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Physiological state of terminally ill cancer patients is characterised by dozens of parameters that are outside of the normal range. Among the simplest cardio-respiratory parameters used by modern oncologists are pulse and respiratory rate at rest or during sleep (Chiang et al, 2009; de Miguel Sanchez et al, 2006; Groeger et al, 1998). They predict survival of cancer patients. After investigating several parameters and characteristics in 100 terminally ill cancer patients, Dudgeon and Lertzman (1998) concluded that “spirometry was abnormal in 93% of patients”.

While most formulas, which could predict survival of cancer patients, involve blood analysis and other complicated procedures, a group of Spanish doctors suggested only 3 simple parameters reflected in the title of their study: “Palliative Performance Status, Heart Rate and Respiratory Rate as Predictive Factors of Survival Time in Terminally Ill Cancer Patients” (de Miguel Sanchez et al, 2006). Ninety-eight patients were studied, whose median survival was 32 days. In abstract these doctors noted, that following ranges of these 3 parameters predict poor chances to survive: Palliative Performance Score of 50 or under, heart rate of 100/minute or more, and respiratory rate of 24/minute or more.

In the 1960s, when Doctor Konstantin Buteyko was the head of the classified respiratory project for first Soviet spaceship missions (Soviets wanted to define ideal air composition in a space rocket and ideal respiratory parameters of astronauts for their maximum performance and body oxygenation), he analyzed results of thousands of healthy and sick people (mostly with heart disease and asthma) and suggested the Buteyko Table of health zones. Several books (e.g., Buteyko & Buteyko, 2005) and websites have this table. It links together several fundamental physiological characteristics of the human body, including heart rate, respiratory frequency, CO2 concentration in the alveoli of the lungs, automatic pause (a natural pause of total rest or no breathing after their usual exhalation), and the Control Pause (or body oxygenation index). The CP is the breath holding time measured after usual exhalation, but only until the signs of initial discomfort or stress.