* 96% reduction in reliever (bronco-dilator) medications
* 81% reduction in symptoms
* 49% reduction in steroid medications
Gisborne, New Zealand, 2002:
* 85% reduction in reliever medications
* 50% reduction in steroid medications
Calgary, Canada, 2006:
(Results not yet published)
"I've been astonished and also very pleased by the excellent result." Dr. Robert Cowie, Chief Respirologist, Foothills Hospital, Calgary. Dr. Cowie served as head researcher of the Calgary trial. Interviewed on CityTV, Calgary, May, 2006.
These numbers are averages meaning that many asthmatics in these trials completely eliminated their need for medications. Others continued to reduce or eliminate use of medications after the trials had concluded.
