Asthma
Australia and New Zealand rank second and third in the world after the UK in the asthma commonness stakes. Asthma always requires medical management, but there are several steps you can take on your own to minimise the frequency and severity of attacks.
What is it?
Asthma is a disease in which the airways of the lungs swell and tighten, restricting airflow and making it hard to breathe. During an asthma attack, the narrowest airways (the bronchioles) constrict. This causes the release of chemicals such as histamine that increase inflammation and swelling and produce excess mucous. Though many asthma attacks are mild and easily controlled at home, severe ones can cause sufferers to begin to suffocate. And for an unlucky few each year, an asthma attack is fatal.
What causes it?
External or internal factors can provoke asthma attacks, and some people are sensitive to both. Outside triggers usually involve an allergen, such as pet hairs, a particular food, dust and dust mites, insects (including cockroaches), pollen and many environmental pollutants. Internal triggers, which are usually less obvious and can be harder to avoid, include stress, anxiety, temperature changes, exercise and respiratory infections such as bronchitis.
What are the symptoms?
- Tightness – not pain – in the chest.
- Wheezing or a whistling sound when breathing.
- Shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing, which improves when sitting up.
- Coughing (often with phlegm).
- Restlessness or insomnia.
Are there any natural therapies?
Asthmatics are often deficient in key nutrients, especially vitamin C, magnesium and vitamin B6. Vitamin C as an antioxidant appears to act immediately to combat inhaled irritants. It may also halt an allergic reaction by preventing the cells from releasing histamine (the anti-inflammatory effect). Furthermore, Vitamin C is very effective for exercise-induced asthma; taking 2000 mg before a workout may even prevent an asthma attack. The mineral magnesium can prevent attacks by inhibiting the contraction of the bronchial muscles. Vitamin B6 supplements reduce wheezing and other asthma symptoms.
The flavonoid quercitin has two main effects: it inhibits the release of the histamine and, as an antioxidant, it neutralises unstable oxygen molecules, which can cause bronchial inflammation. The prescription herb ephedra (ma huang) can widen respiratory passages. It seems to work best when it is used with herbal products that bring up phlegm, such as licorice or horehound. (Don’t take licorice for any longer than a month.)
What else can I do?
- Keep your home clear of dust and pollen. Avoid cigarette smoke.
- Stay away from cats; their hair is highly allergic.
- Remain calm. Managing stress helps you fight asthma.
- Treat colds and flus promptly to reduce the chances of an attack.
- Wear a scarf over your mouth and nose to warm cold winter air.
- Keep an asthma diary to help you determine your asthma triggers.
- Drink at least eight glasses of water a day to keep mucous loose.
Did you know?
Eating lots of onions may help asthma sufferers. The mustard oils (isothiocyanates) they contain seem to promote healthy lungs.
Low Vitamin Intake Tied to Asthma
People with symptomatic asthma eat less fruit and consume less vitamin C and manganese than people who don't have the disease, a new study shows.
The findings suggest that "diet may be a potentially modifiable risk factor for the development of asthma," Dr N.J. Wareham of the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, UK and colleagues write in the medical journal Thorax.
Several antioxidant nutrients have been linked to reduced asthma risk, Wareham and his team note, but it is not clear whether each of these nutrients plays a role in reducing risk or if they instead represent an overall healthier lifestyle.
Cleaning products upset Asthmatics
Cleaning products may take your breath away – literally! The chemicals in some cleaning products have been shown to worsen breathing problems. So how do the cleaning products you use everyday affect your health?
Is Your Asthma Caused by Household Cleaning Products?
Most households use some sort of cleaning product. Cheap and readily available in the supermarket, they leave our home clean and fresh and smelling ‘hospital’ clean.
With promises of killing up to 99% of bacteria, we feel safe in the fact that our houses are clean.
But with recent research showing that these typical cleaning products can cause asthma and allergies in family members, it’s time to rethink what you use around your house.
Snack Attack – Fast Food Link to Asthma
FAST food is not just bad for our waistlines, it could also be contributing to the severity of asthma and eczema.
An international study involving half a million children and adolescents found three or more servings of fast food a week was linked to an 40% increased risk of severe asthma, eczema and rhinitis, a condition characterised by a runny nose and watery eyes.
Butter, margarine and pasta were also linked with severe asthma in adolescents.
The study has the potential to overturn the so-called ''hygiene hypothesis'' – that our obsession with cleanliness is behind the rise in allergic conditions around the world.
The study was part of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, a large research project encompassing more than 100 countries and nearly two million children worldwide.