6 ms·

Buteyko Method

71 points by rzk 10mo ago

volkk 10mo ago
wow never thought this would make the front page of HN. My great grandfather learned this method from Konstantin himself to help manage his debilitating asthma (back in the Soviet Union) and he kept it up daily into his 80s once we moved to the US. He did it daily for so long that he was able to hold his breath for almost 10 minutes if I remember correctly. He taught it to my grandma who then taught it to me when I was a kid but neither she nor I do it anymore unfortunately. Imagine an 11 year old sitting in a bedroom with his grandma doing breathing exercises. I honestly can't believe she got me to sit still longer than 5minutes to do it.
- callumprentice 10mo ago
  What a lovely story and a great connection to a post. Thanks for sharing.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- Razengan 10mo ago
  > hold his breath for almost 10 minutes Konstantin must have learned that from Guybrush Threepwood!
jelsisi 10mo ago
I highly recommend the book Breath by James Nestor. The only health/pop sci book I'd recommend. Doing breathwork has increased my HRV by ~10ms and lowered my respiratory rate when I sleep. I no longer snore as a result.
- profsummergig 10mo ago
  What breath work do you do every week please? Reason why I'm asking: the book contains many techniques, and I'm curious about what's working best for people.
  - rramadass 10mo ago
    Not the person you asked the question of, but you may find this helpful - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46333769 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46333769
    - profsummergig 10mo ago
      Thank you.
- N_Lens 10mo ago
  I've read that book and also Patrick McKeown's 'Oxygen Advantage', which also talks about CO2 tolerance and the benefits of Buteyko. https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Advantage-Scientifically-Breathing-Techniques/dp/0062349473 https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Advantage-Scientifically-Breat... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m8jIhQyiDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m8jIhQyiDY Good stuff honestly, helped me a lot
cyberax 10mo ago
I was taught this method as a child to help with constantly blocked nasal passages. I think it helped! I'm still doing it, although not religiously. I think the major part of what makes it useful is just adding resistance for breathing. It helps to train the breathing muscles, just like any other resistance training.
XTXinverseXTY 10mo ago
I cannot tell, from the article, how to perform the Buteyko method. From the "Medical Evidence" section, it seems I'm not missing much.
- _yb2s 10mo ago
  There are a few free apps that will teach it, I have used the “Advanced Buteyko” ios app. If you demand extensive peer reviewed medical evidence of some specific quantified outcome before doing any activity in life you will miss quite a lot of valuable things that can’t be easily quantified or measured, or funded academically. There is however actually a lot of medical research on breathwork like this, they just will use the technical terms for what you are actually doing instead of a name like Buteyko.
  - rantallion 10mo ago
    > you will miss quite a lot of valuable things Arguably, the lack of medical evidence tells us that this is in fact not a valuable thing.
    - Almondsetat 10mo ago
      Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. So yes, extremely arguable indeed
    - IncreasePosts 10mo ago
      There may be evidence, but there may not be a peer reviewed study of the evidence.
    - Mikhail_Edoshin 10mo ago
      Medical evidence costs money. What would look convincing costs sums few can pay. If you use only that medicine you basically use only Big Pharma. And they are set to produce only specific type of medicine: something you have to buy, preferably for life. A breathing technique is not like that so it will never amass that much "proof".
gryzzly 10mo ago
I have a close friend who got her pretty hardcore asthma and nasal issues under control over last year. Her quality of life improved dramatically after doing this thing – I tried some basic first exercises and I felt there is some practical resemblance to breathing meditation. Anyway, I am planning to get more into it and would definitely recommend it if you upper respiratory issues have strong negative effects on your life.
omosubi 10mo ago
I have tried a lot of breathwork techniques lately and Buteyko is very good. One thing I always tell people that sit and slouch a lot is that your diaphragm is probably very tight (the same way your quads/hamstrings/etc can get tight). breathing exercises are very good for loosening it up, which, at least for me, have had a very positive impact on my health and wellbeing.
- swah 10mo ago
