The airways from an asthma sufferer are sensitive to several conditions, such as warm or cold air, moist, stress or physical strain. The muscles around the airways respond to these conditions by reducing and shrinking the airways.
There are two asthma triggers: inflammatory triggers, causing an allergic inflammation of the airways; and symptom triggers. Symptoms can be caused by animals, especially furry animals; dust mites; viruses; molds; pollen; smoking; air pollutants; food allergies; medication; stress; and even exercise (because of the need for extra oxygen).
If you take drugs to keep your asthma under control you can be sure it will be for the rest of your life. Asthma drugs have a two stage function: one that controls and prevent asthma over a longer period of time and one as a quick relief solution in case of an asthma attack.
A nebulizer or inhaler relaxes the muscles of the airways and chest very fast. An asthma attack can be turned down within a few seconds, making it easier to breathe for the sufferer as an immediate result.
The most prescribed long-term asthma medications are corticosteroid drugs. These drugs do have side-effects and can cause cataracts. This is clouding of the lens in the eye and your eyesight will slowly deteriorate. As you have to take these drugs for the rest of your life, the side-effects are likely to increase every year.
Other side-effects from corticosteroid drugs are: rounding of the face (so called moon face), high blood pressure, headaches, weight gain, acne, stomach ulcers, a worsening of diabetes, muscle weakness, and even psychiatric problems.
With a peak flow meter you can be measuring the amount of air that you are breathing out, telling you how efficiently you are breathing. It is also an indication of how well you have your asthma under control.
If you do not have more than one or two asthma attacks in a week, you can assume that your asthma is well under control. This will enable you to do what 99.9% of non-asthma sufferers can do.
There are several natural treatments that have shown to be effective in treating asthma. Taking cold showers will strengthen your immune system and support a better blood flow. If you have anxiety attacks or stress, you should consider meditation or yoga to control your emotions.
Stop eating foods that contain chemicals that could be a risk factor to your asthma. Take a multivitamin if your daily diet is incomplete. One teaspoon of honey every day is enough to give you relief from the worst asthma effects. Together with a natural antioxidant such as turmeric extract or cinnamon powder, it is told to be effective in reducing the incidence of asthma attacks.
Eliminate dairy produce, such as cheese, milk-based products, yoghurt, wheat based products like biscuits, cakes, and commercially baked white flour bread, from your diet. Drink black coffee because caffeine has powerful anti inflammatory qualities and makes it very useful in fighting asthma.
Drinking herbal teas, such as chamomile or mint tea, helps to reduce stress levels and anxiety that might trigger an asthma attack. Other herbs that have anti-asthma features are sage, lemon balm, rosemary, oregano, dill, tarragon, and motherwort.
