It is a known clinical observation and statistical finding that people with numerous chronic health problems have an impaired or weak immune system. Why does it take place since for many conditions (heart disease, cancer, COPD, diabetes, etc.) there are no specific pathogens that can consume resources of the immune system or directly suppress it? All chronic diseases have tissue hypoxia (or low level of oxygen in the cells of the body) as a common feature. This indicates abnormal cellular respiration or insufficient oxygen supply for various physiological processes. Anaerobic cellular respiration means production of free radicals and cellular damage. With progression of diseases tissue hypoxia becomes more serious. This is one of the mechanisms of immunosuppression.
What are the causes of poor cellular oxygenation? Breathing of our cells is directly connected with our outer breathing. How? Consider breathing of sick people. The data below is from various medical published studies. It shows the name of the disease, minute ventilation (how many litres per minute patients breathe), number of patients, and reference. The physiological norm for breathing at rest is 6 l/min. What about breathing of sick people?
- Heart disease 15 (±4) l/min 22 patients Dimopoulou et al, 2001
- Heart disease 16 (±2) l/min 11 patients Johnson et al, 2000
- Heart disease 12.2 (±3.3) l/min 132 Fanfulla et al, 1998
- Heart disease 14 (±4) l/min 88 Clark et al, 1995
- Diabetes 12-17 l/min 26 Bottini et al, 2003
- Diabetes 10-20 l/min 28 Tantucci et al, 1997
- Asthma 15 l/min 8 Johnson et al, 1995
- Asthma 14.1 (±5.7) l/min 39 Bowler et al, 1998
- Asthma 12 l/min 101 McFadden & Lyons, 1968
- COPD 12.2 (±1.9) l/min 10 Sinderby et al, 2001
- Liver cirrhosis 11-18 l/min 24 Epstein et al, 1998
- Hyperthyroidism 14.9 (±0.6) l/min 42 Kahaly, 1998
- Cystic fibrosis 13 (±1.8) l/min 10 Bell et al, 1996
- Cystic fibrosis 11-14 l/min 6 Tepper et al, 1983
- Epilepsy 12.8 l/min 12 patients Esquivel et al, 1991
We can see here that sick people breathe about 2-3 times more air than the medical norm. Moreover, even “normal” modern subjects or volunteers breathe about 30-70% more air than the norm without noticing it. In fact, clinical observations found that people notice that their breathing is heavy or big when they breathe about 25 l/min or more as during heart attacks, stroke, asthma attacks, or other acute episodes.
Over breathing (or hyperventilation) creates numerous abnormalities in the human body: it REDUCES cellular oxygenation; all vital organs get less blood (decreased perfusion), the organs of the immune system included; generates production of free radicals due to anaerobic metabolism; affects hundreds of chemical reactions and processes, including metabolism of lipids and proteins, and, hence, synthesis of the cells of the immune system. Hence, heavy breathing should be considered as the primary cause responsible for the weak immune system for numerous chronic conditions.
There are various therapies and methods that can restore body oxygenation and normal breathing. The most successful and popular was developed by Russian physiologist and PhD (Medical Sciences) Konstantin Buteyko, MD. His medical self-oxygenation therapy is used by about 200 family physicians in Russia. In average, it takes about 1-2 months for a patient with asthma or heart disease to normalize body oxygenation, restore normal breathing parameters and the immune system, and eliminate symptoms of their diseases. Patients with many other health conditions experience dramatic health improvements when they manage to restore body oxygenation using this breathing retraining technique.
What are the environmental and lifestyle causes or hyperventilation and low body oxygenation in modern people? For sick people the main causes are: breathing through the mouth (during sleep and exercise too), sleeping on one’s back, overeating, lack of physical activity, poor posture, stress, nutritional deficiencies, toxins in air, food, and water, and many others. According to practice of these doctors, correction of all these factors, together with breathing retraining, is crucial for restoration of body oxygenation, wellbeing, and the immune system of people.
