Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Asthma Treatment Review - Find The Right Solution For You


I remember my school days that I was allergic to chalk dust. I had sneezing, running nose almost every day and had to take anti allergens that gave me temporary relief. It was after two years that I experienced asthma with the progression of chronic allergy. I was not aware of when I would experience an asthma attack. It was unpredictable. I tried many medicines, even herbal ones that made no change to my asthma. Later through an advertisement I came to know about Respitrol and though to give a try. In the beginning, I had a normal attitude as I had with all the medicines, but time proved that there was a cure for my respiratory problems.

I have gone through a number of breathing therapies, inhalations etc. I experienced a good breath after two week use of this medicine. I started taking Respitrol not as the only cure but along with my routine medications and puffs. Respitrol does no harm to you as it is composed of natural ingredients. Then as my asthma was moderately controlled, I consulted my physician who advised me to stop all other medications slowly. The doctor too wanted to know what was working, the medicines he gave or Respitrol.

Respitrol is friendlier to my body than my former medications as it does not contain any fillers, chemicals, or steroids. However, my physician commented that I have gained a bit weight. I too was anxious about my slight weight gain, which I thought was due to some hidden steroids in this supplement. Then I myself found that it was a steady weight gain and it might be due to my happiness on the cure of asthma that had tortured me all these years. Formerly when I was prone allergic asthma the pills I ad to take made me constantly dizzy and depressed. I never felt like even going for work. Respitrol has made my life better than I ever expected. I was scared when I came to know one of my neighbors' died due to asthma. Actually, that event made me think about changing to a reliable supplement.

I started with a single bottle, but as you have a sever attack you should consume two tablets per day. As I prolonged this medicine for more than one month I noticed a fair amount of reduction on the symptoms of asthma.

An Over View Of Asthma - How To Naturally Stop An Asthma Attack


Each Year, more than 5,500 asthma-related deaths occur in the United States and about 500,000 Americans are hospitalized because of asthma. If an asthma attack is left untreated, at the very least, it may lengthen the amount of time an asthmatic person feels miserable. At the very worst, it progresses to a severe asthma attack.

A severe attack begins with the typical asthma symptoms. As it progresses, the person under attack becomes extremely anxious and apprehensive. Flaring nostrils and bulging neck muscles are signs that breathing has become hard work. The person sweats, his breath becomes shallow, his heart beats rapidly and his blood pressure may surge up and down. Shallow inhalations become more rapid - a situation called hyperventilation - as air gets trapped in the lungs. The lungs may become overinflated.

Eventually, too much air is trapped in the lungs, and carbon dioxide begins to build up there. The person develops cyanoiss - a bluish-purplish tint to the skin, particularly around the lips - which indicates insufficient oxygen in the blood. Lung function deteriorates, wheezing diminishes and the person becomes speechless, exhausted and confused.

What is broncites asthma?

Broncites asthma is an inflammation of the bronchi resulting in coughing and excessive mucus production.

How to naturally stop an asthma attack?

No matter if you want to know how to naturally stop an asthma attack or if you are seeking asthma attack naturist treatment, chances are you've tried a whole host of natural cures. Most of these medications have probably been in the form of some type of drugs that your doctor prescribed for you. However, there are several asthma natural cures that maybe you have not tried such as choosing the foods for asthma, breathing techniques and seeking the best asthma recovery climate USA. Also, you may want to know whether caffeine makes asthma worse or not.

Asthma Treatment - A Common Sense Approach


We usually assume that we need medical intervention to cure any serious illness. So do many doctors, on whom we depend, as well. But the cure may not always be medical. Sometimes, it can be simple common sense that works.

This is what happened to a friend of mine when I was in Bangalore. Mahadevan was over fifty years then and he used suffer from frequent attacks of Asthma. He has become a very regular visitor to doctors and always kept a small stock of medicines and inhalers. He also tried homeopathy, ayurvedic and other herbal remedies in the hope of finding a permanent cure. But the attacks continued. To an extent, it is the air in Bangalore that causes and aggravates respiratory illnesses, people say.

One day, a friend of his, a medical doctor came to see him. This doctor settled abroad and occasionally came to India. Upon Mahadevan's request, he traveled to Bangalore, hoping that he could hit upon some relief to his friend's problem. And he did that too.

After sharing his medical and treatment history, Mahadevan took his doctor friend around the house. Bingo! The doctor noticed something that did wonders to Mahadevan. He pointed that the water storage tank is right above Mahadevan's bedroom. That was keeping the bedroom very humid which could probably be aggravating the Asthmatic condition.

Mahadevan promptly shifted his bedroom from under the water tank. Within a few months, his condition has improved dramatically. I was a tenant in his house in Bangalore and he shared this story with me one evening over drinks. It was seven years back and I hardly knew that I will become an entrepreneur in health industry then. But Mahadevan's experience forced me to think hard.

Our body works as a system. All things matter: the body, the mind or thinking, the food we take, the place we live in, the habits we have, and more. But unfortunately, our medical system is fragmented among different schools of medicine such as allopathy, ayurveda and so on. Moreover, our allopathic system of medicine is micro-fragmented among different sub or super specializations, whichever way you may want to call them. Because of this, we do not look at a health problem holistically.

But I suggest just one thing! When we have a problem, before assuming anything else, we should do a simple common sense check about the daily routine, physical activity, diet, mental factors such as stress, environment we live in, and the habits we practice. We analyze all other problems we may have. For example, if our performance is poor at work, we analyze that. If we fare poorly in exams, we analyze that. More so, if India looses a cricket match, we not only analyze but almost have sure ways of success for Tendulkar on our lips. Then why do not we at least try when we are ill?

