Article ‘The Buteyko Breathing Technique in Effective Asthma Management’, published in ‘ Nursing In General Practice’. Click Here to see archive and Mar 14 and the article is on page 14 to 16.
According to the Asthma Society of Ireland Ireland is ‘Top in Europe for high asthma rates. The European Respiratory Society has also noted that Ireland has a comparatively high adult mortality rate for asthma, and is at the top of the European table after Serbia, Albania, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The situation is equally worrying for childhood asthma, with Ireland listed in the countries with the most cases of childhood wheezing and asthma.
High rates of uncontrolled asthma
According to a presentation given to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children by the Asthma Society of Ireland on 7 February 2013:
• 60% of asthma sufferers (in Ireland) do not have their asthma under control
• 62 people died from asthma in 2011. Tragically, a large number of these deaths were preventable because asthma is a controllable disease with the right treatment and management.
The 60% cited in the first point above, is based on the HARP (Helping Asthma in Real Patients) study which found that across a number of participating GP surgeries, up to 60% of patients failed to meet international criteria for asthma control. Also, again according to the Asthma Society of Ireland, recent research has found that “more than half of Irish people with asthma are awakened at night by asthma symptoms, and nearly three-quarters of sufferers experience some limitation in their normal activities due to asthma. Worryingly, almost eight in 10children with asthma did not have their illness under control”.
Asthma control and management guidelines
Informed self-management and adherence to prescribed treatment play a key role in the control of severe asthma. Patients and doctors/nurses need to work in partnership to achieve optimal control. Guidelines for the management of asthma vary somewhat from country to country. However, most guidelines highlight effective control of asthma as the most important goal, as a way to ensure that the asthma patient isable to lead a normal and physically active life. Essentially, this means the objectives for the patient are: (a) to be completely free of any symptoms e.g. cough, wheeze, breathlessness, (b) to attend work or school regularly and to participate fully in all activities, including sport, (c) to have restful sleep, free from night-time cough and/or wheeze, (d) to minimise the numberof asthma attacks, and (e) to avoid hospital admissions. Medication is the mainstay of asthma treatment.
However, internationally there is growing interest in nonpharmacological
ways of controlling asthma, and in particular,
the Buteyko breathing technique (BBT).
