An Asthma Diet ? Taking Control Of Your Asthma

                    

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Asthma ? a respiratory disease that renders its victims breathless during an attack ? can be a terrifying affliction. In response to a specific allergen or other trigger, an asthmatic person?s airways will become inflamed and constricted so that normal breathing is significantly hindered.

Consequently, asthmatics are dependent on a number of medications to ease their symptoms and prevent attacks. But nothing does more for preventing asthma related symptoms then significantly limiting exposure to those allergens known to trigger symptoms.

For some these can be environmental triggers, seasonal components, or everyday exposures ? such as pet dander or dust ? that must be limited as much as possible. But some asthmatics are just as seriously affected by the foods that they eat. So in order to decrease their symptoms and chance of attacks they must adopt a strict asthma diet so that they can increase their chance at health.

An asthma diet is different for every asthma sufferer. While some people are highly aware of the foods to which they are allergic, others must keep careful and specific records of their eating so as to notice which foods seem to correlate to increased symptoms.

Some preservatives in food also trigger asthma. So as part of an asthma diet, ingredients of food products must be scrutinized. Once it is determined what specific foods ? or the preservatives included in them ? are the culprits then they can be avoided through the use of an asthma diet.

For those who wish to experiment with an asthma diet, a food journal can be quite helpful in determining your specific triggers. Keep it with you at all times so that you can keep careful track of what you are eating and how you are feeling. If a food allergy is your culprit, you should be able to notice a pattern very quickly. Then you can make lifestyle changes accordingly.

If you are unsure if food is the cause of your asthma, then you may want to consult your medical professional. Your doctor will be able to test for specific allergies so that you know for sure what to avoid. This combination of medical care and proactive self-advocacy in the form of an asthma diet can put you back in control of your asthma.

Asthma does not have to rule your life. An asthma diet is just one way in which you can put yourself in control of your day so that you can enjoy a healthy and symptom-free life.

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Five Ways To Lessen The Risk Of Asthma Exercise

                    

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If you are an asthma sufferer and a fitness nut, then you'll realise that exercise can be a dangerous thing if you don't take the proper precautions. Being a little prudent before undertaking any form of exercise is vitally important and in most cases, depending on the severity of your asthma, undertaking exercise should only be considered under a doctor's advice.

By being a little vigilant, there is no reason why you cannot include exercise as part of your daily routine. Let's examine some steps you can perform during and after any strenuous activity.

Performing Safe Exercise

1. It doesn't matter what type of activity you undertake, if you are an asthma sufferer then a warm-up is vital. It's good practice to spend at least 10 minutes warming up so your body will gradually get attuned to the exercise to follow. Rushing in and working out without any warm-up could lead to a rush of adrenaline and shortness of breath.

2. Your exercise routine should also be performed slowly. Slowly means keeping your heart rate at a safe level. Monitoring your heart rate is advisable and keeping it to below 150 beats a minute will normally keep you in the safety zone. It's easy to become complacent during exercise and remember, exercise induced asthma will not usually surface until after your routine has been completed.

3. Using inhaled medication before you begin a routine can be helpful as this helps keep your airways open. I recently observed a professional footballer during a play-off game in Australia using his inhaler before the start of a match and during the half time break.

4. Swimming is considered an excellent asthma exercise. Slow laps of a pool will get you into a nice rhythm but again, doing a warm-up before diving into the water.

5. While warming up is important so is cooling down. There are a number of cooling down exercises you can perform this acts by moderating the air but more importantly, cooling your body down naturally.

Other Danger Signs

Heavily pollenated areas are not a good exercise option for sufferers. Add the prospect of a warm climate then extreme caution is needed. At the other end of the scale, cold air is a known trigger which should be avoided. In colder climates, exercising indoors is a preferred option but there are instances where breathing through a mask has proved effective.

Asthma sufferers in the main, should avoid extremely strenuous exercise. There are exceptions to the rule but in those instances, you'll find they are usually professional sportspersons or very close to it. Asthma can be fatal without proper management. Don't get hung up on the fact that asthma exercise can be a risk. Sure it's a risk but with proper management, it can be kept under control and there is no reason why exercise shouldn't be part of a sufferer's life.

