This is followed by the development of metabolic acidosis, which is caused by the accumulation of underoxidized products owing to hypoxia and represents a compensatory reaction against respiratory alkalosis. When overbreathing causes an excessive loss of carbon dioxide, respiratory alkalosis occurs. The deeper the breathing, the more hypoxic were the brain, heart, kidneys, and other organs. He postulated that in deep breathing too much carbon dioxide was lost (hypocapnia), causing the alkalizing of blood pH and a leftward shift in the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve (Bohr effect). ![]() He based his theory on the fundamental laws of physiology, biochemistry, and biology. In 1952, Buteyko 4 theorized that alveoli hyperventilation or deep breathing was the cause of “diseases of civilization,” such as allergies and vascular and bronchial spasms. Contending that contemporary humans were experiencing greater difficulty in breathing correctly (ie, modestly and nasally), he identified hyperventilation (or breathing too much) as a symptom of stressful lives and suggested that carbon dioxide (contrary to being a waste gas) is more important than we know. ![]() He observed that unhealthy breathing affected every part of the body. Very familiar to the naturopathic community, metabolic syndrome is a kind of one-stop shopping cart of serious health conditions parked in a single person, including “obesity, high blood pressure, high insulin levels with insulin resistance, diabetes, high cholesterol, and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.” 3Īlso relevant to our considerations herein is the work of Dr Konstantin Buteyko, 4 a Russian medical scientist who spent more than 50 years of his life looking at stress affecting respiration. Kendall-Reed and Reed suggest in The Complete Doctor’s Stress Solutions that the chronic stress response cascade initiates metabolic syndrome. However, many NDs will attest that contemporary humans are, in many ways, far from the same physiological state as primitive healthy men and women on the lookout for tigers or unfriendly clans from the next valley. Our nervous system, uniquely designed to react to danger for self-preservation, preserves deeply in our viscera the same nervous system that hunters-gatherers counted on to save them when lethal danger came. Unable to keep pace with the exponential avalanche of information, expectation, and obligation, their patients can experience everyday occurrences as stress ridden and even life threatening. Naturopathic physicians daily encounter patient presentation in their clinics linked to stress. ![]() Bernard and Krupat 2 pointed out that, while stress manifests routinely in human survival, prolonged stress can generate adverse health effects. ![]() The pituitary-adrenal system, however, responds more slowly and can even prolong the hyper state of the individual. Hans Seyle, 1 an early pioneer in modern stress theory, described his “general adaptation syndrome” in 1936, which associated “stages of adaptation” (alarm, resistance, and exhaustion) with changes in hormone patterns and the actual production of “stress hormones.” Our fast-acting sympathetic system enables rapid response by activating and increasing arousal. The carbon dioxide link between stress and the symptoms of stress is worth a closer look. The social and health costs of stress have been well documented, and it is undeniable that stress ranks high on the list of frequent patient visits. That it is possible to suggest carbon dioxide as “the missing link” in dealing with stress is particularly intriguing. Any new natural approaches to deal with this challenge are of strong interest to us. As many NDs can attest, the sympathetic nervous systems of their patients are busy adapting to the chronic stressors in contemporary Western culture.
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