Asthma symptoms can be substantially reduced by avoiding known allergens and airway irritants. There are things in the environment that trigger your asthma symptoms and lead to asthma attacks. Allergens like animal dander (from the skin, hair, or feathers of animals), Dust mites, Cockroaches, pollen from trees and grass mold (both indoor and outdoor) can trigger asthma Irritants like cigarette smoke, air pollution, cold air or changes in weather, strong odors from painting or cooking, scented products can also cause asthma There also psychological factors like strong emotional expression including crying or laughing hard and stress that can trigger asthma A condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) that causes heartburn can worsen asthma symptoms especially at night. This is not a complete list of all the things that can bring on asthma symptoms

If other people in your family have asthma then you are more likely to develop it. New research suggests that being exposed to things like tobacco smoke, infections, and some allergens early in your life may increase your chances of developing asthma Asthma in adults can be a recurrence of childhood asthma Asthma can develop when a person is middle-aged or older. Asthma control is about more than just treating symptoms. Asthma is what is known as a chronic disease, which simply means that it usually doesn’t go away once you have it.

Do you experience asthma symptoms more than twice a week? Do your asthma symptoms limit your activities? Then you should immediately consult with your doctor and modify/increase or start on a course of medication so that you have fewer asthma symptoms throughout the day and night. It is important to recognize and treat even mild asthma symptoms so as to control the condition and prevent severe episodes.

Natural Remedy For Asthma

http://www.healasthma.com

If you or a family member has recently noticed trouble breathing, it’s important that you contact either your doctor or call emergency services. Unfortunately, people rush to judgment and place the blame on lack of exercise or the natural process of aging.

The fact is respiratory disruptions, often in the form of shortness of breath or tightening in the chest, can be symptoms of a variety of serious medical conditions. I will like to take a few moments to outline some of the health issues related to breathing problems so you can make fast and correct medical decisions.

Possible Causes of Breathing Problems

Trouble breathing is often associated with asthma, and this disorder is in fact one of the leading causes of respiratory problems. People with asthma suffer from inflammation of the bronchi, the tubes that let air flow between the windpipe and lungs. Irritants like pollen, mold and pollution can trigger as asthma attack. The person will experience shortness of breath; coughing and wheezing as the mucous and inflammatory tissue obstruct the airways.

Sometimes, people who have trouble breathing during physical activity are misdiagnosed with asthma when they really suffer from over exertion. Even reasonably fit people will have breathing problems if they don’t pace themselves. I often remind athletes of the importance of starting out slow and working up to an intense pace so your body can adjust and keep up with you.

A condition known as Cardiac Asthma acts a lot like asthma, but is not actually a form of asthma at all. It occurs when the left ventricle cannot keep up with blood flow from the right ventricle and is often an early sign of heart disease. If you experience the symptoms of asthma, see your doctor who can make a diagnosis by taking your medical history and examining you for signs of allergic reactions and inflammation.

In addition to Cardiac Asthma, Coronary Artery Disease is another heart condition related to shortness of breath and is due to obstruction of the arteries that deliver blood to the heart. As you can see, breathing problems should not be taken lightly, as they could be signs of a heart condition.

A different cause of breathing problems is Apnea, a respiratory disorder that can vary in intensity. Most people with apnea suddenly stop breathing for short periods. Often occurring during sleep, this condition can escalate to prolonged apnea, which can lead to seizures, loss of consciousness, turning blue or going limp. If you experience cessation of breath, see your doctor right away.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is another respiratory issue to watch out for. It is due to continuous obstruction of your airways because of emphysema or chronic bronchitis. In either case, a doctor will treat these causes in order to alleviate shortness of breath.

Some Simple Healthy Answers

While working in accordance with your doctor is important to treat the conditions I’ve described, there are some things you can do to cope with breathing problems in your everyday life.

1) Avoid triggers like pollen, dust and mold.

2) Stay indoors when the air quality index indicates potential problems for people with your condition.

3) Notice if your symptoms get worse when you encounter specific triggers like pollution, vigorous activity, pet dander or certain body positions. Report this to your doctor.

4) Don’t smoke. It makes existing breathing problems worse and could lead to emphysema.

5) Reduce stress. It often triggers asthma attacks or breathing problems.

6) Sleep smart. On your side, keep your back straight by placing a pillow between knees and another under the head. On your back, elevate your head slightly under pillows and place more pillows under bent knees.

