It's in the bag as Conor's piping hobby cuts asthma attack agony

Published on Tuesday 23 December 2008 20:42

A SCHOOLBOY who took up the bagpipes to fight his chronic breathing condition has told how he hopes one day never to use an inhaler again.

Twelve-year-old Conor Robertson has been hospitalised about twice a year with severe asthma. But the attacks have dropped off sharply since he began playing the pipes.

He and his family credit the breathing techniques used when playing the instrument, similar to those taught to asthma sufferers.

Connor, from Ballantrae, Ayrshire, saw his personal hero, John Smeaton, hospitalised with asthma earlier this month. He said: "I had no idea that the instrument would make such a dramatic difference to my life but I'm so glad it did.

"I still have to use my inhaler from time to time but if I can keep up the bagpipes, I hope I won't ever have to use it again."

Conor's love affair with the pipes began at the age of two when he heard them at a highland show. He begged his parents to let him play.

It wasn't until seven years later that the youngster's grandfather Gaey Voce, 68, organised lessons for him as a birthday present.

He said: "Since I've started playing I can do a lot more sports, such as rugby and canoeing and my mum doesn't worry about me as much as before."

His mother Sharon, 40, said that she noticed the dramatic change in her son's breathing within months of starting lessons.

A medical receptionist, she said: "Conor used to have asthma attacks on a regular basis, and would have to be hospitalised at least twice a year because they would get so bad."

"Since he's taken up piping however, the attacks have been few and far between.

"I think the main reason for this is because the breathing techniques he has learned during his lessons are very similar to those taught by Asthma UK."

She added: "When he first started out, it was quite hard work. Conor made an absolute racket and it took him a while to be able to carry a tune.

"Now he is good enough to play in the Stranraer and District Pipe Band and is getting better every day."

Piper Gary West, an Edinburgh University lecturer and host of the piping show Pipeline on Radio Scotland, said: "I'm not medically trained, but it's a common claim among pipers.

"I can think of three or four people over the last 30 years who claim that's why they took it up in the first place, they were encouraged to take it up for that. Like any wind instrument, you're using your lungs a lot."

A spokesman for Asthma UK Scotland said: "If the person is talking about piping begin good for asthma, it's because of the breathing techniques that you need to do."

Recent research funded by the group studied patients taught to recognise "dysfunctional breathing", like hyperventilating and breathing too shallowly, and exercises to combat it. After six months the test group showed a marked improvement.

Dr Mike Thomas, a senior researcher, said the study should encourage the National Health Service to increase access to trained chest physiotherapists for people with asthma.

"Breathing exercises are not a cure, but for many they could mean the difference between being unable to leave the house or play with their children, and living a normal, symptom-free life," he said.

BACKGROUND

THERE are at least 370,000 people in Scotland receiving treatment for asthma, according to Asthma UK Scotland.

Across the UK, asthma affects one in ten schoolchildren, with about 100,000 in Scotland affected. Respiratory disease is the most common cause of childhood hospital admissions.

A recent report showed how frustrated these children can become with sports and PE, where teachers may not understand their health problem. "I hate my asthma, because I can't run for long and my mum and dad keep nagging me to take my inhaler," one child was quoted as saying.

Last year, another teenager claimed the bagpipes dramatically reduced his asthma, which had forced him to give up PE at school.

David Armour, 15, won piping certificates in exams at the College of Piping in Glasgow. His mother Janet encouraged him to take up the pipes after reading that wind instruments could help his condition.