History of Butetyko

THE BUTEYKO PLUS 4.0
Training Course to improve the self control of asthma
Part 2 : The History of The Buteyko Method
Presented By
Michael Clark Smart Health Coaching ©

Professor Konstantin Buteyko
• The Buteyko Method was named after the man in the
picture to the left. His method has literally improved the
lives of hundreds of thousands of people
• Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko was born in Ivanitsa , Ukraine
on January 27, 1923.
• As a boy he showed remarkable aptitude and would often
be excused from farm work and to help fix the machinery.
• At the age of 17 he joined Army to help fight in the second
world war. He was given the duty to act as doctor to help
the wounded. Buteyko grew fascinated how the human
body worked, and called it the greatest machine even built.
Professor Konstantin Pavlovic Buteyko
Born 27 th Jan 1923
Died 2 nd -May 2003
• When the war ended Buteyko had seen many thousands of
men die, and so he was inspired to help others and decided
on a career in medicine.

1946
An inspired
Buteyko enrolls at Moscow’s 1st medical institute

Buteyko was so determined and worked so hard obtaining his degree, sometimes working
more than 16 hours a day
In his fourth year of study at the institute he actually became very ill.
He was waking most mornings with migraines, his blood pressure had been rising
consistently and was often above 200 even spiking at 220
Buteyko knew he was at Russia’s most prestigious medical learning places, and yet nothing
it seemed was able to help stem the harm.

• On the evening of October 7 th 1952 a worried
Buteyko prayed and prayed for help to better
understand what was wrong with him, he heard
one whispered word in reply, that word was slowly
• So after his prayer he got up slowly, started to
walk slowly, then began to breathe slowly
• Almost immediately he felt his heart rate slow,
and for the first time in years Buteyko felt he was
onto something

Buteyko was so excited by this remarkable discovery he
immediately went to check on his blood pressure
First thing that morning it had been 217/88 which is very high, yet
when he checked it after just 30 minutes slower breathing, he was
amazed to see it had dropped to 184/78
It had not been under 200 in months and in less than a week(four
days) it was down to 148/70 that’s’ actually within normal range
Buteyko knew no drug could ever offer such a quick powerful
result.
Buteyko shared his findings with fellow students, two of which
happened to suffer with harsh bronchial asthma.
Amazingly within just a few minutes of slower breathing, both
students had stopped all wheezing
Could it be that hyperventilation was making things worse?

Buteyko 1952 graduates with first class degree.
He was describes as an ‘excellent student’

Buteyko had discovered something called
HYPERVENTILATION SYNDROME
Hyperventilation Syndrome (HVS) is a name
given to a collection of physical and emotional
symptoms, largely brought about
by hyperventilation.
Graph clearly showing the link between over
breathing and disease.

In other words
the more air you
breathe the less
oxygen your
body gets!

In other words
the more air you
breathe the less
oxygen your
body gets!

The Bohr Effect
Turns out that Co2 is not just a
wastes gas but an essential
balancer.
Our bodies need 6.5% Co2 and the
atmosphere only has .003%
That’s why breathing fast whilst sat
down will soon bring on light
headedness.
When we over breathe we lower
levels of Co2 which means
hemoglobin (like a glue) binds the
oxygen.
Graph showing that the more we breathe

Over the next 6 years Buteyko showed
time and again that simply slowing
patients breathing to a normal healthy rate
meant patients were actually healing by
themselves
He had an incredible success rate with
almost 95% of all patients showing some
improvement
In 1960 Buteyko was invited to present his
findings to a scientific forum
Let’s just say the response Buteyko got
was not what he expected

On January 11th, 1960 Buteyko demonstrated to the
Scientific Forum at the Institute the correlation
between depth of breathing, carbon dioxide levels in
the body and state of health.
He demonstrated how when patients reduced their
breathing rates, the body began to heal.
Surgeons took the studies as some dirty trick,
because Buteyko offered to treat such diseases as
asthma, hypertension, stenocardia, without the need
to cut open the patient.
Buteyko had expected the surgeons to be delighted
but unfortunately their reaction was quite the
opposite
Buteyko was shocked
Of course ultimately Buteyko was a threat to their
own positions.