7) Stay fit. If you never challenge the respiratory system, any physical activity will be difficult to perform. Stay conditioned by being active everyday.

Even though staying on top of your health might seem like a full-time job, the pay-off is more than worth it. Your breathing is just one sign that something is off balance. Listen to your body, and you will enjoy life to the fullest.

Mark Rosenberg, M.D.
Institute For Healthy Aging

http://www.vitalmaxvitamins.com
http://www.vitalmaxvitamins.com/blog

Asthma, which is a chronic disease that affects your airways (the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs), can be a very scary ailment both for the asthma sufferer and for the people who love him or her. More than 14 million people in the United States have this lung disease. Of these, almost 5 million are children.

Being a parent of a child with asthma, I’ve learned a great deal about this disease. And, being a practitioner in the natural health care field, I’ve found several methods which have worked beautifully with my daughter.

Kaitlyn’s Story

Kaitlyn, who is now nearly 18, was on the “Frequent Flyer Program” at our local hospital from the age of 8 to 14. The Frequent Flyer Program meant I could tote her in at any time of day or night and go straight back to the doc and nurses for immediate care - no check in, no forms, no wait. This is due to the fact that when Kait was in what is called an “Acute Asthma Phase” with her cough-variant asthma, we would typically be in ER 2-4 times a week, sometimes arriving there by ambulance.

It was terrifying, to say the least. After one emergency room visit when she was 14 during which I was actually shooed out of the room (this had never happened before) due to the fact that her oxygen saturation was below 75, I faced down her doctor and threw a ‘mommy tantrum.’ “How can we prevent this? This is ludicrous! There has to be SOMETHING we can do to figure out this is coming and head it off! Something to prevent it!!”

According to the doc, there was - a new round of drugs which were ‘fresh on the market’ at that time - Singulair and Advair. These, combined with a peak-flow meter (which measures the openness of the airways by how much force the lungs use to push air out) got us our first handle on Kait’s disease. Visits to ER lessened, but didn’t stop. Still, lessening was a good thing.

The total exasperation and helplessness I felt whenever I watched my daughter struggle to breathe, was more than enough reason to send me on a search for natural ways to help her. And, I found them. Please don’t misunderstand me here. I never ‘threw the baby out with the bath water’ and gave up on Allopathic Medicine. I never told her doctor to ‘go to hades’. And I always took her to a medical professional whenever it was warranted. I implemented these natural therapies *along side* what the doctor ordered.

Here’s what we did (and remember, this started at age 14, along with the Advair and Singulair):

Whenever her peak flow meter dipped below 350 (this was her ‘line’ based on weeks of recording peak-flow numbers which indicated that an asthma phase or attack was nearing), or at the first sign of a runny or stuffy nose:

1) We began twice daily of foot reflexology treatments of the reflex points corresponding to the lungs and respiratory systems, as well as the lymphatic system (for immunity since many times her asthma phases were triggered by something as simple as a common cold). You can find reflexology hand and foot charts at www.remedies4.com/

2) We used a blend of the oils of Ravensara, Eucalyptus, Pine, Myrtle, Cypress and Peppermint during the reflexology treatments - putting the blend directly on the pressure points I was massaging, and having her inhale the aroma of the blend (3 deep breaths, held as long as possible) with my hands cupped over her nose following every treatment.

3) She drank an herbal tea 3 times a day which contained the herbs Eucalyptus, Licorice, & Peppermint. We used this blend until I found Traditional Medicinal’s blend of “BreatheEasy” - which is very solid herbally and worked even better than my own blend. I can’t recommend this one highly enough!

4) We invested in a product called BioVent (you can find more info about this product on my blog) and used that according to directions. This isn’t the first product I’ve bought and tried from them - I’ve also used their ADHD remedy for my son (which worked wonderfully!). They’re a solid company with unconditional guarantees, and all of their remedies are FDA registered. So, needless to say, I highly recommend them.

5) When she was not symptomatic, and her peak-flow numbers were in the acceptable range, we maintained the combination of reflexology/aromatherapy treatments on a 3 times weekly schedule and continued the herbal/homeopathic combo medicine of BioVent. It actually got to the point that we could tell when she was starting to dip towards an asthmatic attack or phase by the tenderness of her foot lung reflex points.

“Mom! I earned my letter in track, can I get a Letterman’s jacket? Please?”

As I said earlier, Kait is now nearly 18. This young lady, who was told as a 10-year-old that she would ‘never play sports or be able to play like other children’ due to Asthma, has now lettered in Track for the last three years and has been attack and symptom free for nearly 3 years.