Dean Caporella is a professional broadcaster. Reviews and tips on minimizing asthma attack along with asthma news and views at:http://www.asthmainfoline.com

Asthma Important Characteristics

                    

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Once the asthma attack starts the lack of air and shortness of breath the asthma sufferer feels must be one of the worst experiences someone can experiment, as oxygen is our vital lifeline that keeps the body functioning. The lack of this vital gas in our body, even for short periods of time can have devastating consequences. The lack of oxygen affects the brain in just a few minutes and a continuos lack of this gas can cause an irreversible damage in the brain after just five minutes. An asthma attack is similar to living on the edge constantly, with just the minimum amount of oxygen needed to survive.

Asthma is an extended disease that affects the respiratory system of the individual, in which the airways constrict, become inflamed, and there are excessive amounts of mucus, often in response to a number of "triggers," for example, exposure to an environmental allergen, cold air, exercise, or even emotional stress. In children, the most common triggers are viral illnesses such as those that cause the common cold. This airway narrowing causes symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing, which fortunately respond to substances known as bronchodilators. Though this condition may become chronic, between episodes, most patients feel in good shape.

As mentioned above, this disorder is a chronic or recurring inflammatory condition in which the airways develop increased responsiveness to various stimuli, characterized by bronchial hyper-responsiveness, increased mucus production, inflammation, and intermittent airway obstruction. The symptoms of asthma have different degrees of gravity and can range from mild to even life threatening symptoms in the worst conditions, thankfully these symptoms can usually be controlled with a combination of drugs and some environmental changes.

It is important to notice that most public health systems in the developed world have recently focused on asthma because there has been a rapidly increasing prevalence among the population, affecting up to one in four urban children. Susceptibility to asthma doesn?t depend only on the environment but it can also be explained in part by genetic factors, though no clear pattern of inheritance has been found.

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The Spiraling Effect Of Your Child's Stress And Pediatric Asthma

                    

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Childhood should be joyous and free, with long days that never seem to end. That's the way most of us remember our childhoods. Unfortunately, we forget that childhood can be just as stressful for a child as adulthood is for an adult.

For a child with asthma, that stress is often multiplied many times over. Imagine never knowing when you might suddenly be unable to breathe?

Researchers have found there's a clear link between pediatric asthma and stress. But it might surprise you to know that the link may be spiral in nature, with asthma feeding the stress, then the stress worsening the asthma, which causes more stress, and on and on. In addition, when a child has asthma, additional stress is placed on the entire household. This stress is added to the burden the child is already bearing simply by having asthma.

The most important first step to reducing the impact of pediatric asthma and stress on your child is to stick to your child's asthma treatment plan. Research among families of children with asthma has shown time and again that families misunderstand the disease and have a tendency to treat it only after symptoms have appeared. This not only puts undue stress on the child and the family, it puts the child's life at risk. By sticking with the treatment plan on a daily basis, whether there are symptoms or not, you can actually prevent the symptoms from showing up. When you drift away from the treatment regiment because your child hasn't experienced any recent attacks, you allow the symptoms to return, which then contributes new stress to the situation.

No matter how well things are going, there will always be a nagging fear in the back of your asthmatic child's mind that it can only last so long. That sooner or later something will trigger another asthma attack. Unfortunately, the more your child worries about triggering an attack, the more likely the stress from that worry will actually lead to an acute episode. Which, in turn, leads to still more stress.

Caregivers can easily be caught up in the relationship between pediatric asthma and stress as well. Caring for a child with asthma can be stressful for parents and for siblings. There's the worry that his symptoms might flare up at any time. There's the fear that an acute attack might actually take your child from you. Then there's the concern about being able to afford the treatments and required medications.

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, many families with asthmatic children operate in a constant crisis mode. They coast along, pretending everything is fine, until an acute asthmatic episode strikes in the middle of the night and necessitates another trip to the emergency room. Then once the episode is brought under control, things settle down again for awhile, until the next one hits.

