Natural Treatment for Asthma

Asthma is a chronic disease, which affects the lungs and airways. During an asthma attack, the lining of the lungs inflames forcing the airways and surrounding muscles to swell. This causes trouble in breathing. Close to 20 million people suffer from asthmatic attacks with more than half being children, according to University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). Traditional breathing treatments often have side effects and one has to depend on them for the rest of his/her life. However, natural treatment for asthma reduces acute asthma attacks, manage chronic asthma and help people with general breathing trouble. Remember to consult your medical professional before opting natural remedies.

The Ayurvedic spice turmeric is a blood thinner and helps relieve asthmatic inflammation that causes swelling in the lungs. Furthermore, it assists in dilating blood vessels for better airflow, and relaxes muscle spasms, restoring normal breathing.

Ayurvedic herb Boswellia works wonders for asthma patients as it improves the lungs and reduces the occurrence of asthma attacks. It has been widely used in India as a breathing treatment, but scientific research is still on for its efficiency. People who take drugs to lower their cholesterol use Boswellia. 
Asthmatics suffer from severe coughing during attacks. Parsley leaf acts as an expectorant, enabling the patient to cough out mucous. It alleviates tenseness in the chest muscles along with providing relief to throat and cough.

The ingredients present in Butterbur help to reduce muscle spasm and works as anti-inflammatories to bring down asthma attacks. Butterbur is helpful to patients suffering from allergic asthma and acts as a traditional inhaler.

Mullien is a proven breathing treatment to help soothe acute asthmatic spasms and congestion in the airways. Mullien is being used by patients to get relief from cough and other upper respiratory issues. The herb can be found in a range of cough and asthma preparations; mitigating breathlessness and lessening wheezing. 

Brittle Asthma

Brittle asthma is a rare form of asthma, completely different from any other forms by recurrent, severe attacks. It is distinguished by a wide disparity of Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF), in spite of strong steroid doses. Very often, patients suffer from serious and life threatening attacks. Generally, there are two types of brittle asthma. Type 1 brittle asthma is characterized by a maintained PEF variability despite therapy. Females, aged 15-55 are prone to this type of asthma.

Type 1 is linked to skin prick tests positivity and food bigotry. Advance research and studies have referred a association with personality disorders. High morbidity, frequent hospital admissions and regular assessment of asthmatic condition are some of the symptoms of type 1 patients. Such patients take a hefty amount of medications in the form of inhaled steroid and bronchodilator or oral steroids with severe side effects. As a result, they suffer from oseophageal reflux, osteoporosis and weight gain.

Brittle asthma of other type is related to extreme attacks that could severely worsen the condition of patients. It could lead to death or mechanical ventilation for breathlessness. The patients are well controlled for longer periods, but when they have an attack, they may require immediate hospital admission.

It’s very hard to treat brittle asthma. Patients suffering from this particular asthma have poor allegiance to the treatment and have to be constantly monitored. Since, normal guidelines for asthma are not applicable; patients have to depend on high intake of oral steroids. Type 1 brittle asthma treatment starts with reduced allergen exposure along with avoid foods for which the patients are intolerance.
The treatment of type 2 brittle asthma consist avoiding allergen exposure, identifying the triggers, self-management and treating the acute attacks adrenaline injections. There have been innovations in the treatment of brittle asthma such as leukotriene receptor antagonists and 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors, methotrexate.

Natural Remedies for Allergy Relief

Dealing with allergy symptoms can make your life a mess, especially when you are a working individual. Whether its spring or autumn, changing of season means onset of several allergies. Sneezing, watery nose, wheezing, red eyes, scratchy skin are some of the symptoms that affect more than 35 million Americans every year. Usually one depends on allopathic medication, but side effects such drowsiness often interrupts with one’s work.

Natural remedies like herbs, nasal rinses, and certain foods can keep a check on mild allergies and prove useful in improving health. Discussed below are some of the natural therapies for curing allergy:

A. NASAL IRRIGATION: To get rid of sinuses, it is mandatory to keep flushing the nasal cavity and make sure to moist nose with a saline solution.  It’s a good option to use nasal irrigation once a day. Alternatively, two or three times a week can also help.

B. BUTTERBUR: A recent study revealed that extracts of butterbur works wonderfully well as Allegra at relieving allergy symptoms. One tablet taken four times a day can reap huge benefits. This particular herb is best suited to treat patients suffering from asthma and bronchitis. However, there is a false theory about butterbur that it triggers allergies.

C. GOLDENSEAL: According to Mary Hardy, MD, director of integrative medicine at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, freeze-dried nettles and a tonic made from the herb goldenseal which is saline rich can wash out pollen and reduce or thin mucous.

D. QUERCETIN: Found in abundance in fruits and vegetables, especially grape seeds. A rich source for quercetin is red wine. Taken in supplement from and I combination with Vitamin C helps in reducing allergy symptoms.

