Karen’s Free Health and Fitness Tips

When an individual’s lungs become chronically inflamed and the airways narrow asthma likely is the cause. There are various strains of asthma. With steady-state asthma and individual may experiencing some coughing especially at night, constant throat clearing, feeling of tightness in the chest and upon exertion some shortness of breath. These symptoms can gradually worsen into acute asthma exacerbation if not properly diagnosed and treated. Treatment can include over-the-counter medication, prescription medication and even asthma natural treatment.

Is it a common misconception that everyone that has an asthmatic condition has wheezing, whereas often an asthmatic will never wheeze. If wheezing does occur with an asthmatic, it likely is due to an asthma attack. This is an acute exacerbation of asthma that has the symptomatology of tightness in the chest, possible wheezing and shortness of breath. If air is restricted greatly, there is no room for wheezing.

Causes of asthma include genetic and environmental factors, as well as interaction of the two. Research is still ongoing on what genes are actually involved within the genetic factor of asthma causes. Environmental issues include tobacco smoke, poor air quality and stressors. Asthma natural treatment can lessen the prevalence of asthma attacks.

The worse thing than childhood asthma is asthma in toddlers. Most children who have asthma developed the disease while they were still toddlers. With a reported 5 million American children suffering from asthma, 173 thousand of them hospitalized for severe symptoms and 864 thousand receiving emergency treatment annually, it is important that your toddler be evaluated for asthma as early as possible.

Since it is more difficult to diagnose asthma among infants and toddlers, it would be best to look for signs or symptoms that characterize the disease. Many cases of asthma deaths were due to the parents’ failure to recognize the severity of the toddler’s condition. Common colds and respiratory diseases such as bronchitis can exhibit asthma-like symptoms. But this does not mean you should ignore your child especially when he has difficulty in breathing or a wheezing cough.

When your toddler is diagnosed with asthma, it does not mean he will be forever afflicted with the disease. On the contrary, there are lots of documented cases where the toddler’s asthma no longer persisted into adulthood. It can also be deduced from this observation that toddlers are more susceptible to asthma triggers but develops immunity as they grow older.

Asthma is a disorder of the respiratory system in which the passages that allows air to pass into and out of the lungs periodically narrow, causing coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. This narrowing is typically temporary and reversible, but in severe attacks, asthma may result in death. Below is the list of various asthmas treatments that can save your life.

Exercise for Asthma
Though physical activity such as regular exercise can trigger asthma to some people, even vigorous exercise can be a great help to minimize asthma attacks, by doing the right asthma monitoring and treatment. Regular exercise strengthens the lungs and prevents asthma symptoms. Remember to always consult your doctor before you do any exercise program, and always have you asthma inhaler with you at all times.

Yoga Asthma
Yoga requires rhythmic breathing and the union of the mind and body; it involves gentle twisting and flexing your body. It relaxes the mind and can help you get away with stress and anxiety. Studies show that asthmatic people with regular yoga sessions have decreased the possibility of having asthma attacks, and doctors have reduced their medications.

Asthma, a chronic respiratory condition produces symptoms such as cough, breathlessness and wheezing. But in a certain group of asthmatic patients cough is their predominant complaint. This is known as cough-variant asthma, which is a dry, nonproductive cough that is virtually omnipresent without regard to time of day, and worsens any time the patient experiences airway inflammation due to viral infection, inhalation of cold air, exercise.

Cough also tends to be worst through the night, disturbing sleep. Rather than treating the cough in isolation, such patients must seek physician care to establish a diagnosis and to receive appropriate treatment that addresses the totality of the symptomatology. Cough may be the first sign of asthma in children or a warning sign that asthma is worsening or not controlled properly. It is also a warning signal for the asthmatic person that an attack may be on its way. Hence it is good to take measures to prevent a full-blown attack immediately if an asthmatic develops a cough.

Asthma cough is one of the symptoms of an asthma attack. The cough can vary in intensity depending on the degree of the condition on your body. The cough can also vary according to the intensity of the trigger factor.

The triggers also do depend on different individuals. This is according to the body of a person. So the triggers can be environmental, human animal or other health conditions. It can also be dry or with mucus. One can cough for a short period of time or a prolonged period. Some people get attacks when its breezy and should therefore keep off from breeze.

The cough if combined with lack of breath and wheezing can be extremely dangerous. Immediate medical attention should be sought. Asthma patients once they learn their condition, they should also come to terms with the symptoms. This is because they should learn to live with it. A patient who usually has asthma cough should always have medication that relieves the cough. This should go hand in hand with the asthma inhaler. One should get proper asthma medication from a doctor.

There are various asthma signs and symptoms that are commonly seen in persons affected with the condition. Among these signs and symptoms include the faster or noisy breathing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing and coughing.

