by Michelle McDonagh          Connaught Tribune 21st May 2004 Part of article- Richards story Fourteen years old Richard Moran has been a chronic asthmatic since the age of eleven months. His condition was so bad that he was almost constantly on antibiotics and had to be hospitalised at least six times a year. However, his father Peter says that since Richard started Buteyko Breathing last September, he has become a different person- he has had only one asthma attack since then and has been able to significantly reduce his medication 

The week before Richard first went to one of Patrick McKeown’s clinics in Dublin, his father had to carry him up an incline behind their house because he could not walk up the hill himself. He could’nt play football outside with his brother for more than ten minutes without having to go inside and use his nebuliser machine. Peter explains: “Richard can now play football and run and he does not need his machine anymore. The difference is unbelieveable, he feels a million dollars.”  Richard practices his breathing exercises every day, breathes through his nose constantly and covers his mouth with paper tape to ensure that he does not revert to mouth breathing in his sleep.  We can’t believe the difference in our child and its all down to changing his breathing. I would not hesitate to recommend this method to anybody,” says Peter.  

The pioneering study of a Russian Professor into reducing the effects of Asthma on suffers over forty years ago is launched this weekend in Belfast.The first Buteyko breathing workshop for Northern Ireland suffers takes place this Friday and Saturday at the Beachlawn Hotel, Belfast. Galway therapist Patrick McKeown and Dungannon practitioner Tom Herron jointly run the sessions.Patrick came across this therapy whilst suffering from chronic asthma and being literally at his wits end to stop the endless increasing of his medication. He researched the Buteyko method extensively and trained in Russia in the founding Buteyko Clinic of Moscow under Dr. Andrey Novozhilov (Professor Buteyko’s Son) and Dr. Ludmilla Buteyko (Professor Buteyko’s wife).Over four decades Russian Professor Konstantin Buteyko developed this programme of breathing to significantly reverse symptoms in a number of respiratory disorders including asthma. The Buteyko Clinic Method is taught according to the standards and method of the Buteyko Clinic of Moscow. His method is recognised by the Russian government since 1983 and forms part of medical training at Russian Universities.

Currently, there are 150,000 people with asthma living in Northern Ireland - 99,000 adults and 51,000 children. (Oct 2004)

Asthma inflicts greater social and economic damage in the Western World than either TB or HIV, according to the World Health Organisation’s April 2002 report on the links of ill health in children and the deteriorating environment. According to the 1998 International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, the countries with the highest 12-month incidence of asthma were the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland.

Speaking today Patrick McKeown said: “Asthma is not discriminatory and affects all walks of life. In fact some of the most influential people of our time were asthmatic including Che Guevara, Russian Tzar Peter the Great, Elizabeth Taylor, John F. Kennedy and Theodore Rossevelt.”

He added, “The social costs of asthma include not least numerous days missed at work and school due to asthma attacks, persistent chest infections and a low immune system. It prevents children and adults from participating in sports, especially severe asthmatics and can be debilitating due to the side effects of consuming inhalers and steroids on a daily basis.”

“The financial costs of asthma include regular trips to the GP, regular purchasing of steroids and replacing inhalers and sometimes hospital admissions due to attacks. The costs would be from 1000 pounds for a mild asthmatic, and it would increase for a severe asthmatic.”