  It’s also possible that something is good for you for some pretty unexpected reasons.
gushogg-blake 10mo ago
Buteyko is helping me manage thoracic outlet syndrome (I think; haven't had a diagnosis). My main symptom was a jarring feeling in my head when walking. Went from months where walking even a short distance gave me very mild concussion symptoms, to walking and running 12 miles in a day without issue, and the only difference seemed to be the way I was breathing. Edit - a couple of other things possibly helped around the same time, so I'm not sure if I ever isolated the effect of breathing. But it definitely felt like it was a significant part of it.
- faidit 10mo ago
  I thought I had that too, similar problems but it was just anxiety mixed with the effects of trying to quit smoking. I recommend getting an ultrasound of the relevant veins/arteries, it's a relatively cheap and safe way to confirm what kind of problems you have.
- s5300 10mo ago
  [dead]
- y-curious 10mo ago
  > Edit - a couple of other things possibly helped around the same time, so I'm not sure if I ever isolated the effect of breathing. But it definitely felt like it was a significant part of it. Hey, even if it only helped 5% of your recovery, that’s still good. It’s not like there’s any medicine or treatment that fixes 100% of a problem. It’s like saying “pickleball is a treatment for obesity, but doesn’t cure it”
rzk 10mo ago
It seems Buteyko method aims to increase carbon dioxide tolerance. This blog post has an interesting discussion about that: Carbon Dioxide as a Stimulant for Respiratory Function —https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2020/7/28/carbon-dioxide-as-a-stimulant-for-lung-function https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2020/7/28/carbon-dio...
Mistletoe 10mo ago
>Strictly nasal breathing during physical exercise is another key element of the Buteyko method. This seems like extreme nonsense. How light would you have to exercise to only breathe through your nose? I had an ex gf that tried to do this when we would go running and it was a disaster.
- N_Lens 10mo ago
  Nasal breathing has a lot of benefits and it's arguable that maintaining your level of exertion such that you're always breathing nasally is a good technique for building cardiovascular & aerobic capacity.
  - ATMLOTTOBEER 10mo ago
    I’m actually good friends with Jacob Kiplimo. He swears that the reason he was able to have such success in the half last year was by exclusively breathing through his nose during training.
- y-curious 10mo ago
  My one HUGE gripe about Buteyko in particular is the nasal breathing bit. Breathing through your nose is good imo, but I don’t think it needs to be such an important goal all the time
- gushogg-blake 10mo ago
  A few counter anecdotes: I read a story about a baseball coach making the players hold water in their mouths while training to make sure they couldn't mouth breathe. I'm pretty sure if you watch an MMA fight the fighters will mostly have their mouths closed. And the airway-focused orthodontist Bill Hang ran a marathon with tape over his mouth (only removing it for hydration) to make a point about the importance of nasal breathing. Also, I can do sustained moderate to high intensity exercise with only nose breathing.
- yetanotherjosh 10mo ago
  Buteyko practioners build up the ability to work very hard while only nasal breathing over the long term. The point is to learn to modulate breathing in a way that keeps a certain kind of blood chemistry (CO2 levels) and cellular oxygenation. If you commit to nasal breathing for exercise as a constraint, it does force you to modulate your exertion while also increasing your CO2 and developing, according to the Buteyko folks, a new baseline for respiratory health and capability. If you're running for your life from a tsunami, by all means mouth breathe. If your purpose is maximum exertion, of course mouth breathe. But that's not the only possible purpose of exercise. It can also be about respiratory training. Nasal breathing becomes a natural guideline/modulator for long term improvement in that regard.
taxicabjesus 10mo ago
