

Prior to Covid-19 he was booked up 18 months in advance. Patrick McKeown, a Galway-based Buteyko practitioner who advocates mouth-taping during sleep, travels widely to speak at conferences. Adherents say it can treat sleeping disorders, depression, ADHD, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma and other respiratory conditions. Thomas’s emphasis on registered therapists relates to the use by some of alternative therapies such as the Buteyko method, a controversial technique which includes taping the mouths of people during sleep to train them to breathe through their noses. “The evidence is strongest for interventions that involve properly trained physiotherapists,” says Mike Thomas, professor of primary care at the University of Southampton, who led the asthma study. Guidelines used by doctors in the UK state that breathing exercises can help reduce asthma symptoms.

#Cardiac coherence breathing scientific american trial
A randomised controlled trial published in 2018 found that quality of life ratings were higher in UK asthma patients who underwent training in deep, slow, nasal and diaphragm breathing. There is good-quality evidence to support the use of breathing exercises for asthma. ‘Ice man’ Wim Hof’s method encourages cycles of controlled hyperventilation, meditation and exposure to cold to trigger positive immune system changes.