The best way to deal with pediatric asthma and the stress it causes is to get a working asthma treatment plan, says the AAAAI. A plan should include management of the asthma and the environment, medication, and clearly defined steps to take in case of an emergency. A solid action plan gives you and your child the confidence to handle whatever situations arise, and the confidence to know you're controlling the asthma rather than the asthma controlling you.

David Silva is the webmaster of Asthma Insights (http://asthmainsights.com), a website dedicated to disseminating useful information about asthma, its symptoms, triggers, and treatments.

Acupuncture For Asthma - Fact Or Fiction?

                    

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 Acupuncture for asthma may sound like an odd combination. One is a common disease that affects approximately 20 million Americans; the other is a mysterious, esoteric, alternative medicine technique. Lots of people have asthma, but not many people have tried acupuncture.

But if you are an asthma sufferer, it can seem at times that anything - even something as mysterious as acupuncture - is worth trying. Breathing is something that most us never think about. It's an unconscious process and unless we're ill, we easily get the oxygen we need. But for people with asthma, breathing is always on their minds. There is always the chance that an asthma attack will leave them gasping for air. Sometime these attacks are predictable and sometimes they are not, sometimes they are minor and easily handled at home, and sometimes asthma suffers end up in an emergency room. It's no wonder that some asthma sufferers have turned to acupuncture for asthma.

Asthma is a chronic disease with no cure. There are different types of asthma, but they all produce the same signs and symptoms: rapid breathing, sweating, rapid heartbeat, and the uncomfortable sensation of suffocation. The exact cause of asthma is not known (there may be a genetic factor at work), but there is no doubt that environmental factors - cold, dust, pollution, etc - trigger the attacks. During the attacks, inflammation and constriction of the respiratory passages limit the amount of air that can be inhaled, the attacks can last for minutes or hours and as mentioned earlier, there is no cure. But although there is no cure, there are constant efforts to find new methods of treatment, and there are practitioners and patients who believe that acupuncture for asthma is the answer.

Acupuncture (the word comes from the Latin words acus, meaning needle, and pungere, meaning to puncture) is a very old system of medicine. It is not clear where acupuncture originates from, but it has been most closely associated with China. In acupuncture, very narrow needles are inserted into the skin (just barely penetrating the surface) at certain key points in the body. The needles are said to correct a disharmony in the flow of energy through the body, a disharmony that is said to be the cause of disease. Traditional, Western medicine has several theories about how acupuncture works (e.g., it may stimulate the release of natural pain relievers, endorphins) but has not yet completely explained how acupuncture.

Of course, the big question is, does acupuncture work? And can acupuncture successfully treat asthma? Well, not unlike the search for an explanation for how asthma works, the answers are not clear - and they depend on whom you ask. According to traditional acupuncturists, yes, acupuncture for asthma is an effective treatment, especially with asthma in young children. There are dozens of websites and thousands of testimonials that all attest to the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for asthma. Acupuncture, they say, has worked where nothing else has.

But ask the same question - does acupuncture for asthma work - of doctors and scientists who have been trained in traditional, Western medicine and scientific methodology, and the answer will be quite different. Acupuncture, they say, is as interesting phenomenon, but the question of how it works is less important than the question does it work, and their answer to that is no. There is no conclusive evidence that acupuncture for asthma works, and a review of the scientific studies that have attempted to answer this question have not proven acupuncture to be a viable technique for treating asthma. If there are reports that it works, these can be explained by the placebo effect (The placebo effect states that medications or medical techniques/ procedures may be perceived by the patient as effective because they believe they are effective, but there is no measurable effect).

So can acupuncture truly help someone who suffers from asthma? That seems to depend on your point of view. If you feel that illness is caused by disruption in energy flow and you are convinced by anecdotal reports, the only reasonable answer is: try it and find out. Acupuncture for asthma is very safe; serious adverse effects are very rare. But if you are the type of person who needs proof in the traditional sense, it may make more sense to stick with the medications/therapies you are taking and wait for solid evidence that acupuncture can help treat your asthma.
 