One of the earliest findings of the investigations into oxygen that O2 is toxic in excess. Space-cabin Atmospheres: Oxygen toxicity (1964) (google.com) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25883728 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25883728 The Haldane Effect and the Bohr Effect are the central findings that explain the transportation and exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haldane_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haldane_effect / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect People who hyperventilate exhale too much carbon dioxide, which disrupts the acid/alkaline balance of the blood and makes it harder for the body to use the oxygen available to it. The Apollo capsules were originally spec'd to use a mixed gas atmosphere. When the capsule got too heavy they switched to using a pure-O2 atmosphere. After the Apollo 1 fire they switched to using an atmospheric mix (80/20 N2/O2) at launch, which gradually changed to pure oxygen as the flights progressed. Treatment with pure oxygen is not helpful for sick people: Mortality/morbidity: acutely ill adults liberal vs. conservative Oxygen Tx (2018) (thelancet.com) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22993262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22993262 I typed up some notes about oxygen toxicity: https://www.taxiwars.org/2021/06/folly-medical-hyperventilation.html https://www.taxiwars.org/2021/06/folly-medical-hyperventilat... Medicine decided that the antidote to oxygen toxicity didn't need to be used anymore in the mid-1950's.
y-curious 10mo ago
Full disclosure: my mother runs a practice in NYC and implements Buteyko a lot with patients. It’s called HappyMyo and I helped her set up the website. — I think Buteyko suffers from a marketing problem wherein it sounds really “eastern medicine”. I think it actually can be super beneficial to people, assuming they have the patience and discipline to commit to it for many months. It’s not easy and I think the success rate is so high because the people that seek it out are pretty determined. I strongly encourage people research myofunctional therapy also if you snore/have sleep issues or find yourself out of breath often. It’s like physical therapy for your airway where you do lots of exercises regularly over months. I’m not even trying to advertise here, just trying to spread the word in case it helps someone. links: Assorted research papers - https://happymyo.com/2024/02/11/research-papers-on-omt/ https://happymyo.com/2024/02/11/research-papers-on-omt/ A sample of what the exercises look like, I am not affiliated with this site and these are the ones without props - https://www.singhealth.com.sg/tests-procedures/myofunctional-therapy-and-nasal-breathing-exercises https://www.singhealth.com.sg/tests-procedures/myofunctional...
- downboots 10mo ago
  Much more user friendly than https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khecar%C4%AB_mudr%C4%81 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khecar%C4%AB_mudr%C4%81
OutOfHere 10mo ago
Isn't its opposite condition, namely hypoventilation, particularly while sleeping, a more serious and common condition? Hypoventilation would lead to high blood bicarbonate which causes immediate problems.
appguy 10mo ago
I used to do Buteyko breathing exercises. The main idea is that over breathing results in a loss of co2 and less co2 in the body results in less oxygen being released from the blood due to the Bohr Effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect.
pinkmuffinere 10mo ago
> The Buteyko method is not widely supported in the medical community, in part due to the lack of research supporting the theory that hyperventilation and hypocapnia causes disease,[7] with one review noting the absence of convincing evidence to indicate that trying to change asthmatics' carbon dioxide level is either "desirable or achievable." The comment about it being neither desirable nor achievable is so funny to me! It really walks the line between complete dismissal and polite confusion.
rramadass 10mo ago
These are unproven techniques based on retelling/modifications of ancient techniques from Pranayama - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranayama https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranayama Yes, i have read James Nestor's book "Breath" and did not find it illuminating. A better way is to read some good books explaining the techniques of Pranayama. There are plenty (the two books "Prana and Pranayama", "Prana Vidya" published by Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India are good) so buy a few which appeal to you. Here are some suggestions (based on my practice); 1) Do not practise the breathing exercises when you are feeling hungry, too full, tired, hyper, sleepy etc. Your practice should be done only when you are feeling comfortable and calm. 2) Do the exercises in a well ventilated place. 3) Do not do any breath holding exercises in the beginning for at least a few months. You should only practise inhalation/exhalation with various lengths and force as prescribed in the techniques. 4) Generally, the ratio of lengths of Inhalataion:Exhalation should be 1:2 5) Generally, Inhalation/Exhalation should be "subtle" and in a "thin stream" unless the technique calls for force, but should not hurt the nostrils. 6) Both before and after the practice massage your whole body lightly with your hands; particularly the forehead, eyebrow ridge, temples, and the scalp. 7) The following techniques are enough to give you immediate benefits; a) Kapalabhati b) Bhastrika c) Nadi shodana (alternate nostril breathing) d) Deep Inhalation through the Nose followed by slow Exhalation through the Nose e) Deep Inhalation through the Nose followed by slow Exhalation through the Mouth. Note: The first two will clear your sinuses/nostrils and energize you making the subsequent ones easy, the third one will stabilize and integrate you, and the last two return you to relaxed and calm mode. Finally, you can use a Blood Pressure Monitor/Pulse Oximeter/Spirometer etc. to monitor/measure your physiological parameters both before and after practice.
