Allergies : Asthma : Fatigue : Snoring : Stress : Panic : IBS
What stress does to the body:
“The sum of the biological reactions to any adverse stimulus, physical, or emotional, internal or external, that tends to disturb an organism’s homoeostasis; should compensating reactions be inadequate or inappropriate, stress may lead to various disorders.”
There are many types of stimuli that cause stress:
Physical activities, money worries, environment, illness, injury, emotions, exposure to hot or cold, running up a hill. First date, having an allergy or an infection, laughing hysterically and many other things.
These kick start the fight-flight response which includes:
- Blood is diverted from the skin
- Breathing increases as nostril and airways widen to let more air in
- Adrenaline production surges
- Sphincter muscles in the bowel and bladder close
- Immune response decreases
- Sweating increases
- Less saliva is produced
- Digestion slows
- Blood is directed to large muscle groups and muscles tense up, ready for action
- More blood is produced and blood clotting factor increases
Understanding the breathing through nose and mouth
Survival and Carbon dioxide
There are three things that are needed in order for people to survive: food, oxygen and water.
People can go several weeks without food, a few days without water, but only minutes without oxygen – making breathing the most important of these survival requirements.
Oxygen acts like a fuel, combining with an acid within the tissue cell to provide people with energy to stay alive and function – to meet the demands of metabolism.
Metabolism is the amount of energy, or the sum of all the chemical processes and physical reactions it takes to stay alive and run, walk or sleep.
Carbon dioxide is the chief hormone of the entire body; it is the only one that is produced by every tissue and that probably acts on every organ.
In the regulation of the functions of the body, carbon dioxide exerts at least 3 well defined influences:
- It is one of the prime factors in the acid-base balance of the blood
- It’s the principal control of respiration
- It exerts an essential tonic influence upon the heart and peripheral circulation
Buteyko method is all about breathing and the importance of carbon dioxide it’s worth having a read of this website to understand the technique
Hyperventilation
There are two types : acute and chronic
Acute :
Shortness of breath, chest tightness, chest pain, light-headedness or dizziness, feeling faint, lack of concentration, numbness, tingling or cold extremities, heartbeat that is irregular, pounding or racing, fear that you will do something crazy, anxiety, tension, apprehension, irritability, dry mouth, digestive tract dysfunction, muscle spasm, sweaty palms or feet and general weakness.
Chronic :
Caused by the prolonged, low grade stress of overeating, lack of exercise, overuse of stimulants and exposure to pollutants, all of which is common in this developed world.
The carbon dioxide syndrome
This is a condition where the person has chronic hyperventilation, and very often acute as well.
The increased level of breathing is not usually obvious at first glance unless you are specifically looking for it, which is typical of any form of hyperventilation.
When breathing correctly, the breathing is:
- Quiet and soft during sleep and rest
- Comfortable through the nose almost all the time
- Still easy to do while exercising
And not:
- Feeling restricted
- Blowing nose repeatedly
- Coughing excessively
Nose breathing is important for the health of teeth and gums even when the teeth are well spaced, because it ensures a greater supply of saliva. Saliva keeps the mouth healthy by protecting against bacterial infection.
Breathing through the mouth and using asthma medication increases the danger of tooth decay even further because reliever medication stifles saliva production.
Mouth breathing concerns
Breathing through the mouth during the night causes snoring and those snoring usually feel that they have slept quite soundly but it is the effects of snoring that are not healthy.
Snoring causes health problems such as hypertension, heart and chest disease, rheumatism, diabetes and depression (Lumb 2000)
Snoring night after night leads to sleep apnea – which is a condition where people may stop breathing during the night.
To sleep better try:
- Loosely tape you mouth to encourage breathing through your nose
- Sleep on your side
- Work on increasing carbon dioxide levels
To heal your body through hyperventilation and stress:
- Restore normal breathing patterns
- Remove excess stress
- Develop good dietary habits and drink water
- Have adequate sleep
This leads to asthma
Buteyko is renowned for his healing of asthmatic patients and again if you’d like to know more about the studies and trials here is this information.
He worked with patients to help their breathing styles, from mouth breathing to nasal breathing, the slowness of the breath on the exhale.
His work is truly amazing to help you understand the power of the breath and how we can heal in many ways with focusing on our breaths more.
Information collated in the book The carbon dioxide syndrome by Jennifer and Russell Stark.
I just wanted to share this book because there is always ways to help improve our health through natural remedies and lifestyle.
As much as medicine can help us at times, there are many more ways our bodies can heal once we research and learn more, and with the power of the internet, books and website from studies and research completed – I am very optimistic to help people heal and live a healthier life for longer.
