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Australian Clinical Trial Showed Average 90% Decrease In Relief Drugs Needed By Asthmatics

A semi-blinded, randomized study trial comparing the effects of Buteyko breathing technique with a placebo breathing technique was funded by the Australian Association of Asthma Foundations.

It was conducted at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, and was designed and monitored by some of Australia's foremost medical asthma specialists.

Severe asthma sufferers were randomly allocated into either the Buteyko group, or the Placebo group. This was done in such a way as to result in statistically equal groups in terms of asthma severity and drug usage.

The Buteyko group [19 people] was taught Buteyko, the placebo group [20 people] was given general asthma education, relaxation exercises, and were taught non-hyperventilation breathing exercises [abdominal breathing].

Patients kept diary cards at home scoring symptoms [3 = maximal symptoms, 0=no symptoms], PEF, and medication usage.

Please note that all measurements are statistically significant unless otherwise stated.

Results at 6 Weeks

Beta Agonist Use:
Buteyko Group decreased average agonist use by 90.1%. [From 1235ug to 134ug]
Placebo Group decreased average agonist use by 5%. [From 1029ug to 978ug]

Inhaled Steroid Use:
Buteyko Group average inhaled steroid use fell 12.5% from 1893ug to 1656ug
Placebo Group average inhaled steroid use remained statistically the same at 1450ug to 1551

Diary Card Symptom Scores
Buteyko Group decreased symptoms score by 50%
Placebo Group decreased symptoms score by 15%

Quality of Life Score - Impact of Asthma on Patient Lives
Dimensions measured were breathlessness, mood , impact on social activity, concern for the future.
Buteyko Group - 54% improvement, better in all dimensions
Placebo Group - 24% worsening

Summary at 6 Weeks
After 6 weeks Buteyko subjects used 90.2% less beta-agonist [relief medication], felt substantially better in terms of breathlessness, mood, social activity and concerns about the future, had less symptoms, and as a group used less inhaled steroid.

Results At 3 Months

Inhaled Steroid Use
Buteyko group had decreased average use by 49%
Placebo group was statistically the same as before the trial

Diary Card Symptom Scores
Buteyko group - 71% improvement
Placebo group - 14% improvement

Quality of Life Scores
Buteyko group had significant improvement that was still maintained at 8 months

Follow-up At 8 Months

Discussion

This study showed that a group of severe asthmatics [averaging over 12 puffs of relief medication] were able to reduce their medication to an average of just over 1 puff per day, simply by learning a different model for breathing. As well as reduced relief medication, the need for steroids was also significantly reduced. This is combined with massively reduced symptoms and greatly improved quality of life.

In this trial it was also attempted to changes in CO2 levels, changes in peak expiratory flow levels, and minute volume levels. Because of the relatively small sample size, the only statistically significant change among these measures of "lung function on" was minute volume. Minute volume is an objective measure of the volume of air breathed at rest in one minute while stable. It is a consistent measure of the degree of hyperventilation in the patient. The Buteyko group average minute volume dropped from 14.0+6.5 litres, to 9.6+3.1 litres which is a significant significant drop when compared to the placebo group. This change is exactly as predicted by Buteyko Theory which states that a reduction in hyperventilation will result in reduction in symptoms of asthma and hayfever. [Correlation was found between the relative reduction in beta-agonist use in the Buteyko group and the relative reduction in Minute volume, r=0.51,p=0.04]