Asthma: A Common Affliction

                    

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Over 17 million Americans have asthma. Boost your awareness with this brief introduction to the disease.
What is asthma?

Asthma is a chronic condition that affects both children and adults. It is characterized by inflammation of the lungs, causing an inability to breathe properly. Certain triggers cause changes in the lungs of an asthmatic; airways restrict and may also become filled with fluid, which can lead to wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. Asthma affects 5% to 10% of the worlds population, with the United States having record numbers of cases. Currently, more than 17 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma, and asthma is one of the number one reasons for missed work and emergency room visits in the country. Asthma can be a serious, life threatening condition, but is manageable with proper medical care, medications, and education.

What are the symptoms of asthma?

The most common symptoms of asthma are coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath, but these are not the only symptoms that asthma can cause. Rapid breathing, irritation of the nose and throat, frequent sinus infections, allergies, excessive thirst, chest tightness and pain, productive and non-productive persistent cough, allergies, difficulty breathing while exercising, and waking at night with a feeling of being suffocated are all symptoms and possible signs of asthma. An asthma attack is usually marked by beginning with a noisy wheeze experienced while exhaling and rapid breathing. Panic can increase the severity of an asthma attack, which is an unfortunate thing, as an asthma attack itself can cause one to panic. I have noticed during my own asthma attacks that I experience chills, tremors, and a cold, clammy perspiration before and after an attack, along with marked weakness in my limbs. It is important to remember that each persons symptoms may differ from those of others.

Who gets asthma?

There are many different criteria for determining who gets asthma. The two most at risk groups for developing severe asthma are the elderly, and the urban poor. In the United States, 6.1% of African-Americans develop severe asthma compared to 5% of Caucasians. Also, African-Americans are three times as likely to die from severe asthma as are Caucasians. Childhood asthma occurs most often in boys, but after puberty reports show that cases of asthma are diagnosed most often in young women. Women run a much greater risk of death from asthma than do men, and the numbers are increasing steadily, especially in elderly women. 90% of all asthma deaths in the United States occur in the elderly.

Workers in certain occupations, such as farmers, hair dressers, and those in the textile industry, are at greater risk of developing asthma. Some known workplace allergens that may cause asthma include polyurethane, paints, steel, electronics, western red cedar, oak, redwood, mahogany, metal salts, vegetable dusts, and certain red dyes, and people that work with these substances on a regular basis have a greater risk of developing asthma.

Lifestyle also plays a major role in deciding who gets asthma. Studies have shown that those who are obese run a far greater risk of developing the disease than do people who maintain their recommended weight. On the other side of the coin, highly trained athletes, such as long distance runners, bear an increased risk as well.

It is also believed that environment can be a risk factor for those who live in heavily polluted areas of the country, such as large cities, industrial areas, and those who live near congested roadways.

Heredity can also bear a part in risk factors. Asthma seems to run in families, and an asthmatic couple wishing to have children should discuss their own risks for passing on the disease with their doctors. Asthmatics with children should also be on the lookout for signs of the disease in their children, as it can become quite severe if allowed to progress unnoticed.

What can trigger asthma attacks?

There are many things that can trigger asthma attacks, and they are different for each individual. However, some of the more common triggers include primary and second-hand cigarette smoke, food and plant allergies, allergic reactions to insect bites and stings, certain chemicals such as chlorine and ammonia, certain medications such as aspirin and beta-blockers, exposure to extreme hot or cold air, extreme emotion, colds or respiratory infections, mildew and mold, dust, and intense exercise. In 40% to 90% of people with asthma, intense exercise will trigger coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath.

It is important to note that strong emotion, such as anxiety, fear, or panic, can trigger asthma attacks. When suffering from an asthma attack, the victim should be kept as calm as possible to avoid compounding or prolonging the attack by becoming distressed or frightened. My most severe, life-threatening attack happened after a car accident, and if I had not had a compassionate individual on hand to calm me, my condition could have ended up very bad indeed.

