News and Articles on Health. Medical research topics.

Asthma is a common respiratory condition in adults and children. An asthma attack results in a narrowing and inflammation of the airways leading to the lungs. Triggers for an asthma attack can include: allergens, pollen, pet dander, air pollution, dust, and chemical fumes. Most of these impurities can exist in the home. Using an air filter can decrease or eliminate the triggers of asthma. Air purifiers for the home are effective at eliminating not only particles but also odors and fumes.

No matter what substance triggers your asthma attack, an air filter is going to make a great difference. Air filters work by removing particles from the air, and trapping them. Once the filter collects the particles, you will be able to breathe air that is much purer and cleaner.

There are a number of different air filters on the market. There are air purifiers that can be installed to filter air in a single room and filters that can be connected to the air conditioning or heating system of the home. Many experts recommend a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) grade air cleaner to filter out such contaminants as pollen, mold spores, pet dander, and dust mites.

Air purifiers with a HEPA filter have been proven to trap 99.97 to 99.99% of particles and microns from the air. Filtering these impurities out of indoor air will lessen the severity or eliminate asthma symptoms. The American Lung Association recommends a HEPA air filter purifier for bedrooms of asthma patients. According to the Mayo clinic, “an air particle filter is ideal for household ventilation systems.” The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) and the British Allergy Foundation recommend the use of ionic filters and HEPA filters.

Asthmatics can experience an attack at any time. There are usually a set of triggers that cause an attack. Most of these triggers can be found in indoor air. If air purifiers are used, indoor air can be cleaned of impurities and make the air safer for an asthma sufferer to breathe.

Air purifiers are a necessity for households with family members who suffer from asthma. The best way to benefit from air filters is to put one in your bedroom, as well as any of the other rooms in which you spend a good amount of your time. Whether you or a person you’re living with suffers from mild to severe asthma, air purifiers may be the best health solution for your home.

Because of the varying factors and complexities surrounding asthma, treatment is difficult and can take long before any vast improvement is seen. Not only that, some of the medications being given to asthmatics contain strong chemical ingredients that may compromise your body’s natural immune system, causing irreparable and irreversible damage in the long run.

Achieving long term relief without relying too much on your regular medication is possible with the help of herbal treatments.

There are many advantages to be had when opting for this method to help you achieve asthma relief. Some of the advantages include: assurance of safety, convenience, effectiveness, price and can be taken regularly without fear of dependence or addiction.

But even with the numerous advantages that it can offer for asthmatics care should always be taken when choosing herbal treatments because there are some that you might actually be allergic to or can counteract the effects of your medication making them ineffective or giving off unwanted results or reactions.

To give you an idea of how much herbal treatment for asthma can help you, here are a few examples:

Mullein Oil:

the high percentage of saponins and mucilage found in the leaf working together with the plants antibiotic properties makes mullein oil an ideal alternative not only for asthma but also for various other respiratory ailments. Since there are many preparations that can be made from mullein oil it is recommended that you seek assistance from an experienced herbalist if you are interested in using it for your condition.

Licorice Root:

Licorice root contains saponin glycoside or otherwise known as glycyrrhizic acid is not inflammatory, non-allergic and non-arthritic effect similar to what cortisone does but without the implications. There are ready made preparations that can be bought if you are interested in using licorice for your asthma. Just be sure to follow the instructions on label carefully as overdose from licorice root can be dangerous.

Ginger:

One of the most common and easy to find herbal treatment for asthma. Ginger not only serves as a cooking ingredient but has been used mostly by people to treat various illnesses and disorders. For asthmatics, ginger preparations serve to reduce and increase resistance to allergic reactions, while also taking care of underlying causes that might aggravate the condition.

Chamomile:

mostly used in teas, chamomile has become quite popular in the western world because of its stress relieving effects. But aside from this, chamomile also contains antihistamine, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antispasmodic properties that asthmatics can greatly benefit from. Mixtures are in forms of teas and tinctures along with creams and compresses. If you are taking blood thinners such as warfarin, avoid taking chamomile at all costs.

These are just a few in the long list of herbal medication that can help you when you want to achieve relief with as less chemical intervention as possible. More and more people are finding out about the beneficial effects of herbal treatments for asthma, isn’t it about time to find out for yourself?

With further research on the condition called asthma, more and more effective medications and alternatives are being developed. It would be fair to say that we are nearing an age where asthma will soon become a distant memory. But until that day comes, people will have to depend on what is available out there today. While there are indeed a lot of proven safe and effective alternatives, some products and therapies still pose a danger to the general public because of the side effects that they may have.

When choosing which route to take it would be in your best interest to question the validity of each technique or medication that you may be interested in.

Always put your safety above anything else.

