Gisborne Hospital Trial 2000
The results of a six month clinical trial assessing the impact of the Buteyko Method on medication use in asthma, and undertaken at the Gisborne Hospital, New Zealand, were published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, Volume 116 in December 2003. This study was conducted by Patrick McHugh, Fergus Aitcheson, Bruce Duncan and Frank Houghton, under the title Buteyko Breathing Technique for asthma: an effective intervention.
38 asthmatics aged between 18 and 70 took part in the trial and were split into two groups. One group was taught the Buteyko Method while the second group was given conventional asthma education and relaxation techniques. Investigator contact between the two groups was equal.
The Buteyko group reduced their use of inhaled reliever medication by 85% and inhaled steroids by 50%. The control group reduced inhaled reliever medication by only 37% and their use of inhaled steroids remained unchanged.
The full text of the Gisborne Hospital trial can be downloaded by clicking on the link below:
HTML version: http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/116-1187/710/
PDF version(Acrobat reader required): http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/116-1187/710/content.pdf
Brisbane Trial 1994/95
Prior to the Gisborne Hospital trial, the most important published results from a clinical trial into the Buteyko Method, outside of Russia, were published in the Medical Journal of Australia, Volume 169 December 1998. This study was conducted by Professor Charles Mitchell, Doctor Simon Bowler and Amanda Green at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, under the title "Buteyko breathing techniques in asthma: a blinded randomised controlled trial".
39 asthmatics took part in the trial and were split into two groups - firstly the Buteyko Group, and secondly, the Control Group. The Buteyko Group were taught the Buteyko Method by an experienced Buteyko practitioner, whereas the Control Group was trained by a physiotherapist in conventional techniques including relaxation, coughing and abdominal breathing techniques. The results of the trial, which were released at the conference for the Thoracic Physicians Society in Hobart in March 1995, included:
Bronchodilators use at 3 months - In the Buteyko Group there was a median reduction of 904 ug, representing a 90% decrease. In the Control Group there was a minimal median reduction of 57 ug.
Inhaled steroids use at 3 months - A decrease of 49% was achieved by the Buteyko Group, whereas there was no change in the Control Group.
Symptoms score at 3 months - The Buteyko Group showed an improvement of 71%, whereas the Control Group only showed an improvement of 14%.
Quality of life at 6 weeks - The Buteyko Group showed an improvement of 54%, whereas the Control Group showed a decline of 24%.
All the asthmatics in the trial showed signs of hyperventilation and hypocapnia.
The full text of the Brisbane trial can be found at the following web address: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/xmas98/bowler/bowler.html
Other trials and research
Similar findings to the Gisborne and Brisbane clinical trials have been found in studies carried out at:
First year results of the Glasgow larger scale trial included:
Bronchodilators use at 12 months - 98% of the Buteyko Group showed a reduction in reliever medication.
Asthma symptoms at 12 months - 98% of the Buteyko Group had less asthma symptoms.
Quality of life at 12 months - 100% of the Buteyko Group reported a better quality of life.
In addition a pilot study has also been undertaken at the University of Aberdeen involving a small number of children. The children in Aberdeen were placed in a Buteyko group and a control group, respectively, and the aim of the study was to pilot incorporation of Buteyko into conventional asthma nurse training and delivery of care. The pilot indicated a number of positive trends, with the Buteyko group showing a halving of sleep disturbance due to wheeze as well as a reduction in the average daily dose of inhaled steroids. The University of Aberdeen has subsequently made an application for major funding from the Scottish Office to enable it to carry out a randomised controlled trial on a larger scale involving 80 asthmatic children.
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