In her sophomore year, during her physical for track, her doctor asked the usual questions but then decided that before he signed off on the fact that she was healthy enough for track that he wanted to run some pulmonary tests. So, over to the hospital we went for a full pulmonary work-up.

Two days later he called me to let me know her physical form was signed and ready to be picked up. When I asked what the tests showed, he said “I would love to know what you did. She tested out as having stronger lungs than 80% of HEALTHY kids her age and a lung capacity in the top 10%. Her tests show she is still asthmatic, but her lung strength and capacity are nearly perfect. She’s a healthy girl.”

I just smiled and said a quick prayer of thanks.

Dee Braun, a single mom of six kids, is a Certified Aromatherapist, Certified Dr. of Reflexology and a natural health practitioner. You can visit her Natural Health Blog which offers information on more natural remedies for asthma and many other ailments at http://www.Natural-Holistic-Health.com/

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As a chronic asthma sufferer since I was a toddler, I’ve tried most every treatment in the book. I have exercised induced asthma, allergic response asthma, and stress induced asthma. From the maintenance and rescue medications all chronic asthmatics are familiar with, to allergy shots, chiropractic, aromatherapy, breathing exercises and others, all with little or no relief.

The exercise induced asthma is probably the easiest to control. Know your limits, and follow your doctors advice. Some inhaler medications which are taken 10-15 minutes before exercise can help a great deal, but don’t overdo it. Stress is a bit harder to control, but we try to stay out of stressful situations, if that’s possible! But we find some relief in common prescription sedatives. I’ll get to the other type of asthma in a moment, but attacks which occur while exercising or under stress, can be effectively controlled by some asthmatics using special breathing techniques.

The third type, which I find to be the most frightening, and is the most deadly, is allergy induced asthma. Allergy tests at your physician’s office can help identify most of the common allergens. A special serum is made, and through a series of shots over a period of time, the body’s increased immunity to allergens can be quite helpful for many people. The most effective immunities seem to be certain types of plants, trees and grasses. Less effective are for food and chemical allergies, both man made and natural.

The least effective treatments, and the ones that bother me and a large percentage of the asthmatic population are the pet allergies. It’s not the fur that causes the problem, as most non-asthma people think, but the dander. Dander is microscopic flakes of skin that float around in the air and settle down eventually. Sort of like dandruff in people.

Cats seem to be the worst offenders, less so with dogs, but if I spend any more than 10-15 minutes in a house with even one cat, and I am not pumped up with allergy medication, I’m doomed. I need to take two popular 24-hour prescription allergy medications, one in the morning and evening. Twice the recommended dosage. Even then, I still will need to use my rescue inhaler 3 to 4 times as often as I usually do. Some non-asthmatics think it is psychosomatic, but it’s really incredible to have a major problem at someone’s house, go home, take a shower and change your clothes. You’ll be fine an hour or so. If I am at home, where there are no pets at all, I can go days without taking allergy medication.

It becomes a social issue at some point as well. You are invited to a friend’s for dinner. I have to ask if they have a cat, as I am very allergic. “Yes we do, but I keep a very clean house, and we’ll keep it in the basement.” In the meantime, all that dander is still in the air, on the furniture cushions, on your host’s clothing and hands. It doesn’t need to be in proximity of the animal to be present. Of course you don’t want to be rude to your hosts, but everyone you know needs to be aware of the fact that this condition can and does kill people.

The cleaning issue? Vacuuming, dusting, fans and sweeping only serve to move the dander around and make it airborne again. There are some household and commercial air cleaners and filters out there that do a fine job, but nothing is perfect. They won’t remove the dander from clothing, carpets and furniture. The best prevention is to just stay away. The new allergy sprays for carpeting, furniture, and even the animal itself are just temporary solutions, and I’m not sure if they work anyway. “Oh, but it’s a short haired cat…” It doesn’t matter.

I’ve had to pass up potentially good relationships over animals, I’ve inadvertently hurt feelings because of them, I don’t get asked to friend’s houses who I’ve told about the problem. Now, I still have a great social life with many friends, but we go out, or they come to my house.

The point of this is education of the people around you and those you associate with. Even meeting someone new should know if you invited to their home. With a little tact, it is very easy to let people know without hurting their feelings. They should know the potential dangers of what you face every day, and not put you in a position that makes you ill or uncomfortable. They’ll tell you about all the new medications they’ve heard of, and even hypoallergenic cats. But you know what? I’m perfectly fine without one.

