Asthma patients in New Zealand missing out on trea

Asthma patients in New Zealand missing out on treatment widely offered in UK

Speaking yesterday at the beginning of Asthma Awareness Week in New Zealand (3 to 9 May), Asthma Foundation Chief Executive Jane Patterson said: “Asthma is really common in New Zealand – 1 in 4 children and 1 in 6 adults has asthma. There is no cure yet.

Ms Patterson is correct in saying there is no cure for asthma, however completely missing from Asthma Foundation guidelines is any mention of breathing techniques. This despite the countless clinical studies that have demonstrated breathing methods like Buteyko offer better asthma control than medication alone can offer. Thousands of children and adults in New Zealand have learned to manage their asthma naturally after learning the Buteyko breathing programme. Many of these are completely free of symptoms and no longer require daily asthma medication.

The Buteyko Method has been the subject of seven published clinical studies, including two in New Zealand. All these studies show significant reductions in asthma symptoms and medication. This is achieved safely and without side effects. If the pharmaceutical industry could developed a treatment as effective as this it would be the most widely prescribed asthma drug in the world today. The Buteyko Method of breathing has been endorsed by the British Thoracic Society & Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network.

The Buteyko Method has been featured on TV one and TV three and there have been numerous News and magazine articles in the last 10 years. Most recently Mind Food devoted a section to the Buteyko method and Healthy Options magazine ran several pages in two issues in late 2009.

Despite a growing awareness about the importance of breathing techniques and with 1 in 4 children and 1 in 6 adults affected by asthma in this country it is surprising that asthma advocacy groups in New Zealand like the Asthma Foundation do not yet include this advice in their guidelines.

The challenge for those working in the field of asthma will be to investigate non-pharmaceutical treatments like Buteyko if we are to reduce the social and economic burden of asthma in New Zealand.

Buteyko is available throughout New Zealand with practitioners in Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch. For a list of New Zealand practitioners: www.buteykobreathing.co.nz

ENDS

© Scoop Media