Not all people will have the same asthma signs and symptoms that are mentioned in the above paragraph, since it may always vary from the asthma attack of every person. The asthma signs and symptoms may also differ on severity, although there are some that are very annoying at certain occurrences. Nevertheless, asthma signs and symptoms should be taken seriously and consciously since some of these can be life threatening at times.

The asthma symptoms can also differ on their occurrences or how many times it may occur. There are some asthmatic persons who have symptoms once every few months, while some have the signs and symptoms every week or every day.

Nevertheless, with the proper treatment and care, asthma symptoms can be made less interrupting. Asthmatic people can still live their lives in a normal and healthy way.

What is Asthma & what happens during an asthma attack?

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways in the lungs, causing breathlessness in the patient. An asthma attack takes place when a person becomes hyper-responsive to some stimuli like cold air, exercise, dust, pollutants and even stress and anxiety. This happens due to some changes in the person’s lungs. The muscle tissues of the bronchi go into spasm, the cells lining the airways swell and mucus secretion takes place resulting in narrowing of the bronchi, thus making it difficult to breathe out.

Treatment for Asthma can be done by various methods.

Allopathic asthma attack treatment: Medical practitioners conduct a spirometry test to measure the functions of the lungs in patients. Some of the most common drugs used in allopathic treatment are the methylxanthine (theophylline) that has anti-inflammatory effects and controls night-time symptoms, Bronchodilators that relieve sudden attacks effectively, steroids that are drugs resembling body hormones, block inflammation and leukotriene modifiers that counteract the leukotriene produced by the white blood cells in the lungs. These drugs are either inhaled or administered orally or as injections.

Despite the numerous asthma homeopathic remedies available nowadays, it should still be treated with the proper guidance from the professionals who are knowledgeable and experienced on the actual application of treatments.

Absolutely, asthma homeopathic remedies can help relieve the difficulties of an asthma attack, but in certain cases that asthma attacks get worse, professional medical advice should be taken the soonest. Worse cases of asthma are usually seen on the breathing and turning bluish lips of the patient. In some cases, the loss of consciousness is also a sign of severe asthma attack.

With the proper and strict guidance of professional homeopathic therapists, here are some asthma homeopathic remedies that any person can use in treating his asthma condition:

(1) Carbo Vegetabilis - this remedy is usually used during the actual attack of asthma when the person is feeling faint or weak. The person would say that he feels shallowness of his chest. Furthermore, continuous cough follows wherein difficulty in the air passage going to the lungs is experienced.

(2) Ipecacuanha - this remedy is applied to those asthma patients who suffer from coughing spasms resulting in vomiting or retching. It is also best for asthma that comes with mucus or phlegm in the breathing tubes.

Asthma is a lung disorder characterized by chronic inflammation of the lung airways. This inflammation or irritation causes increased mucous production and airway hyper-sensitivity resulting in a reduced ability to circulate air flow. Wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath are the symptoms associated with asthma. Asthma is multifactorial and includes genetic, allergic, environmental, infectious, emotional, and nutritional components. Cigarette smoking, fossil fuels, wood burning stoves, gas appliances and off-gassing from paints, adhesives, furniture and building materials can all exacerbate asthma. Approximately 17.3 million people suffer from asthma in the and 150 million people worldwide. According to the National Health Interview Survey the rate of asthma in children is increasing by five percent every year. Asthma negatively effects quality of life, work, school and in severe cases death is the result. Approximately 5,000 people die each year from asthma.

The increasing rates of asthma are most likely due to new home construction of airtight homes that began in the 1970s. These new homes have less air circulation, central heating, chemical-laden synthetic building materials and wall-to-wall carpet. This is a perfect environment for the growth of microorganisms that can irritate the lungs. Industrialization and the burning of fossil fuels are also to blame due to the irritating toxic compounds that are released into the air and then breathed on a daily basis. Our diets have also evolved away from omega-3 fatty acids which have powerful anti-inflammatory properties.

Natural asthma treatments have very few side effects, are usually inexpensive, and are easy to do. They can be used along with conventional treatments to make them more effective, and to reduce the number of side effects from medications.

Some alternative practitioners view this disease as being a protective reaction by your body to allergens and pollutants. They feel your focus should be on strengthening your entire body, as well as supporting your lungs and immune system.

Yoga includes deep breathing exercises that expand your lungs and help to reduce stress. Studies have shown that these exercises are very effective for people who suffer from this problem, especially when you do them every day.

You can use acupressure both to prevent attacks and to treat them. The Lung 1 points stimulate breathing. In asthmatics, these spots are sensitive and often knotted. They are found on the muscles that run horizontally about an inch below your collarbone, and about two inches from the center of your chest. (You may need to feel around on a child to find them, as these distances would be smaller on a little one.) Press on them with your thumbs in a circular motion while you or your patient hangs his head forward and takes slow deep breaths.