Imagine a soccer team that avoided the ball, had no idea where their goal was, and spent all their time just trying to avoid their opponents. Many asthmatics approach their lives in the same way-dealing with asthma attacks as they come up, but never taking control of their health. The majority of asthmatics do not need to merely move from crisis to crisis, but by following these four simple steps can regain active, full lives.

1) Get a Peak Flowmeter-Research has shown that less than 22% of asthmatics have been given a prescription for a peak flowmeter from their physician. Unfortunately, many individuals with asthma are so used to not being able to breathe normally that they are unable to tell when their respiratory status is worsening until they are in a crisis. By getting a daily flowmeter reading, they can often tell days or weeks before an attack is imminent and take proactive steps to avoid it.

2) Get an Asthma Action Plan-Less than 25% of asthmatics have been given an asthma action plan by their physicians. This is an easy to follow instruction sheet of exactly what to do when the peak flowmeter reading is beginning to drop. If one’s doctor is unfamiliar with asthma action plans or does not have the form available in their office, one good form can be found at the American Lung Association’s website at http://www.lungusa.org/atf/cf/%7B7A8D42C2-FCCA-4604-8ADE-7F5D5E762256%7D/AAP.PDF

3) Identify Your Triggers-All asthmatics should keep a small notebook or calendar, noting their daily peak flowmeter readings as well as observations of what seems to make their symptoms worse that day-a cold, pollen, exercise, smoke, cold air, brushing the dog, fragrances, the time of day, etc.

4) Take Steps to Eliminate or Minimize Your Triggers-After observing patterns in their asthma symptoms for a few weeks, the journal started in step three should be taken to one’s physician and ways to eliminate or at least minimize asthma triggers can be discussed. Getting a flu shot, covering pillows and mattresses with hypoallergenic encasings are all easy preventative measures. For triggers that cannot be eliminated, a referral to an allergist should be obtained to explore the possibility of receiving desensitization shots.

Although asthma cannot be cured, it certainly can be controlled. By following these four steps, asthmatics can lead more active, healthy lives.

Asthma is a condition of the lungs where mucus blocs the passage ways of the lungs (bronchioles), and you would find it hard to breath. Asthma is extremely troublesome, uncomfortable condition. Asthma attacks could be less frequent initially. Frequency of the attacks could increase with time.

There are various causes for asthma. It could be allergic reaction triggered by dust, strong smells like perfumes or weather conditions. Asthma could be due to hereditary factors. Smoking tobacco is one of the major reasons asthma. Animal hair, animal excretions, pollen could also be major causes.

Asthma, it is said cannot be cured. But I have seen several cases of prolonged asthma being completely cured. As in case of any chronic disease you have to cope up with asthma on a daily basis.

With proper medication asthma can be brought under control. The frequency of the attacks can be reduced. The most important medicine used in controlling asthma are bronchodilators like salbutamol and terbutaline. They provide immediate relief by dilating the bronchioles and making breathing easier.

Bronchodilators are available both in the form of tablets as well as inhalers. They can also injected intravenously. They provide immediate relief. And also in case of severe attacks steroids such as prednisolone are used. Long use of steroid may have side effects.

Inhalers deliver the drugs directly to the lungs. Not only the relief is immediate, the quantity of the drug would be far less than taking it in the form of a tablet.

Certain steroids are used to prevent the occurrence of asthma. They reduce the inflammation of the lungs.

Nebulisers are also used in the treatment of asthma. Nebulisers use a combination of a drug and steam to deliver the drug to the lungs. They are more efficient than inhalers.

There are several alternative therapies for asthma. One important cure for asthma is pranayama. They are a series of breathing exercises. I have seen several cases of asthma being cured by practicing pranayama regularly.

If asthma is treated early it can be kept under check by a combination of drugs and exercises.

Owing to the high cost of medicines, complicated treatments or plain neglect, many asthma patients don’t follow their prescribed treatment and suffer greatly because of this.

This was revealed by Dr. Jan Lotvall associate professor of the Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Institute of Heart and Lung Diseases at Goteborg University in Sweden.

Lotvall said asthma is a highly variable disease with symptoms that vary from one period to another. He emphasized that strict adherence to the prescribed treatment is a must to control symptoms.

Ironically, while most asthma patients are aware of this, a significant number don’t follow the prescribed medicines and don’t receive optimum treatment.

