The talk by Glenn White entitled Breathing Retraining: A role in assessment and management of asthma and other respiratory disorders is timely considering the conference coincided with the release of the first ever New Zealand National Respiratory strategy.
The video of Glenn's talk presented on 6 November 2015 is available at the bottom of this page or on the Asthma Foundation's YouTube channel
According to 2015 Asthma Foundation statistics over 700,000 New Zealanders live with a respiratory condition. Respiratory disease was the cause of 2,700 respiratory deaths in 2011. There were over 69,000 hospitalisations for respiratory disorders and 460,000 kiwis take asthma meds. These are not statistics we should be proud of and indicate current strategies are not working.
There were over 300 delegates at the conference which included Ines Asher, director of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), New Zealander of the year, Dr Lance O’Sullivan, Professor Richard Beasley, author of the Fenoterol study and key players advocating for people with respiratory disorders in New Zealand.
Glenn's talk included an explanation of the Buteyko Method of breathing retraining, a live breathing assessment, including capnometry and demonstration of some key breathing exercises to help relieve symptoms of asthma and other respiratory disorders.
The National Respiratory Strategy is a call to action to: reduce the incidence and impact of respiratory disease and eliminate inequalities in respiratory health in New Zealand. With this in mind I finished the talk by identifying three key areas where breathing retaining can help in achieving these goals:
- Identifying dysfunctional breathing patterns and restoring correct breathing can help reduce the incidence of asthma and other respiratory disorders.
- Improved breathing efficiency can improve symptoms and lessen the impact of respiratory disorders.
- Having breathing pattern assessment part of standard medical diagnostic practice will help eliminate inequalities – GPs, nurses and other health workers in private practice, hospital and the community would be on the lookout for dysfunctional breathing patterns and be aware of treatment options.
A copy of Glenn's presentation at the Respiratory Conference of New Zealand is available on the Asthma Foundation website:
The New Zealand National Respiratory Strategy is available online here »
Dying to breathe – Read how Glenn overcame his own asthma and how he now helps others do the same »
Contact our clinic on 09 360 6291 to find out how we can help you overcome the symptoms of asthma and other respiratory disorders.