It does not matter how effective a certain method or drug is, if the side effects can cause great discomfort, it should not be taken into consideration.

So far when it comes to alleviating the condition three are known to work quite well and all of them fall into the breathing category; Pranayama, Buteyko and Papworth. While techniques as to how correct breathing is achieved for each may differ, they all teach how important correct breathing is when it comes to handling your condition.

Pranayama for example is yoga which is concentrates more on breathing than anything else. What’s good about Pranayama is that, there are a lot of varieties that you can choose from depending on your condition. Meaning you can just choose a specific set that concentrates more on breathing and less on stretching if you want to maximize your lung capacity or vise versa.

Buteyko on the other hand aims to achieve resistance to asthma by developing your body to cope with hyperventilation. By teaching shallow breathing you will be training your lungs to achieve full oxygenation while only taking short regulated breaths. Since the issue with asthma is in the lack of air, training your body to function normally when there is less air intake will allow you to stay control over your attacks.

Finally, Papworth is another breathing method which teaches how to regulate your breathing depending on the activity that you are doing. This breathing method emphasizes on nose breathing and also integrates relaxation technique and diet to achieve maximum effectiveness.

These three so far have proven themselves to help asthmatics handle their condition and gives them control over future attacks. Since breathing exercises do not require you to take any other supplements aside from practicing it regularly, there is no concern over side effects or contradictions with the regular medication that you are taking.

Asthma attacks are quite prevalent these days. Every day you might come across news snippets stating the casualties of asthma attacks. Plenty of misconceptions and theories exist in this domain and in this brief description; I would like to shed some important information regarding the same.

A number of factors might lead to asthma attacks. Knowing them and keeping them at bay requires careful thought as well as guidance. What exactly is an asthma attack? In simpler non-medical terms, it is the narrowing of the air passage leading to the lungs.

There is no specific cause for the condition. Researchers and doctors all over the world attribute allergens and the genetic make-up as major contributors of the condition. Parents who are known to suffer from this condition can impart asthma to their offspring. The presence of allergy causing agents like dust, pollen also induces asthma attacks in a person. A characteristic feature of asthma is the fact that is sets from an earlier stage of one’s life. Latest research is pointing to the fact that respiratory complications that were present on a child during childhood era might also contribute a lot to shape this condition.

Keeping themselves away from dust and dirt ridden environments is one of the best manners to ward away asthma attacks. Hair from domesticated animals might also pose a significant risk. If one is suffering from asthma, it is better not to invest on any kind of pets for the home. Microscopic particles might irritate the bronchial lining and an asthma attack might be induced on the patient. The room occupied by the patient – it must not contain objects that aid in quick dust accumulation like drapes. Carpets also pose problems like the aforementioned drapes. Asthma attacks are also known to be the direct reaction to allergy to certain foods. Please avoid them.

Doctors and modern medicine present numerous tests to confirm the existence of asthma on a patient. Spirometer is the commonly employed instrument to detect and study about asthma. Breathing problems are the hallmark of the condition, hence tests that are employed to detect them can be implemented for detecting asthma. The value of peak expiratory flow provides an insight into the condition. X-rays of the chest and the associated regions will also prove to be beneficial in detecting the condition. Various tests are present that will aid in detecting allergy – these might prove to be helpful, likewise.

There is no specific treatment for asthma. Doctors are known to advise the patient to keep away from dusty environments. Altering the lifestyle so that asthma causative agents are less inhaled is the pivotal step in curbing the condition. Certain physicians also recommend mild dosage of anti-inflammatory drugs to prevent asthma attacks.

An important factor observed in any person suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is that they may have a form known as asthma. Patients having emphysema commonly known as chronic bronchitis observes the same symptoms as that of asthma.

It is important to determine whether it is obstructive pulmonary disease or chronic asthma. The bronchial terms we are using point to illnesses of the respiration system that are unceasing and cause irritation while breathing.

Tightening of the chest, coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath are some usual symptoms. About 20 million people in the United States suffer from asthma, and the majority agrees that the source for it is air pollution. This disease is produced due to the fact of air bearing allergic components.

To avoid asthma attacks, the patient or generally the person should stay away from any polluted atmosphere and should have a proper check-up with a good prescription (if required). An initial diagnosis may be constructive for convenience but once diagnosed with the disease, it would be a menace for life.

The causes for asthma are excessive laughter, singing, crying, smoking, unfavorable food and allergies. Cold, cough and sinusitis are quite enough to cause an attack of asthma. Doctors use techniques to judge the disease in which one common sign is a puffed sound in breath.

In addition, the doctor must be informed of the symptoms when respiratory problems take place. It helps the doctor a lot to sort out the signs of respiration illness in order to finalize the problem. A lot of tests can be taken such as X-rays or peak expiratory flow to determine the cause of illness.