- dyauspitr 10mo ago
  I’ve found all of these techniques including Win Hoff to be rehashes of pranayama.
  - rramadass 10mo ago
    They are wrong and dangerous takes on Pranayama. I saw a video of Wim Hof demonstrating his technique and the violence of the technique elicited a immediate no-no from me who studies this (and related) subjects. People should get some popular books on Pranayama and then also get the original books so that they can see what the original text actually says. Follow all the cautions mentioned before starting the practice, do everything gently and proceed slowly. If you do it properly, you will see immediate results in terms of self-feeling within a week. You will also see external signs like clear skin, whites of the eyes becoming clearer, gait/body becoming lighter etc. They are all mentioned in the texts which indicate to the student that he is doing the practice correctly. For example, here is a Tibetan Yogi demonstrating a specific type of exercise+pranayama. It is dynamic but not violent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BESrdlf-cPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BESrdlf-cPg
swah 10mo ago
There's a guy I follow for years that posts a lot out this, highly recommended: https://breatheless.substack.com/ https://breatheless.substack.com/ https://breatheless.gumroad.com/ https://breatheless.gumroad.com/ https://x.com/breathelesss https://x.com/breathelesss
- not-so-darkstar 10mo ago
  very good stuff, thanks
jimmiles 10mo ago
This method helped me stop snoring. Life-changing.
dav43 10mo ago
Anecdata- I did this as a 13 year old in the 90s. My old man came upon it after I was repeatedly ending up in hospital in Australia with asthma as a kid. I think there was a presentation in a local scout hall! I didn’t understand the history at the time - but it stopped me going to hospital, I ended up being able to do a controlled hold (no discomfort) of around 1:30 min and a max hold of just shy of 5 mins. So for me it had a big impact. I stopped in my 20s and now I am no where near able to get those numbers.
yetanotherjosh 10mo ago
I practiced the Buteyko method for many years when I was in states of high anxiety and frequent panic attacks, and it was incredibly helpful. I had a syndrome called new daily persistent headache, which means a sudden-onset headache that becomes constant from that instant forward, as in 24/7, for years. It's hard for people who haven't experienced that to understand I mean that literally. Buteyko breathing was the only thing that ever cut down on that headache, and a couple times I was able to suspend it for an hour or two, which when you have a literally constant headache for years, is a big deal. My big takeaway from it was that breathing and neurological state are deeply connected and actually relaxed, natural, healthy breathing (and the corresponding state of the brain and nervous system) is something that most people have probably never even experienced unfortunately. We all think our state is normal, but I assure you, it is very far from the state where your control pause is 40s-60s or more, it's a radically different experience. Also the nuance of what the control pause and how to measure it correctly is lost on I would say, even most people who attempt to learn Buteyko. The control pause is how long you can, under normal breathing, suspend breath with zero discomfort, and then prefectly resume normal breathing without any change from before. If you took a bigger breath to start, or when you start breathing again it's even slightly heavier, it's not a control pause measurement, it becomes an ego metric juiced to make you feel better about a number while avoiding the disappointing facts. Buteyko claimed that healthy breathing had a 40+ second control pause. Which if you think about the real meaning and how to measure it, is a super long time. And I got there sometimes, it's a major learning experience about what deep alignment and relaxation of the brain/nerves can really feel like.
- mrkandel 10mo ago
  Do you mean while sitting in a meditative state, or during light activity (i.e., interacting with the world without much physicality)?