E. SPICY FOOD: Experts believe that raving up the food with extra spice can cure bring huge relief from nasal congestion. Spicier the dish, the more likely it is to thin mucous secretions and help clear nasal passages. Frequently used spices for this purpose are cayenne pepper, hot ginger, and fenugreek along with onion and garlic.

Using these natural remedies may reduce your allergy symptoms, but one need to understand there’s no quick and easy fix. Always work closely with your doctor who is best suited to determine which therapy will bring relief.

Managing Asthma: Use These Alternative Methods

For the past 30 years, number of individuals suffering from asthma has shot up significantly in the United States. Presently close to 17 million people have asthma in the US. It is the prevailing cause for chronic illness. If these numbers are shocking then it will be hard to believe that out of 17 million people, 2.5 million alone are from the past five years. Increase in air pollution has made the matters worse. Children (especially school going) who are exposed to air pollution are more reluctant to asthma. Several treatments ranging from acupuncture and breathing exercises to inhalers are available to control this dreadful disease. Let us now look into how we can manage asthma:

The first sign of asthma is trouble in breathing. Although asthma symptoms are not easily detected, one should always consult a doctor when it becomes difficult to breathe. Early detection of asthma is helpful for both patient and doctor. It may prove dangerous if you ignore the initial signs. As soon as you have breathing troubles, just visit a doctor. He might prescribe a proper medicine and tell if you can do something to prevent like this happening in the near future.

Physicians may not agree with this, but bodywork, acupuncture and biofeedback show promising future in asthma management. Two kinds of bodywork i.e. rolfing and osteopathic manipulation break up the restrictive patterns in muscles and nerves of the chest area. Meanwhile, an experienced acupuncturist can relatively decrease the persistency of asthma attacks and improve breathing. Since stress can trigger an asthma attack, biofeedback comes in handy. It educates patients on how to control their heart rate and minimize the chances of an attack. In addition, it also helps in reducing stress. To help relax muscles and reduce stress, Yoga can be a very good option.

Generally, asthmatics doesn’t prefer going out. They keep themselves indoors. Therefore, it is of utmost significance to have respiratory irritants, which includes dust, smoke and mold. Irritants are tiny molecules or dust particles that hide in carpets, mattresses and furniture. Make sure you clean them regularly or if possible replace them with the new ones. By following this method, you can control your asthma.

As an asthmatic, relying on inhalers can be irritating sometimes. Use of breathing exercises can prove beneficial in managing asthma. Shallow breathing exercises, discovered by Dr. Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko, MD in 1952 helps dilate smooth muscles in the airways by elevating levels of carbon dioxide in the blood.

Different Types of Prevailing Allergies

Results are out. Almost 50 million Americans suffer from different types of allergies including food, drug, insect, latex and eye. It is the fifth leading chronic disease in the US and has been on the rise since 1980 across all age groups. If you consider children below 18 years, it becomes third most common. Here’s a sneak peek into the different forms of allergies:

RHINITIS: Commonly caused due to allergy from trees, grass, pollens, dust mite, cockroaches, dogs, etc. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, inflammation of nasal passages, watery eyes and so on. Indoor and outdoor allergies account for nearly 40 million Americans. Rhinitis is also termed as seasonal or perennial allergy.

FOOD AND DRUG ALLERGY: Food allergy can be found in children more than adults. Various surveys show that most common foods to cause allergy are milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts and many more. One develops rashes, vomits and even suffers from diarrhea. Meanwhile, drug allergies happen due to reaction to certain medicines such as penicillin, aspirin, anti-seizure medications, etc. Approximately 6% of Americans suffer from food and drug allergies.

SKIN ALLERGY: More popularly known as Dermatitis, it is caused by coming in direct contact with an allergen that produces swelling, which can even lead to open sores. People may have skin allergies due to soap and detergents, adhesives, metals used in jewelry, various plants such as poison ivy, oak, sumac. Skin allergy is prevalent in around 7% of the 40 million Americans. However, certain foods can also be responsible for skin allergy.

INSECT ALLERGY: One of the menacing forms of allergy is Insect Venom Allergy particularly due to bee sting. It causes severe inflammation around the sting area. Sometimes when sting worsens, a person may suffer from an anaphylactic reaction that involves the entire body. Primarily 4% of allergy sufferers have insect allergies as their primary allergy.

EYE ALLERGY: A person’s intolerance towards environmental chemicals, such as pesticides, solvent fumes and other air contaminants causes an allergic reaction in the eyes. A patient might experience breathing issues, headache, fatigue, seizers and so on. According to Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), 4% of Americans suffer from eye allergies. In addition, eye allergies may be triggered by indoor/outdoor allergies.

If statistics are something to go by, an estimated $14.5 billion are spent annually on allergies medications and doctors’ office visits. Still every year 400 deaths are due to drug allergies, 200 due to food allergies and 100 due to insect allergies.

Doctors, world over have been researching vastly on how exactly allergies happen. But, they are unable to find reasons behind. Only suggestions they give to the patients is to keep the surroundings as clean as possible.