What are the consequences of asthma?

Asthma can be a serious illness that results in death, but most fatalities that are caused by asthma are preventable by seeking proper treatment from a medical professional. All that aside, asthma is still a frightening and debilitating disease that carries a myriad of problems along with it. Sleeplessness is one common problem suffered by asthmatics. In fact, 40% of all asthmatics lose at least 11 days of work or school per year due to difficulties caused by sleeplessness or lack of quality sleep. Between 17% to 30% of all asthmatics also develop chronic sinusitis and continuous nasal drain.

How can asthma be treated?

There are many options when discussing the treatment of asthma. Bronchiodilators are one of the most common treatments prescribed, and may come in the form of liquid, pills, or inhalers, such as Albuterol. Steriods are also used in order to beef up lungs and make them stronger, thus more able to resist asthma flare-ups. Certain exercise regimes may be recommended in order to build lung capacity, as well as an education plan in order to avoid triggers which may cause asthma attacks. Before undergoing any treatment plan you should always consult with your personal physician.

Deanna J. Jones is a freelance writer, wife, and mother. She is also a self-proclaimed history buff who spends her free time building web sites and working on her first novel.

How to Use natural Remedies for Asthma or Allergies

                    

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A lot people have asthma. My daughter, 41 years, included. She has suffered from attacks for many years. Recently I encounter three natural remedies that I asked my daughter to try. I have not yet received a report on these, so I would like to pass them on to you. Here is the first one.

Boswellia

Boswellia, an herb, is known for its anti-inflammatory abilities and its usefulness in reduces the effects of bronchitis, asthma, cough, laryngitis, and fever. It comes from the resin of a tree in India and made into a pill or cream. It is best known for use in arthritis.

Recommended dose is: 150mg three times a day.

Yamoa

Yamoa is an herbal powder treatment for Asthma, which is derived from the bark of an African gum tree. It is available in capsule and has been typically used to help asthma. It has a good history of helping asthma sufferers.

Minor Blue Dragon formula

The Minor Blue Dragon is a Chinese herbal formula. Another name for it is xiao-qing-long-tang, or XQLT.It's a blend of eight herbal medicines used to treat asthma for centuries in Asia

The XQLT formula has been used effectively for bronchial asthma for centuries and it is said to have an even more powerful bronchodilator effect than prescription drugs. This formulation contains ephedra, which has been banned in the US in diet formulas. However, ephedra in this formula is considered safe, since the formula only contains around 15% of this herb. The other ingredients in XQLT are paeonia alba, cinnamon, pinellia, ginger, schisandar, asarum, and glycyrrhiza.

Nutritional Supplements That Help Reduce Asthma

Antioxidants

In addition to the above herbs it is also important to take a good supply of antioxidants - especially vitamins A, C, and E, carotenoids, and selenium. Taking antioxidants helps to reduce the irritating effects of airborne free radicals, which can activate an asthma attack.

Magnesium

Magnesium has been shown to reduce the risk of developing asthma and might also be helpful in reducing asthma. Magnesium is also good for asthmatics because it helps to dilate the bronchioles. Also, make sure that plenty of water is drunk daily, which thins mucus. The recommended dosage of magnesium is 200-600 mg/day.

MSM

MSM has also proven useful for asthma aside from being beneficial for arthritis, allergies, fatigue, back pain, sinusitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, autoimmune diseases, and many other conditions. Start with 2000mg of MSM per day but be sure to take 50 to 150 micrograms of molybdenum daily since MSM needs molybdenum to activate it properly.

I was able to find a product that already has the proper molybdenum in the MSM, which makes it convenient to take just one pill. Go to google and put in the words "MSM molybdenum" and you will find some web sites that sell this MSM combination.


Rudy Silva is a Natural Nutritionist and received his consulting certificate from Baumer College of Nutrition. He is the author of Constipation, Acne, Hemorrhoid, and Fatty Acid ebooks. He also writes a newsletter called Natural Remedies Thatwork.com For more information on his writings go to http://www.natural-remedies-thatwork.com/archive.html