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Sleep Apnoea
Sleep apnoea is a condition characterised by ‘stopping breathing’ for more than
10 seconds at a time while asleep. There are two types of sleep apnoea;
obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and the less common central sleep apnoea (CSA).
Diagnosis is confirmed by a polysomnograph or ‘sleep study’.
Typically persons with sleep apnoea will display
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Apnoeas of between 10 seconds and 2 minutes or more |
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Snoring (though not always with CSA) |
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Restlessness, excessive movement/ kicking while asleep (restless legs)
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Mouth breathing |
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Dry mouth/throat on waking |
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Thirst overnight and/or on waking |
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Waking unrefreshed, daytime tiredness, foggy thinking |
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Tendency to fall asleep in meetings and in front of the TV |
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Breathlessness on exercise |
Normal sleep occurs in five stages: Stages 1,2,3,4, & REM (rapid eye movement).
Stages 3 & 4 are the most restful and deep sleep. But when a person is over
breathing, or hyperventilating, they are prevented from easily reaching these
stages and primarily remain in the light and easily disturbed sleep of stages 1
& 2. A person with sleep apnoea has the added difficulty of ‘arousal’ occurring
each time an apnoea finishes with a gasping breath which drags the person near
to consciousness though often they remain asleep. This explains why it often
takes a long time for a person to accept that they have a problem needing
investigation, much to the frustration of others!
The Buteyko Institute Method of breathing retraining (BIM) successfully reduces
overbreathing (hyperventilation) and normal sleep patterns return.
Physiologically, hyperventilation lowers the arterial and alveolar carbon
dioxide (CO2) to the point where the breathing reflex is depressed -interpreted
as an apnoea or hypopnoea to an observer. A hypopnea is when breathing is
reduced by 50% or more. During cessation of breathing (apnoea) the CO2 slowly
accumulates until it triggers the body to take the next breath. By correcting
the breathing pattern the body no longer needs to suppress the breathing reflex
as the CO2 level is maintained within normal limits.
When apnoeas no longer occur CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure) machines
are no longer required and surgery can be avoided.
OTHER Conditions
Allergies/Rhinitis/Sinusitis/Eczema
Grasses, pollens, dust mites, cats, dogs, horses, feathers and certain foods and
many other things can all trigger allergies, making life unpleasant for allergy
sufferers.
In people who
over-breathe, the immune system is compromised leading to hypersensitivity to
allergens, and an over reaction to these – normally harmless – substances.
Correcting abnormal breathing patterns will lead to an improved immune system
and an improvement in these conditions. Even people with severe allergies who
have been unable to nose breathe for years can be helped. In addition the skin
condition eczema, often experienced in conjunction with allergy and asthma, will
also respond to correcting breathing patterns with BIM.
Blocked nose
One of the most common presenting symptoms amongst participants in a Buteyko
course is a partially or fully blocked nose. It is also one of the earliest
symptoms to respond to the breathing exercises with the majority of people
walking out of the first course session breathing through their nose, some of
them for the first time in years.
The nose has a number
of very important roles. It prepares the air for the lungs in ways that
breathing through the mouth cannot. Functions of the nose include filtering,
warming and humidifying the air we breathe in order that by the time the air
reaches the lungs it is clean, at body temperature and has sufficient water
vapour in it to avoid drying out of the airways.
When we breathe through our mouth we breathe in too much, dirty, cold dry air.
Breathing a larger volume of air than the body requires disrupts the normal gas
balance within the body; unfiltered air carries with it airborne allergens and
dust particles which irritate and inflame the airways; cold dry air dries out
the mucosal tissue leading to inflammation, dehydration and greater volumes of
thicker tackier mucous
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / ME
Often there is no apparent cause for this very debilitating condition, in which
people suffer from chronic exhaustion and muscle and joint pains, regardless of
the amount of sleep or rest. People suffering from this condition have achieved
significant improvement to their health through learning the BIM.
The BIM breathing
exercises and lifestyle changes are aimed at restoring normal respiratory
patterns. The by-products of this include a stabilising of the blood pH, better
hormonal level and function, more refreshing sleep, and lessening of the effect
of allergic responses thus reducing the general load on the body’s resources.
Dental/Orthodontic
Dentists and orthodontists have long seen chronic mouth breathing as a concern
for oral hygiene, teeth and jaw structure and function.
Some of the problems it causes or contributes to include:
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Greater potential for relapse of orthodontic correction |
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Malocclusion, anterior open bite |
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TMJ dysfunction |
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Reduced dental arch space, crowding of teeth |
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Elongated face |
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Gum disease, dental decay |
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Halitosis (bad breath) |
Nasal breathing is restored by learning the Buteyko Institute Method thereby
lessening the above developmental problems in young children, reducing the
probability of failure of expensive orthodontic treatment and restoring good
dental hygiene.
