When I was in college, I had a massive asthma attack which I couldn't ward off because dorm rules strictly stated that nobody was allowed to out beyond 9pm. (I was in my freshman year at Kalayaan Hall, UP Diliman) I didn't have any medicine with me and chugging gallons of water was not helping anymore. The itch inside my chest was so unbearable whenever I tried to cough it out or breathe. As a result, I tried to hold my breath in and inhale/exhale ultra slowly with the least amount of effort so as not to trouble my stubborn lungs. It worked. I inhaled deeply until i couldn't inhale anymore and held my breath for ten seconds, then release the air slowly through my nose. I could feel the air clumping inside my chest and the manner it stopped phlegm development inside. It was a medical breakthrough! From then on, I stopped relying on the nebulizer and Ventolin. I told my friends who had asthma to do the same thing. NOBODY BELIEVED ME. I told my boss about the technique a few months ago. I could sense he was dubious.

Today, he gave me an article from the The Age business journal about a recent discovery by doctors on the effectiveness of controlled breathing on thwarting the complication of an asthma attack.

"Doctors in Sydney and at Melbourne's Alfred hospital are investigating whether the debilitating lung constrictions of asthma can be controlled by breathing differently. Participants were being trained to use various techniques, including nasal or mouth breathing, different depths and frequencies of breathing and altered muscle use."

It's funny medical experts only got to discover this now. I've been living on this technique for four years now and I discovered it on my own. Surely other asthmatic people out there know this but never really bothered to try it out because their doctors told them to get addicted to aerosol sprays. Now EVERYONE BELIEVES ME. Funny.