Carl's research started back in the late 1950's, when as a gifted choral director, he took up the call of Dr.Maurice Small, Chief of Tuberculosis Management at East Orange New Jersey Veteran's Hospital. Dr.Small's hospital wards were overflowing with a new disease: EMPHYSEMA. He hoped that Carl, with his accomplished background in vocal training, might be able to help just one of his post World War II patients find relief. Carl considered the fact that he had no medical background and thought there was little he could do to help these patients; but upon meeting them and seeing them locked into an eternal state of gasping, Carl found his hands going instinctively to their rigid chests. By the simple act of touching them there, he was able to release some of their tension. When the patients tried to speak, to thank him, however, the tension returned. Carl thought that if he could teach just one of these patients to make one clear vowel sound (they all had raspy, hoarse and breathy voices) without the chest locking, perhaps he could help make a permanent change in their condition.

Highly motivated to help these men who had no one else to turn to, Carl put aside his dreams for the continued expansion of his 200 member Choir School and devoted the next ten years of his life to helping chronically ill respiratory patients improve their health. He participated in numerous medical studies and worked countless hours at four major East Coast hospitals, meeting with resistance and skepticism every step of the way. He patiently moved forward, creating a series of isometric exercises that focused on the relaxation of the body, as the patient developed the capacity to extend a group of sounds during exhalation. All of Carl's patients improved and many were able to permanently leave the hospital, while some patients using machines and other devices, thought to be helpful at the time, died.

Carl's background in voice gave him the idea that he might be making a change in the diaphragm. The doctors couldn't tell him if his premise was correct because the physiology of the diaphragm was unknown. In fact, there was no standard for breathing at that time and, to Carl's amazement, there had not been any new studies on breathing mechanics since the 17th century. .Looking back on those early days, Carl comments "The main and largest muscle/organ in the body was totally overlooked because the medical establishment thought nothing could be done about it. The entire internal pressure of the body, circulation-all depend on how much carbon dioxide you can get out of your body so that you can inhale. Everything is based on the exhale, not the inhale. Everyone is saying "take a breath", "take a breath". Well, you can't take a breath if you can't exhale the amount of air in the lung. This carries into every major medical problem that exists today. Everything has to do with oxygen level or a build up of CO2 in the body……All respiratory infection starts in residual volume (the amount of air left in the lung after an exhale) and if the diaphragm isn't strong enough to rise high enough to push out the stale air, you just get one infection after another." (Carl Stough) . In the words of Dr Robert.Nims, former head of the pulmonary laboratory at the West Haven Veteran's Administration Hospital "Physicians taking care of people with pulmonary disease feel that they can do nothing to directly affect the diaphragm. They treat infection of the lungs to minimize the obstruction of air and let the lungs collapse as much as they can, but they don't work directly on the diaphragm."