71 points by rzk 10mo ago

volkk 10mo ago

wow never thought this would make the front page of HN. My great grandfather learned this method from Konstantin himself to help manage his debilitating asthma (back in the Soviet Union) and he kept it up daily into his 80s once we moved to the US. He did it daily for so long that he was able to hold his breath for almost 10 minutes if I remember correctly. He taught it to my grandma who then taught it to me when I was a kid but neither she nor I do it anymore unfortunately. Imagine an 11 year old sitting in a bedroom with his grandma doing breathing exercises. I honestly can't believe she got me to sit still longer than 5minutes to do it.

callumprentice 10mo ago
What a lovely story and a great connection to a post. Thanks for sharing.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
Razengan 10mo ago
> hold his breath for almost 10 minutes Konstantin must have learned that from Guybrush Threepwood!

jelsisi 10mo ago

I highly recommend the book Breath by James Nestor. The only health/pop sci book I'd recommend. Doing breathwork has increased my HRV by ~10ms and lowered my respiratory rate when I sleep. I no longer snore as a result.

profsummergig 10mo ago
What breath work do you do every week please? Reason why I'm asking: the book contains many techniques, and I'm curious about what's working best for people.
- rramadass 10mo ago
  Not the person you asked the question of, but you may find this helpful - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46333769 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46333769
  - profsummergig 10mo ago
    Thank you.
N_Lens 10mo ago
I've read that book and also Patrick McKeown's 'Oxygen Advantage', which also talks about CO2 tolerance and the benefits of Buteyko. https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Advantage-Scientifically-Breathing-Techniques/dp/0062349473 https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Advantage-Scientifically-Breat... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m8jIhQyiDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m8jIhQyiDY Good stuff honestly, helped me a lot

cyberax 10mo ago

I was taught this method as a child to help with constantly blocked nasal passages. I think it helped! I'm still doing it, although not religiously. I think the major part of what makes it useful is just adding resistance for breathing. It helps to train the breathing muscles, just like any other resistance training.

XTXinverseXTY 10mo ago

I cannot tell, from the article, how to perform the Buteyko method. From the "Medical Evidence" section, it seems I'm not missing much.

_yb2s 10mo ago
There are a few free apps that will teach it, I have used the “Advanced Buteyko” ios app. If you demand extensive peer reviewed medical evidence of some specific quantified outcome before doing any activity in life you will miss quite a lot of valuable things that can’t be easily quantified or measured, or funded academically. There is however actually a lot of medical research on breathwork like this, they just will use the technical terms for what you are actually doing instead of a name like Buteyko.
- rantallion 10mo ago
  > you will miss quite a lot of valuable things Arguably, the lack of medical evidence tells us that this is in fact not a valuable thing.
  - Almondsetat 10mo ago
    Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. So yes, extremely arguable indeed
  - IncreasePosts 10mo ago
    There may be evidence, but there may not be a peer reviewed study of the evidence.
  - Mikhail_Edoshin 10mo ago
    Medical evidence costs money. What would look convincing costs sums few can pay. If you use only that medicine you basically use only Big Pharma. And they are set to produce only specific type of medicine: something you have to buy, preferably for life. A breathing technique is not like that so it will never amass that much "proof".

gryzzly 10mo ago

I have a close friend who got her pretty hardcore asthma and nasal issues under control over last year. Her quality of life improved dramatically after doing this thing – I tried some basic first exercises and I felt there is some practical resemblance to breathing meditation. Anyway, I am planning to get more into it and would definitely recommend it if you upper respiratory issues have strong negative effects on your life.

omosubi 10mo ago

I have tried a lot of breathwork techniques lately and Buteyko is very good. One thing I always tell people that sit and slouch a lot is that your diaphragm is probably very tight (the same way your quads/hamstrings/etc can get tight). breathing exercises are very good for loosening it up, which, at least for me, have had a very positive impact on my health and wellbeing.