Lotvall’s lecture comes at the heels of two patient surveys conducted throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom, that showed that most asthma patients mistakenly think their asthma is under control when, in fact, it is significantly limiting their lives.

One reason given for non-adherence to treatment is complicated medications. In the surveys, patients said they found it difficult to follow regiments involving different medications taken from several inhalers. Many said they were open and ready for a single inhaler treatment.

The consequences of poor asthma control can lead to distressing symptoms like bothersome coughing, worrisome wheezing, annoying nighttime awakenings and difficulty in performing daily activities.

In severe cases, this may result in a visit to the emergency room and even admission to a hospital. In the United States alone, asthma causes more than 460,000 hospitalizations and 1.8 million emergency department visits according to the National Institutes of Health.

Lotvall said communicating with the doctor and following treatment guidelines can result in better patient adherence to asthma treatment, leading to greater control of the disease.

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Asthma is a malady which has rendered many persons’ lives, whether men, women, children, or young persons a hell and deprived them from the enjoyments and benefits of life. It is a height of ignorance to say that asthma is incurable or else claim that it is fully curable. In fact, this malady is fully manageable and treatable. No doubt, asthma can be contained and confined if the patient knows the contributory and precipitatory causes which trigger an attack of asthma.

The symptoms of bronchial asthma are caused by an inflammatory reaction within the bronchial wall involving many cells, mediators and cytokenes. Eosinophils, mast cells, lymphocytes and other cells. The inflammatory process results in hyper-responsiveness of the bronchi. The respiratory tract narrow easily in response to such wide range of stimuli. This may result in coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath, these symptoms often being worse at night. Narrowing of the airway is usually reversible, but in some patients with chronic asthma the bronchial wall inflammation may lead to irreversible obstruction of air-flow.

It is often asked whether there is any particular age, sex, condition, food, climate, emotional upset, habit, allergic factor which could cause onset of an asthmatic attack. The answer is that factors like age and sex do not seem to have any major role in asthma, though its onset is from the childhood itself and more men than women are the usual victims.

Heredity plays a prominent role here. If the parents suffered from asthma at the young age, it does not imply that their offspring will also develop the same symptoms at the identical age but risk factor is always there and children of asthmatic patients have to remain on the guard right from the days of childhood. If preemptive steps are taken through proper education, self-management, precautions and approach, the patient may be able to encounter an attack with far less disturbing symptoms or, if an attack occurs, its duration may be short-lived.

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Asthma can strike anyone at any age. It is generally held that childhood eczema or development of sneezing in the grown up stage may manifest in the form of asthma. A child may inherit allergy but not a specific manifestation of allergy that is allergy factor may be inherited but not the type/kind of allergy from which either parent suffers.Following types of persons are more susceptible to Asthma.

Many asthma sufferers tend to look for a natural cure for asthma. I think they’re some choices of natural treatment out there. But, I guess not everybody knows about asthma treatment using systemic enzyme therapy. Systemic enzymes like Vitalzym is known as a natural health therapy that have major role in helping people with mostly health problems. But is it really can cure Asthma?

According to health physicians, asthma cannot be cured, but can be controlled so the sufferer only have a few and infrequent symptoms, have normal and active lives. If you trace the path to the cause of Asthma, then you’ll find that chronic inflammation of the inside wall of the airways to the lungs is the main problem. Scientists do not yet know how to prevent this inflammation of the airways that leads to asthma.

Studies show this conditions can happen because of tobacco smoke, allergens, or infections. We all know that our environment give a big contribution to this, everyday we’re being exposed to all dirty and irritating stuff, such as air pollution, cigarette smoke, changes in weather, strong odors from cooking, stress and many more. Even if we decide to stay at home, we still being exposed to the dust mites, cockroaches, mold, and animal dander.

So, how you’re gonna deal with all of that. There’s one doctor, her name is Dr. Ellen W. Cutler, a world-recognized champion of enzyme therapy and has over 25 years of experience in this field. She has worked with many patients suffering from Asthma, especially children and have success with it. She said enzymes are the one of the keys to successfully controlling asthma in children.

It seems that enzyme can give a hope for a person with asthma. The systemic enzyme, particularly Vitalzym, is the one that recommended by many health practitioners. But you must know that whether Vitalzym work for you or not, it’s always better if you look for natural cures for asthma. Doesn’t matter which asthma treatment you choose, taking care of your asthma is an important part of your life, so you can put yourself in control of your life, give you the freedom to do anything.