A 3rd Theory Emerges About Asthma

Despite a century of research, the medical community still doesn't know the root cause of asthma. Is it possible they are looking in the wrong places? One theory says asthma is not a disease but Mother Nature's way of preventing the lose of an essential body gas, carbon dioxide.

Two Medical Theories
As with many things, the medical community sees the result of asthma (wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, difficulty breathing) as the problem and tries to prevent the problem from happening. Asthma manifests as increased mucus in the airways, spasms of airway smooth muscle and swelling of airway walls. Medical research lists two theories on why this happens:

• The Allergen Theory: The lungs are overly sensitive to allergens such as pollen, dust, animal dander, some foods, etc., resulting in airway constriction. These allergens are known as "triggers."
• The Environmental Theory: When cold and/or dry air enters the lungs, the lungs spasm resulting in airway constriction. This is common in athletes (exercise induced asthma) or folks who spend time in cold and/or dry conditions.

Asthma treatment is based on these two theories including: a) trigger avoidance and b) medication that stops the spasms and/or decreases the swelling or inflammation of the airways.

Having had asthma for most of my life and being on these medications for decades I can attest to the fact these two treatments helped but did not stop my asthma. As a child I remember my mother spending countless hours cleaning my room to eliminate allergens and ensuring I didn't eat foods that triggered my asthma. For decades I took the best medications available including bronchodilators and corticosteoids. All this helped but asthma was still ever-present with daily attacks.

A Third Theory Emerges, The Carbon Dioxide Theory
In 1952, a third theory about asthma emerged. It became known as the Carbon Dioxide Theory. Medical researchers found people with asthma had a couple of things going on including:

• Overly sensitive airways and hyperactive airway smooth muscle.
• Reduced carbon dioxide levels in the lungs, 3.5% by volume or less; normal is 5%+.
• Reduced carbon dioxide levels in the body, below the normal 40 mmHg.

The research also showed when normal levels of carbon dioxide were restored in the lungs, asthma attacks were reduced or eliminated. Methods were developed and tested to retain carbon dioxide in the lungs. The most important method involved reducing the volume of air breathed. When breathing volume is reduced, less carbon dioxide is blown off through exhaling and more carbon dioxide stays in the lungs.

Further research led to the findings that carbon dioxide plays a much larger role throughout the body, not just the lungs. One hundred and fifty different health conditions were found to be impacted by how we breathe and our ability to retain the right levels of carbon dioxide in the body.

Evidence Supporting The Carbon Dioxide Theory
Substantial evidence has emerged supporting the Carbon Dioxide Theory for asthma. Anecdotally, we know the Carbon Dioxide Theory has helped several hundreds of thousands of people with asthma. It helped my asthma, no attacks or medication in over 10 years, and it has helped scores of my clients.

Even the medical community has found support for the Carbon Dioxide Theory including:

• Three Russian and six western medical studies showing significant reduction in the use of asthma medication and improvement in life style.
• The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) giving it an "A" rating.
• Four governments (Russia, Australia, Great Britain and the United States) saying it is suitable as a adjunct therapy to medical treatment of asthma.

Are You a Candidate For The Carbon Dioxide Theory?
If you have asthma, chances are the Carbon Dioxide Theory may help relieve or eliminate your symptoms. Take a look at how you breathe. If you are breathing more than 12 times per minute, breathe through your mouth, snore at night or when looking in a mirror you see yourself breathing (chest motion, belly motion or rising and falling of the shoulders), chances are good the Carbon Dioxide Theory may help your asthma. Changing the way you breathe will most likely change your asthma and the quality of your life for the better.

The Close
We know carbon dioxide plays a vital role in the body, performs four important functions and we could not live for more than a few minutes with out it. So, the question remains. Is asthma a disease or Mother Nature's way of preventing us from blowing off, through our breathing, carbon dioxide an essential body gas?  A rather provocative question but one worth investigating. Let me know your thoughts.

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