swah 10mo ago
It’s also possible that something is good for you for some pretty unexpected reasons.

gushogg-blake 10mo ago

Buteyko is helping me manage thoracic outlet syndrome (I think; haven't had a diagnosis). My main symptom was a jarring feeling in my head when walking. Went from months where walking even a short distance gave me very mild concussion symptoms, to walking and running 12 miles in a day without issue, and the only difference seemed to be the way I was breathing. Edit - a couple of other things possibly helped around the same time, so I'm not sure if I ever isolated the effect of breathing. But it definitely felt like it was a significant part of it.

faidit 10mo ago
I thought I had that too, similar problems but it was just anxiety mixed with the effects of trying to quit smoking. I recommend getting an ultrasound of the relevant veins/arteries, it's a relatively cheap and safe way to confirm what kind of problems you have.
s5300 10mo ago
[dead]
y-curious 10mo ago
> Edit - a couple of other things possibly helped around the same time, so I'm not sure if I ever isolated the effect of breathing. But it definitely felt like it was a significant part of it. Hey, even if it only helped 5% of your recovery, that’s still good. It’s not like there’s any medicine or treatment that fixes 100% of a problem. It’s like saying “pickleball is a treatment for obesity, but doesn’t cure it”

rzk 10mo ago

It seems Buteyko method aims to increase carbon dioxide tolerance. This blog post has an interesting discussion about that: Carbon Dioxide as a Stimulant for Respiratory Function —https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2020/7/28/carbon-dioxide-as-a-stimulant-for-lung-function https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2020/7/28/carbon-dio...

Mistletoe 10mo ago

>Strictly nasal breathing during physical exercise is another key element of the Buteyko method. This seems like extreme nonsense. How light would you have to exercise to only breathe through your nose? I had an ex gf that tried to do this when we would go running and it was a disaster.

N_Lens 10mo ago
Nasal breathing has a lot of benefits and it's arguable that maintaining your level of exertion such that you're always breathing nasally is a good technique for building cardiovascular & aerobic capacity.
- ATMLOTTOBEER 10mo ago
  I’m actually good friends with Jacob Kiplimo. He swears that the reason he was able to have such success in the half last year was by exclusively breathing through his nose during training.
y-curious 10mo ago
My one HUGE gripe about Buteyko in particular is the nasal breathing bit. Breathing through your nose is good imo, but I don’t think it needs to be such an important goal all the time
gushogg-blake 10mo ago
A few counter anecdotes: I read a story about a baseball coach making the players hold water in their mouths while training to make sure they couldn't mouth breathe. I'm pretty sure if you watch an MMA fight the fighters will mostly have their mouths closed. And the airway-focused orthodontist Bill Hang ran a marathon with tape over his mouth (only removing it for hydration) to make a point about the importance of nasal breathing. Also, I can do sustained moderate to high intensity exercise with only nose breathing.
yetanotherjosh 10mo ago
Buteyko practioners build up the ability to work very hard while only nasal breathing over the long term. The point is to learn to modulate breathing in a way that keeps a certain kind of blood chemistry (CO2 levels) and cellular oxygenation. If you commit to nasal breathing for exercise as a constraint, it does force you to modulate your exertion while also increasing your CO2 and developing, according to the Buteyko folks, a new baseline for respiratory health and capability. If you're running for your life from a tsunami, by all means mouth breathe. If your purpose is maximum exertion, of course mouth breathe. But that's not the only possible purpose of exercise. It can also be about respiratory training. Nasal breathing becomes a natural guideline/modulator for long term improvement in that regard.

