Breath-Holding in Anxiety Disorders

Devastating Neurological Disorders: Breath-holding Spells in Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy

Breath-holding spells are episodes of brief, involuntary cessations of breathing that occur in children in response to stimuli such as fear or injury. They are usually benign, and although very rarely, breath-holding spells accompany deteriorative neurological diseases. Here, we present two patients having infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy and breath-holding spells. Presence of the common respira...

Breath-holding spells in infants.

QUESTION I have children in my clinic who experience seizurelike episodes in which they cry and hold their breath to the point of cyanosis and loss of consciousness. Their examination or investigation findings are normal and referral to a pediatric specialist results in no further investigation. Are breath-holding spells common, and what type of investigation is needed? ANSWER A breath-holdin...

The limits of breath holding.

Breath-holding and its breakpoint.

This article reviews the basic properties of breath-holding in humans and the possible causes of the breath at breakpoint. The simplest objective measure of breath-holding is its duration, but even this is highly variable. Breath-holding is a voluntary act, but normal subjects appear unable to breath-hold to unconsciousness. A powerful involuntary mechanism normally overrides voluntary breath-h...

Breath-holding in a marijuana smoker

It is vital to ask about illicit drug smoking in the respiratory history as marijuana smoking augments the detrimental effects of tobacco. We describe the case of a 28 year old marijuana smoker who developed a pneumothorax during a breath-holding competition. Pneumothorax is a common clinical entity that every physician should be aware of how to manage and lifetime risk is considerably increase...