The above quote was said by a man much more famous than Professor Buteyko, but
both men shared a strong belief about trusting their gut instinct as well as their own
eyes.
Buteyko was rewarded with a complete laboratory equipped at the highest level and
producing approximately 100,000 pieces of data per hour.
By 1967 over one thousand patients with asthma, and other illnesses, had recovered
from their conditions using his methods.
1963- 1980 Buteyko was able to show an improvement rate in 95% of all cases treated

At last
The USSR Committee on Inventions and Discoveries formally acknowledged
Buteyko’s discovery in 1983 and issued the patent entitled
“The method of treatment of hypocapnia”,
(Certificate No. 1067640 issued on September 15th, 1983)

In 1990 the Buteyko Breathing
Method was brought outside
Russia to Australia by Sasha
Stalmatski.
In 1995 Stalmatski brought this
method to the UK and, for a
number of years, it has been
practised at the famous Hale
Clinic
On 13 Th August 1998 The
Buteyko Method was shown for
the first time on UK television.
Michael Clark (yes me) watches
the program about how
breathing can treat asthma.
I use breathing techniques in my
stress management practice
August 1998
The Buteyko Method was shown on
UK TV

"The simple fact is that 34 patients, prior to Buteyko, were costing £15,000 for their asthma medication.
After Buteyko, they were costing £5,000.
"That's a reduction of two-thirds in their drugs bill.
If this was extended to the rest of the country, very significant savings could be made.”
Dr Gerald Spence
Glasgow GP
Appeared on the BBC Documentary

Mater Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
1995, (physiotherapy/Buteyko Asthma trial )
39 patients with a long history of asthma
and significant medication.
In 3 months, they decreased use of relievers
(bronchodilators) by 96%,
Preventers (inhaled steroids) by 49%.
Minute volume decreased from 14 l/min to
9.6 l/min.
1995 Buteyko Trial comparing Buteyko treatment V Physiotherapy
Buteyko Results showed 15 times greater reduction in medication
The symptoms’ score was improved by
71% (Bowler et al, 1998).

Alfred Hospital, Australia 2000
Asthma
The study found a significant
improvement in quality of life
and a significant reduction in inhaled
steroid use.

Gisborne Hospital New Zealand
Asthma 2003
a six month trial undertaken at the
Gisborne Hospital New Zealand found
Buteyko participants reduced their use of
• Reliever medication by 85%
• Inhaled steroids by 50%.

The British Thoracic Society:
2003, Glasgow, United Kingdom (asthma)
After 12 weeks Buteyko the control group was able:
– to reduce asthma symptoms by 98%
– to reduce use of reliever inhalers by 98%
– to reduce use of preventor inhalers by 92%

Documented
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The simple truth is this, Buteyko Breathing Training has
helped over 1 million asthmatics improve their asthma.
Not one documented case of any asthma been made
worse after Buteyko Breathing Training.
The treatment is cost effective, safe and with a good
practitioner very easy to learn.
Has been used successfully by many doctors worldwide
Asthma deaths in the UK remains one of highest in the
world
Yet the odds are neither you, anyone you know or even
your own doctor have even heard of it!

Sickness is Business
Of the £1.1b cost of treating
asthma in the UK, at least £666
million is spent on prescription
costs each year.
Other costs include £160m on
GP consultations, £143m on
disability claims and £137m on
hospital care.

Summary of
The Story of the Buteyko Method
The Buteyko Method is named after Russian doctor Konstantin Buteyko
Buteyko cured his own high blood pressure by slowing his breathing rate
After many years, and after helping improve and even cure thousands of
patients, the Buteyko Method finally was officially recognised in 1983
In 1998 the Buteyko Method was shown on BBC TV on QED the program
was called Breathless and attracted millions of viewers
There have been numerous medical trials showing on average a reduction
in blue inhalers by more than 90% and 50% reduction in brown
The British Thoracic society recommended the Buteyko Method
The medical establishment are generally not interested in a drug free
asthma treatment
Over 1 million documented cases worldwide and not one negative report of
any ones asthma ever been made worse by the Buteyko Method

BUTEYKO IS COMPLEMENTARY AND
NOT
AN ALTERNATIVE TO YOUR MEDICATION
YOU DO NOT STOP TAKING YOUR ASTHMA MEDICATION
DISCUSS ANY CHANGES WITH YOUR OWN DOCTOR

The Buteyko Method
World Wide
For the last 20 years the Buteyko Method has helped
over 1 million asthmatics improve their asthma
Please check the web more Buteyko testimonials

End of Video 2
The History of Buteyko