taxicabjesus 10mo ago

One of the earliest findings of the investigations into oxygen that O2 is toxic in excess. Space-cabin Atmospheres: Oxygen toxicity (1964) (google.com) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25883728 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25883728 The Haldane Effect and the Bohr Effect are the central findings that explain the transportation and exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haldane_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haldane_effect / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect People who hyperventilate exhale too much carbon dioxide, which disrupts the acid/alkaline balance of the blood and makes it harder for the body to use the oxygen available to it. The Apollo capsules were originally spec'd to use a mixed gas atmosphere. When the capsule got too heavy they switched to using a pure-O2 atmosphere. After the Apollo 1 fire they switched to using an atmospheric mix (80/20 N2/O2) at launch, which gradually changed to pure oxygen as the flights progressed. Treatment with pure oxygen is not helpful for sick people: Mortality/morbidity: acutely ill adults liberal vs. conservative Oxygen Tx (2018) (thelancet.com) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22993262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22993262 I typed up some notes about oxygen toxicity: https://www.taxiwars.org/2021/06/folly-medical-hyperventilation.html https://www.taxiwars.org/2021/06/folly-medical-hyperventilat... Medicine decided that the antidote to oxygen toxicity didn't need to be used anymore in the mid-1950's.

y-curious 10mo ago

Full disclosure: my mother runs a practice in NYC and implements Buteyko a lot with patients. It’s called HappyMyo and I helped her set up the website. — I think Buteyko suffers from a marketing problem wherein it sounds really “eastern medicine”. I think it actually can be super beneficial to people, assuming they have the patience and discipline to commit to it for many months. It’s not easy and I think the success rate is so high because the people that seek it out are pretty determined. I strongly encourage people research myofunctional therapy also if you snore/have sleep issues or find yourself out of breath often. It’s like physical therapy for your airway where you do lots of exercises regularly over months. I’m not even trying to advertise here, just trying to spread the word in case it helps someone. links: Assorted research papers - https://happymyo.com/2024/02/11/research-papers-on-omt/ https://happymyo.com/2024/02/11/research-papers-on-omt/ A sample of what the exercises look like, I am not affiliated with this site and these are the ones without props - https://www.singhealth.com.sg/tests-procedures/myofunctional-therapy-and-nasal-breathing-exercises https://www.singhealth.com.sg/tests-procedures/myofunctional...

downboots 10mo ago
Much more user friendly than https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khecar%C4%AB_mudr%C4%81 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khecar%C4%AB_mudr%C4%81

OutOfHere 10mo ago

Isn't its opposite condition, namely hypoventilation, particularly while sleeping, a more serious and common condition? Hypoventilation would lead to high blood bicarbonate which causes immediate problems.

appguy 10mo ago

I used to do Buteyko breathing exercises. The main idea is that over breathing results in a loss of co2 and less co2 in the body results in less oxygen being released from the blood due to the Bohr Effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_effect.

pinkmuffinere 10mo ago

> The Buteyko method is not widely supported in the medical community, in part due to the lack of research supporting the theory that hyperventilation and hypocapnia causes disease,[7] with one review noting the absence of convincing evidence to indicate that trying to change asthmatics' carbon dioxide level is either "desirable or achievable." The comment about it being neither desirable nor achievable is so funny to me! It really walks the line between complete dismissal and polite confusion.

rramadass 10mo ago

These are unproven techniques based on retelling/modifications of ancient techniques from Pranayama - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranayama https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranayama Yes, i have read James Nestor's book "Breath" and did not find it illuminating. A better way is to read some good books explaining the techniques of Pranayama. There are plenty (the two books "Prana and Pranayama", "Prana Vidya" published by Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India are good) so buy a few which appeal to you. Here are some suggestions (based on my practice); 1) Do not practise the breathing exercises when you are feeling hungry, too full, tired, hyper, sleepy etc. Your practice should be done only when you are feeling comfortable and calm. 2) Do the exercises in a well ventilated place. 3) Do not do any breath holding exercises in the beginning for at least a few months. You should only practise inhalation/exhalation with various lengths and force as prescribed in the techniques. 4) Generally, the ratio of lengths of Inhalataion:Exhalation should be 1:2 5) Generally, Inhalation/Exhalation should be "subtle" and in a "thin stream" unless the technique calls for force, but should not hurt the nostrils. 6) Both before and after the practice massage your whole body lightly with your hands; particularly the forehead, eyebrow ridge, temples, and the scalp. 7) The following techniques are enough to give you immediate benefits; a) Kapalabhati b) Bhastrika c) Nadi shodana (alternate nostril breathing) d) Deep Inhalation through the Nose followed by slow Exhalation through the Nose e) Deep Inhalation through the Nose followed by slow Exhalation through the Mouth. Note: The first two will clear your sinuses/nostrils and energize you making the subsequent ones easy, the third one will stabilize and integrate you, and the last two return you to relaxed and calm mode. Finally, you can use a Blood Pressure Monitor/Pulse Oximeter/Spirometer etc. to monitor/measure your physiological parameters both before and after practice.

