Review of Scientific Research on Buteyko Breathing

Critical reviews of published English-language scientific articles on the effectiveness of Buteyko Breathing by drs. Eduard Reuvers.

Buteyko breathing techniques in asthma: a blinded randomised controlled trial. (1998)

Published: Medical Journal of Australia, 1998 Dec 7-21;169(11-12):575-8.
By: Bowler SD, Green A, Mitchell CA.

This article reports on the first trial on Buteyko Breathing to take place outside of the former Soviet Union. The trial was done according to the gold standard: a blind randomized controlled trial. It was specifically aimed at testing what Buteyko does for asthma patients. The trial found extremely positive results for asthma patients doing Buteyko Breathing. It is a shame that the article shows various signs of bias against Buteyko in the interpretation of the results by the authors (who have multiple conflicts of interest).

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Effect of two breathing exercises (Buteyko and pranayama) in asthma: a randomised controlled trial. (2003)

Published: Thorax 2003; 58:674–67
By: S Cooper, J Oborne, S Newton, V Harrison, J Thompson Coon, S Lewis, A Tattersfield.

This article reports on a blind randomized controlled trial which was done in the UK. In the trial, Buteyko was compared with a 'Paranayama' lung exercise device and a control group. 90 asthma patients participated. The trial found positive results for asthma patients doing Buteyko Breathing and no results whatsoever for the 'Pranayama' lung exercise device. The asthma patients doing Buteyko reported an approximate 75% decrease in asthma symptoms and a reduction in asthma medication usage. The article shows various signs of bias against Buteyko by the authors and the authors' conflicts of interest are not disclosed in the article itself.

Read the full article review by drs. Eduard Reuvers