By Dr.Gauthama Bhat, Kulamarva
MRCS,MS (ENT),DNB
Kasaragod,Kerala, India
(Dr.Gauthama Bhat is an Ear Nose Throat
Specialist.Some half-wit circulated a message
suggesting deep breathing as the sure road
to greatness.He has answered it,in his effort
to curtail such false propaganda among
the ignorant would be patients,showing his
moral responsibility of a doctor.)
to greatness.He has answered it,in his effort
to curtail such false propaganda among
the ignorant would be patients,showing his
moral responsibility of a doctor.)
normal breathing & deep breathing
What has been portrayed as =shallow breathing=
in the passage is the real =normal= breathing.
When a person is at rest, he exchanges about
500mls of air in each breath cycle.The rest of
the lung volumes remaining unused. But they
are there for a purpose. Should a person start
running or exercising, he requires a lot more
energy or in other words oxygen to perform
that sport. That is when the reserve lung
volumes come into play and the person is
able to cope with the physical stress. Just
imagine that a person is already breathing to
his full capacity when he is at rest utilizing all
his reserves, and then he is forced to run to
escape from some danger, where will he be
able to harness the energy/oxygen from.
He has already used up all his capacity!
Even though the deep breathing suggestion
looks intelligent on paper, the fact that nobody
can do it in real life.It is simply impossible
to breathe so deeply throughout life,
consciously.This is because of the "original
architecture" of the body is to breathe
shallowly at rest and breathe deeply only
momentarily, only when required.
The way a normal human breathes during
sleep is the true breathing.It is inadvisable to
change that rhythm.We can never exhale more
than inhaling or inhale more than exhaling.
Because when one breathes at least 12times
in a minute and does it for the entire life, even
a slight discrepancy in the order of micro liters
can cause either an excess or a deficit in the lung
volumes in a matter of few days- therefore
again this theory I would reject.
Lungs will remain normal only when the inhaled
and exhaled air volumes are perfectly balanced
which it done with such great fidelity!
Last line for the one who suggests reorganizing
human breathing on animals model:
If one wants to emulate a dog or an elephant,
I think there are better ways like - starting to
bark or snouting like a pig or sporting a tail, that
is if you want to show your sense of humor!
Great men didn't become great by doing
whatever with their breathing or washing their
hinds.To represent it that way displays nothing
but stupidity of the person,who does it claiming
to be clever.Do not follow such advice and suffer.
Our body is the best machine ever made. Let
us not meddle with the "Factory settings" it
comes with and down grade our lives.(end)
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