dyauspitr 10mo ago
I’ve found all of these techniques including Win Hoff to be rehashes of pranayama.
- rramadass 10mo ago
  They are wrong and dangerous takes on Pranayama. I saw a video of Wim Hof demonstrating his technique and the violence of the technique elicited a immediate no-no from me who studies this (and related) subjects. People should get some popular books on Pranayama and then also get the original books so that they can see what the original text actually says. Follow all the cautions mentioned before starting the practice, do everything gently and proceed slowly. If you do it properly, you will see immediate results in terms of self-feeling within a week. You will also see external signs like clear skin, whites of the eyes becoming clearer, gait/body becoming lighter etc. They are all mentioned in the texts which indicate to the student that he is doing the practice correctly. For example, here is a Tibetan Yogi demonstrating a specific type of exercise+pranayama. It is dynamic but not violent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BESrdlf-cPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BESrdlf-cPg

swah 10mo ago

There's a guy I follow for years that posts a lot out this, highly recommended: https://breatheless.substack.com/ https://breatheless.substack.com/ https://breatheless.gumroad.com/ https://breatheless.gumroad.com/ https://x.com/breathelesss https://x.com/breathelesss

not-so-darkstar 10mo ago
very good stuff, thanks

jimmiles 10mo ago

This method helped me stop snoring. Life-changing.

dav43 10mo ago

Anecdata- I did this as a 13 year old in the 90s. My old man came upon it after I was repeatedly ending up in hospital in Australia with asthma as a kid. I think there was a presentation in a local scout hall! I didn’t understand the history at the time - but it stopped me going to hospital, I ended up being able to do a controlled hold (no discomfort) of around 1:30 min and a max hold of just shy of 5 mins. So for me it had a big impact. I stopped in my 20s and now I am no where near able to get those numbers.

yetanotherjosh 10mo ago

I practiced the Buteyko method for many years when I was in states of high anxiety and frequent panic attacks, and it was incredibly helpful. I had a syndrome called new daily persistent headache, which means a sudden-onset headache that becomes constant from that instant forward, as in 24/7, for years. It's hard for people who haven't experienced that to understand I mean that literally. Buteyko breathing was the only thing that ever cut down on that headache, and a couple times I was able to suspend it for an hour or two, which when you have a literally constant headache for years, is a big deal. My big takeaway from it was that breathing and neurological state are deeply connected and actually relaxed, natural, healthy breathing (and the corresponding state of the brain and nervous system) is something that most people have probably never even experienced unfortunately. We all think our state is normal, but I assure you, it is very far from the state where your control pause is 40s-60s or more, it's a radically different experience. Also the nuance of what the control pause and how to measure it correctly is lost on I would say, even most people who attempt to learn Buteyko. The control pause is how long you can, under normal breathing, suspend breath with zero discomfort, and then prefectly resume normal breathing without any change from before. If you took a bigger breath to start, or when you start breathing again it's even slightly heavier, it's not a control pause measurement, it becomes an ego metric juiced to make you feel better about a number while avoiding the disappointing facts. Buteyko claimed that healthy breathing had a 40+ second control pause. Which if you think about the real meaning and how to measure it, is a super long time. And I got there sometimes, it's a major learning experience about what deep alignment and relaxation of the brain/nerves can really feel like.

mrkandel 10mo ago
Do you mean while sitting in a meditative state, or during light activity (i.e., interacting with the world without much physicality)?