Emphysema/Breathlessness
A diagnosis of emphysema indicates that damage has occurred to the delicate
tissues of the lung: the alveoli or air sacs. The amount of damage will be
dependant on the severity of the condition. The once numerous small, elastic
walled sacs loose their tone and no longer work efficiently. A diminished
surface area remains for the function of gas exchange.
The chief symptom of
emphysema is breathlessness and fatigue on activity. The problem is one of
inefficient oxygen exchange. Most assume that the lung damage is the main
culprit yet it is possible to significantly improve the oxygen exchange despite
the existing damage.
Breathlessness, or shortness of breath, is a common symptom experienced by many
people. Our general assumption is that we must not be breathing deeply enough;
that somehow the tightness around our chest is restricting our breathing and
making it too shallow…making us breathless.
Breathlessness is principally an outcome of poor oxygen exchange. Most people,
understandably, assume that they require a greater volume of air to reach the
lungs to bring more oxygen in. Paradoxically, the greater volume of air that is
pushed in and out of the lungs the less oxygen will be available for use by our
tissue cells.
To understand this more clearly, consider: if deep breathing enabled greater
oxygen availability then you would think of nothing better to do than to sit
down and blow up balloons for an afternoon - and opening your mouth and
breathing as quickly and deeply as possible would leave you feeling totally
refreshed. But these activities do not leave us feeling better. Very quickly we
become breathless, light headed and dizzy: symptoms of lack of oxygen. If we
were to keep going despite the warning signals we may very well faint.
Deep breathing does not deliver greater amounts of oxygen to our bodies, on the
contrary, it delivers less. The Buteyko Institute Method program improves
symptoms of breathlessness by normalising the volume of air breathed, maximising
oxygen exchange.
Science
We breathe in air from the atmosphere around us, the oxygen from the air crosses
from our lungs into the smallest blood vessels (capillaries) where the oxygen
molecules attach to the haemoglobin molecules of the red blood cells. In order
for the oxygen to be able to be used by the cells of the body for cell
respiration, the oxygen must be released by the haemoglobin molecules. In an
environment of low arterial carbon dioxide the oxygen molecules will bind more
tightly to the haemoglobin molecules (known as the Bohr Effect and the Oxygen
Dissociation Curve). A low carbon dioxide environment is created when a person
hyperventilates or over-breathes. So, the deeper you breathe the tighter your
oxygen will bind to your red blood cells.
Panic and Anxiety
Hyperventilation (over breathing) and anxiety form a ‘vicious circle’, one
leading to the other. The process may be ‘pushed’ or initiated from either end.
In one person they will experience anxiety which then leads to hyperventilation,
another person will hyperventilate leading to feelings of rising anxiety and/or
panic. One feeds the other in an increasing spiral.
The Buteyko Institute
Method program acts like a circuit breaker by teaching people how to reduce
acute anxiety producing hyperventilation, thereby reducing the resultant anxiety
and panic. It also teaches participants how to retrain their breathing back to a
normal level with the result that they no longer have to live constantly with
anxiety or in the ‘Fight or Flight’ state. Their body is enabled to return to
normal after cessation of the anxiety-causing event.
Sleep Disturbances/Snoring
Disturbed breathing and disturbed sleep go hand in hand.
Sleeping
disturbances take many forms: insomnia, waking throughout the night, vivid
chaotic dreams, night terrors, snoring, apnoeas, waking feeling unrefreshed,
daytime tiredness, bed-wetting. The way that you are breathing may well be
affecting your sleep. Hyperventilation, or over-breathing, is implicated in all
of the above situations.
Normal sleep is divided into five stages: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4 and
Rapid Eye Movement (REM). When we are chronically or habitually over breathing
our normal sleep patterns become disturbed. Our bodies primarily remain in
Stages 1 & 2 - the lighter easily disturbed sleep and it is difficult for the
body to enter the deeper more restful Stages 3 & 4. The REM sleep achieved
becomes fragmented and the dreams that occur during this time tend to be vivid
and chaotic.
Stages 3 & 4 sleep are very important to the body as this is the time when many
of the hormones and other chemicals produced by the body for everyday life are
made. One of these hormones is ADH (Anti-Diuretic Hormone), which enables the
body to concentrate the urine. People who hyperventilate will often need to void
urine more frequently than others and will experience broken sleep due to
nocturnal visits to the bathroom. Children will often be bed-wetters.
The Buteyko Institute Method of breathing retraining normalises both daytime and
night-time breathing. A return to normal sleep patterns is observed in the
majority of people.
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