Practical medical evidence indicates that people can breathe 2-4 times more air every minute and be unaware that their breathing is too heavy. This is exactly the case for patients with heart disease, asthma, bronchitis, chronic fatigue, panic attacks, sleeping problems and many other conditions. The physiological norm for breathing is about 4-6 liters per minute, while medical research found 10-20 liters for the sick people.

Why is this? Air is weightless, and breathing muscles are powerful. During rigorous physical exercise we can breathe up to 100-150 l/min. Some athletes can breathe up to 200 l/min. So it is easy to breathe "only" 10-15 l/min at rest (only 10% of our maximum capacity), throughout the day and night and not be aware of this rate of breathing. However, in health, we should breathe only about 3-4% of our maximum breathing rate.

Usually, people notice that their breathing is heavy when they breathe more than 25 l/min at rest (or 4-6 times the norm!). Such acute episodes of overbreathing are normal during stroke, and asthma, heart, and epilepsy attacks.

The most surprising effect of any form of hyperventilation is reduced body oxygenation and shorter stress-free breath holding time (index of oxygenation). Why? There are 2 related biochemical effects of over-breathing.

First, CO2 (carbon dioxide), the gas we exhale, is crucial for dilation of blood vessels. Check it yourself. Start to breathe very heavy in and out just for 1-2 minutes, and you can lose consciousness (faint or pass out) due to low blood supply for the brain. There is another simple test to see the effects of breathing on blood flow. When you get a small accidental bleeding cut, hold your breath and accumulate CO2. Your blood losses can increase 2-5 times! But in real life, pain and sight of blood make breathing heavier preventing large blood losses and providing valuable time for blood to coagulate. It is a mechanism useful for our survival likely based on natural selection.

The second main cause of tissue hypoxia for hyperventilators relates to the Bohr effect, a physiological law discovered about a century ago. This law explains how, why, and where our red blood cells release oxygen. The release takes place in those tissues that have higher CO2 content. Hence, those organs and muscles that produce more CO2 get more O2. Try to imagine the picture: the blood arrives in certain tissues and releases more oxygen in the places with high CO2 concentrations. But when we hyperventilate, low CO2 content in all tissues suppresses O2 release from hemoglobin cells and we suffer from hypoxia.

Thousands of medical studies showed and proved other negative effects of overbreathing, such as, abnormal excitability of all nerve cells, bronchoconstriction, reduced activity of many immune cells, muscular spasms, and biochemical changes in rates and directions of many chemical reactions that require normal CO2 content.

Restoration of oxygenation and normal breathing parameters are the main goals of the Buteyko breathing method. The method was developed by Russian Doctor Konstantin Buteyko, who trained about 200 Russian medical professionals to apply this technique for various health conditions. These doctors found that if the patient manage to normalize main parameters of breathing, no symptoms and no medication are required for asthma, bronchitis, heart disease, and many other conditions.

There are 2 parts in his system: breathing exercises and common sense activities, which, as they found, influence breathing. For example, when we breathe through the mouth or sleep on the back at night, our oxygenation index can drop almost 2 times! In relation to other activities, Doctor Buteyko even suggested simple rules for better oxygenation: "Eat only when hungry and stop in time", "Go to sleep when really sleepy and get out of the bed in the morning", "Exercise with nasal breathing only", etc. Many other factors are useful for better oxygenation, as Russian doctors found, for example, raw diets, good posture, normal thermoregulation, relaxation and meditation techniques, forgiveness, moderation, hatha yoga postures, cold shower, etc.

While Russian doctors accumulated huge clinical experience, very little was translated in English. My educational website http://www.normalbreathing.com has some translations of original Russian publications devoted to this drug-free technique.

The Internet has revolutionized almost every aspect of our lives and made education easily accessible online. There are different types of online courses available that vary from under-graduate to post-graduate but that is not all. You can even take advantage of the various subjects that are being taught online. Mathematics is one such subject that has moved from traditional classroom to online. Finding online maths courses is quite easy these days especially because of the many universities and private institutions offering the same.

One of the biggest advantages of choosing an online maths course is the convenience. You can study at you own time and you will not be required to pay a hefty amount in fees. Let's take a look at some of the institutions offering online maths courses:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (mit.edu)

MIT, one of the most prestigious educational institutions of the world offers:

Algebra I Course

Introductory Geometry Course

Probability and Statistics Course

Apart from the above courses, MIT also has almost 100 free online math courses made available to everyone and anyone through their innovative OpenCourseWare project. Under the OpenCourseWare project, you will get to study using slides, lectures, assignments, problem sets, and various other resources that will mainly assist self-study. Above all, you don't need to register for these courses.

University of Massachusetts, Boston (umb.edu)

Another great education institution, UMB offers three main online maths courses:

Calculus I

Calculus II

Calculus III

UMB offers 3 free online calculus courses that are bundled with comprehensive instructions. You can download them from their website and it will include suggested problems, multiple lessons, reading assignments and other resources. Above all, you don't need to register for these courses.

College of Eastern Utah (usu.edu)

You can get two standard online maths courses:

Intermediate Algebra Course

Quantitative Reasoning Course

The College of Eastern Utah's Mathematics Department has opened its doors to provide access to anyone who is interested in their two different math courses and these can be downloaded for free. Both of these courses cover a variety of topics. You need to have RealPlayer for the Quantitative Reading Course and above all, you don't need to register for these courses.

Dixie State College of Utah (usu.edu)

This Utah College offers two online calculus courses, which are:

Calculus I Course

Calculus II Course

Dixie State College of Utah had recently started a pilot program, which provides free downloads of two excellent online math tutorials or courses. The course material includes exams, notes, and various important subject related resources. You don't need to register for any of these courses.

Carnegie Mellon University (cmu.edu)

One of the top universities in the US, Carnegie Melon offers a single online maths course called:

Statistics Course

The free Statistics Course is available for download and study through Carnegie Mellon's Open Learning Initiative and can be compared to their full semester course that is currently being taught on their University campus. The course material will include virtual simulations, tests, text, interactive learning exercises, and other resources. You don't need to register for any of these courses.

For further information, Please visit Online Math Resources