In order to avoid these attacks, proper diet, routine check-ups and medication, exercise and a pollution-free atmosphere are significant. However, a pollution-free atmosphere is hard to access.

Here is my opinion about why you might have asthma. And if my opinion is right about why you have it, then fixing the cause of it, may help you get rid of it.

Have you ever wondered why medical doctors always say that we need to drink 8 ounce glasses of water a day, but when we get sick, hardly any of them ask how much water we’ve been drinking?

Could it be that they were taught that water is important, but not taught about every possible thing that could happen if we did not drink the right amount of water?

If our bodies are made up of over 70% water, is it any wonder why a lack of drinking pure water could cause problems?

If your car requires 5 quarts of oil for the engine, would you only use two quarts?

I hope not. Your car would run OK for a while, but sooner or later, it’s going to mess up.

Therefore, it’s my opinion that if you don’t drink at least half your bodyweight in ounces of water (a 200lb person would drink 100 oz.) a day, your body will ration the water and distribute it to the most important parts of your body.

And since your body loses water every time you exhale, your body may be trying to restrict your breathing so that you won’t lose too much water since you aren’t drinking enough on a daily basis.

Now, don’t go and drink a bunch of tap or bottled water because that water isn’t structured right and I have seen that cause people to get worse. For one reason, it may make you urinate too fast, pulling minerals out of your body.

It is also my opinion that having a dry mouth is the last sign of not drinking enough water and that we have not been taught the early signs of it, one of which I’ve just explained.

There is only one kind of water in the world that has been clinically proven to improve hydration on a cellular level.

So, if your asthma has been caused by a lack of properly structured water, then I believe drinking adequate amounts of the proper kind of water, every day, may help get rid of your problem, quickly. Maybe even within a week.

However, chocolate, tea, coffee, sodas or any other thing containing caffeine actually acts as a diuretic which makes your body lose even more water. So I would definitely stop eating and drinking those as well.

I used this same advice to get rid of my headaches, dizziness and lower back pains in only 2 days. And lowered my high blood pressure in less than a month.

I gave you my opinion and my results of my opinion. What if this works for you too?

If you suffer from asthma and haven’t tried acupuncture I strongly recommend that you do. Here’s a story of a client of mine who has had wonderful results.

Even after doing acupuncture for many years I still have days where it amazes me. Some clients even ask me if the needles that we use for acupuncture have been coated in something special because it’s almost too much of a mental hurdle to believe that putting needles in various locations of the body can have profound effects. I too have days like these sometimes. How can putting some needles in the wrists and some in the forearms, a couple in the shins help asthma? Well it can and it does. As Ripley would say ‘believe it or not’.

I teach courses on helping asthma through a reduced breathing technique which helps enormously. It has been very successful. My last client who was using his inhaler 5 times during the night and about 6 times during the day had reduced his need for his inhaler to only twice a night and 3 times per day in just 2 days after using the breathing technique. To put it simply, asthma is caused by over breathing. By breathing in and out through the mouth all of the time asthmatics draw too much oxygen into their lungs which cause the levels of carbon dioxide to decrease. The body needs a certain level of carbon dioxide in the lungs so this sets off an alarm internally to increase the levels of CO2. So the body being a very clever machine does this by reducing the intake of oxygen to try to balance the levels out. It does this by constricting the bronchioles which makes it more difficult to draw in so much oxygen and produces mucus for the same reason. Thus we have asthma. If however you teach the person to decrease their intake of oxygen in a specific manner, the body relaxes and the asthma generally improves dramatically and quickly and so does the need for the medication. I will write more on this method in a later post.

Ok, where was I.

Ah yes, so I had a client come in to see me suffering from poor energy levels. I checked her pulse and told her that we needed to boost her chi (energy of her body). This can be done by using acupuncture. I told her that her lung pulse was very low and she said that she also suffered from asthma. I mentioned that because acupuncture treats the body holistically we could also see improvements in other areas of her system such as her asthma. This is one of the great benefits of acupuncture. A person can come in to be treated for one thing and have dramatic relief from other ailments that they may suffer from. One of the first things people see an improvement in after an acupuncture session is sleeping, often my clients tell me that after the session they slept like a baby.

Just 5 days later, my client returned to tell me that her energy levels had improved and her asthma was much better. I have given her 8 treatments, twice a week for 4 weeks and she has not suffered once from an asthma attack which used to be a common occurrence for her. She has much better energy levels and is ecstatic about not needing the medications she was so dependent on before her acupuncture treatments. If you have not tried acupuncture and suffer from asthma I suggest you do. Also, if you would like to know more about my asthma rebreathing course please feel free to email me.

Mark Perren-Jones