1) Whether or not you wear a facemask, it is best to breathe through your nose, firstly to protect yourself (if you breathe through your mouth you completely bypass the body’s protective mechanisms) and secondly to reduce viral spread to others.
How to breathe for immune health: self help for Coronavirus protection
Here are some breathing tips from experts, that might help protect you from Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). You will see a lot of overlap, so these experts are all agreeing!
General use of face masks may not be recommended yet (watching, WHO may change their recommendations) but whether or not you wear a face mask, but we believe that good breathing could help protect you.
Breathing quotes; why it might be worth learning to breathe well…
All the healing forces reside originally in the human breathing system.
Rudolf Steiner
Breath is life, words are power, diet is health.
Benedict Lust
Is yoga breathing damaging your health?
Dr Mercola on yoga breathing “In fact, the whole field of breathing and breath-work has enormous potential for improvement, as most prevailing ideas about breathing promoted in yoga, Pilates, and meditative methods tend to focus on taking big, deep breaths — which is actually the opposite of what you should do”
The importance of nasal breathing: 11 reasons to breathe through your nose
USE THE NOSE FOR BREATHING
The founder of the American Rhinological society, Dr Maurice Cottle, stated that the nose performs at least 30 functions, but at least 50% of modern children are permanent mouth breathers.
Why is the nose treated as an optional or redundant appendage?
Use it!
Here is a shorter list of reasons to convince you!
Smiling and snoring; humming, posture and sinusitis.
Posture and breathing
Records of three better breathing success stories
One of the hardest things about breathing education and retraining is MOTIVATION, putting in enough effort (breathing exercises and lifestyle changes) early on to make a real change your breathing pattern. A colleague calls it “time, dedication and discipline” (TD&D). Sufficient effort at the beginning means clients soon see a decrease in symptoms, (after the first day or two often getting a good night’s sleep or no longer needing asthma reliever inhalers) which motivates them to carry on, and they will soon (usually after 1-3 months) be able to taper down the amount of breathing exercises; it is not usually a big time commitment long term.Continue Reading
The microbiome in asthma and ME/CFS
A new name “systemic exertion intolerance disease” (SEID) for ME/CFS?
In the USA the Institute of Medicine (IOM) are recommending a change of name for ME/CFS to SEID or systemic exertion intolerance disease. It is controversial, as 
expected, but the advisory panel recognise ME/CFS as “a legitimate, serious and complex systemic disease that frequently and dramatically limits the activities of affected individuals.”
They also recognise that ME/CFS is a physical disorder, not a psychological illness.
“Diagnosis of ME/CFS requires that a patient have the following three core symptoms:
- A substantial reduction or impairment in the ability to engage in pre-illness levels of activities that persists for more than six months and is accompanied by fatigue—which is often profound—of new or definite onset, not the result of ongoing excessive exertion and not substantially alleviated by rest
- The worsening of patients’ symptoms after any type of exertion—such as physical, cognitive, or emotional stress—known as post-exertional malaise
- Unrefreshing sleep
At least one of the two following manifestations is also required:
- Cognitive impairment
- The inability to remain upright with symptoms that improve when lying down—known as orthostatic intolerance
These symptoms should persist for at least six months and be present at least half the time with moderate, substantial, or severe intensity to distinguish ME/CFS from other diseases”.
Why is a new name for ME/CFS needed?
The renaming is important because:
“• Several studies have shown that the term “chronic fatigue syndrome” affects patients’ perceptions of their illness as well as the reactions of others, including medical personnel, family members, and colleagues. This label can trivialize the seriousness of the condition and promote misunderstanding of the illness.
- The term “myalgic encephalomyelitis” is not appropriate because there is a lack of evidence for encephalmyelitis (brain inflammation) in patients with this disease, and myalgia (muscle pain) is not a core symptom of the disease.
- The Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee recommends the name systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID) for this disease.
This new name captures a central characteristic of this disease— the fact that exertion of any sort (physical, cognitive, or emotional)—can adversely affect patients in many organ systems and in many aspects of their lives. To learn more, and to access the IOM committee’s proposed diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS, visit the IOM website.”
“Diagnosing ME/CFS often is a challenge, and seeking and receiving a diagnosis can be frustrating due to the skepticism of health care providers about these patients and the serious nature of their disease”
Hopefully the new definitions will help with diagnosis and end scepticism of doctors and the public (I know what you mean, I am exhausted too…)
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