A cough is your body's defensive reflex in order to keep your airways clear of irritating or obstructing substances so that you can get oxygen for the body cells. A cough is one of the most common causes why millions of people visit their primary care doctors.

While most doctors rely on medication in order to treat chronic coughing, over 170 Russian medical doctors apply simple breathing exercises to get rid of coughing attacks naturally. These doctors teach the Buteyko breathing technique that has been learnt by more than 300,000 people worldwide (about half in Russia).

The Buteyko technique is officially approved by the Ministry of Health in Russia for treatment of bronchial asthma, and cough is the primary characteristic for asthma. Thus, aspects of the Buteyko method can serve other cough-sufferers to decrease their cough. The major objective of the Buteyko breathing method is to make personal unconscious respiration patterns slower and easier in order to improve O2 levels in the body cells.

Does this breathing method deliver the results for asthma? According to six published western randomized controlled medical trials of the Buteyko technique, the participants experienced the following changes:
- reliever medication intake decreased 4-10 times;
- steroids lowered twice;
- less asthma symptoms, much less coughing and better quality of life.

This was after practicing 3 to 6 months of breathing exercises to eradicate their chronic hyperventilation syndrome, which lessens their oxygen content in tissues. Why should we breathe slower?

Thousands of published research papers have confirmed that hyperventilation (or breathing more than the medical norm) decreases oxygen content in the body cells. This is due to hypocapnic effects of CO2: low CO2 causes constriction of blood vessels and reduced Bohr effect. Both factors reduce oxygen supply to body cells.

Besides, the chemical we exhale, CO2, makes nerve cells calm. This relates not only to the brain cells, but also to nerve cells responsible for the urge-to-cough reflex. Indeed, when a person has a coughing attack and coughs through his or her mouth, CO2 levels in airways become lower than the norm. As a result, urge-to-cough nerve cells (located in the tracheobronchial tree and larynx) become over-excited, and this makes coughing self-perpetuating. Coughing causes more coughing due to losses in CO2.

In addition, bouts of coughing bring about damage or rupture of alveoli due to sudden and huge air pressure changes; cell hypoxia in all vital organs; chronic inflammation and chronic respiratory infections due to suppression of the immune system; constriction of airways due to hypocapnia (CO2 is a bronchodilator); irritation of the constricted airways due to excessive mechanical friction and other pathological effects due to hyperventilation.

These Russian medical doctors developed simple breathing exercises to stop coughing attacks. You can find all details of these exercises in the links provided below. Furthermore, these MDs also discovered the permanent solution to problems with constant coughing. All chronic coughers have less than 20 seconds for the body oxygen test at rest due to their heavy and deep breathing. In order to solve problems with chronic coughing, the patient should more than 25 s for the body oxygen test. One should slow down his or her heavy breathing in order to attain this goal.

Oxygen Remedy is even a more effective respiratory technique since it involves application of the Frolov breathing device. Oxygen Remedy also involves application of the Buteyko lifestyle changes (such as prevention of supine sleep, nose breathing 24/7. physical exercise with nose breathing only, and so forth), but breathing devices lead to faster improvements in body oxygen levels.

Resources
Cough: Causes and Most Natural Treatment (Over 90% Success) - A web page from NormalBreathing.com
Natural Cough Remedies: 3 Easy, Proven Breathing Exercises
CO2: Best Natural Cough Suppressant - Medical reseacrh about stunning abilities of this "waste" gas.

NormalBreathing.com has hundreds of medical quotes and references, graphs and charts, tables, analysis of numerous respiratory techniques, results of clinical trials, free breathing exercises, lifestyle modules, manuals, techniques, and other resources to increase cell and body oxygen levels and improve health.