We may think that health and medicine are too specialized and too risky. That is true! But we cannot harm ourselves by being more pro-active and involved in understanding and treating ourselves. And sometimes, we may find very simple solutions to the path towards healthy living. Doctor, or medicine, or God comes later in that order. But the best person you can depend upon to take care of your health is You!

Monday, June 17, 2013

What Is an Asthma Attack?


Asthma is a long-term disease affecting the lungs and the airways. In this kind of condition, the airways narrows and inflames. The common signs and symptoms of asthma include chest tightness, wheezing sound, coughing and shortness of breath. The coughing symptom often occurs early in the morning or late at night. In a situation of asthma attack which is also referred to as an asthma exacerbation, the lining of your airways becomes inflamed. The muscles will contract causing you to experience a narrowed breathing pattern. During an asthma exacerbation, you will cough a lot, wheeze and you may experience difficulty of breathing. This kind of condition can be mild which can be managed at home. However, there are severe cases which need immediate attention because it can be a life-threatening situation.

Severe and Mild Forms of Asthma

Some individuals with asthma do not experience an attack of asthma for longer periods. They can actually continue with their day to day activities without experiencing any signs and symptoms of asthma. But there are also some individuals who happen to experience recurrent attack of asthma.

Asthma attack which is mild in form is actually more common compared to severe cases. In mild cases of asthma, your airways will just open up after a few minutes of treatment. With regards to severe attacks of asthma, it is less common but the symptoms really last for longer hours which can threaten your life. This is the main reason why people having severe asthma attacks need to be transported to the nearest health care facility as soon as possible. In order to prevent severe cases of asthma attacks, it is very essential for you to be capable of recognizing early signs and symptoms of an asthma. Treating mild signs and symptoms will prevent further attacks of asthma that are severe in form.

Life-Threatening Asthma

For some reason wherein you have not received any kind of treatment for your asthma attacks for a long time, you won't be able to speak and you would likely develop a bluish discoloration all over your lips. This condition is due to the lack of oxygen circulating in your body. In medical terminology, the bluish discoloration around your lips is referred to as "cyanosis." In the absence of immediate medical attention, you may experience loss of consciousness and you can eventually die.

Early Warning Signs of Asthma Attack

In general, the early symptoms of asthma are not actually severe that may paralyze your day to day activities. But because you can recognize the early signs and symptoms, you can prevent further exacerbation of these.

There are several warning signs of an early asthma attack. These warning signs include frequent cough which is common at night, a meter reading which shows reduced peak flow, shortness of breath or difficulty of breathing, fatigue, body malaise, wheezing, moody, grumpy, easily upset, having trouble falling asleep and signs of allergies or cold such as nasal congestion, headache, and sore throat. The above mentioned warning signs are important for you to remember always. Keep things in moderation and always bring your medication with you. Remember, an attack of asthma can occur unexpectedly.

Top 7 Tips To Treat And Prevent Asthma Attacks


Some people describe asthma as feeling like they are trying to breathe though a straw. The description fits perfectly, because during an attack, airways in the lungs squeeze shut, making it difficult to draw in air. At the same time, the narrowed airways become inflamed and filled with mucus, stifling the airways even further. Asthma can be serious - even fatal. But if you can take care of yourself, asthma isn't cause for alarm. Here are some ways to prevent future episodes.

1. Max Out On Magnesium

This essential mineral helps relax the smooth muscles that line airways. People who were getting the most magnesium from foods were the least likely to have wheezing and supersensitive airways. Choose whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds as your best magnesium sources.

2. Consider Antioxidant Protection

Vitamins C and E, the trace mineral selenium and beta-carotene, a pigment found in orange and dark green leafy vegetables, all seem to offer some protection to sensitive lungs. You may want to consider consuming 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C, 400 international units of vitamin E and up to 200 micrograms of selenium a day through diet and supplements.

3. Declare War On Insects

Two kinds of bugs - dust mites and cockroaches - are well-known asthma aggravators. People actually inhale microscopic cockroach parts and dust mite feces, which sets off attacks. It is impossible to get rid of dust mites, which are found in every house and are kicked up through normal household activity. So minimizing their presence by encasing mattresses and pillows in plastic covers and washing your bed linens frequently in hot water. Banishing cockroaches can be a real hassle, too. Keep food in bug-proof tins or the refrigerator, clean up crumbs immediately and never leave cat or dog food out. Fix leaks so that there are no damp spots in your house, since mites require high humidity to live.

4. Stop The Acid

The same backflow of stomach acid into the esophagus that causes heartburn can bring on asthma, especially if you are lying down. People who do a lot of coughing at night are most likely to have this problem. To avoid acid-induced asthma, you can take acid-suppressing drugs, forgo late-night foraging and shed excess weight.

5. Relax With Massage

In one study people with asthma who got weekly 15-minute upper body massages reported drops in chest tightness, wheezing, pain and fatigue. Massage may make you more aware of the stress in your life, and awareness is, for most people, the first step towards reducing stress. Stress often makes asthma symptoms worse.

6. Breathe Better With Yoga

Try exhaling for twice as long as you inhale. This is a yoga breathing technique. To do this easily, breathe in normally, then exhale normally, but as you come to what seems like the end of your exhalation, continue for a bit longer without forcing out the breathe.

7. Turn Off The Fireplace

As cozy as fireplaces and wood stoves may be, they spew pollutants into indoor air. If you are having trouble controlling asthma, you are better off not using either of these in your house.

What Is The Theory Behind The Buteyko Method and Helping Your Asthma?


According to the Buteyko Method, the key to Asthma and other diseases lies in the gas - carbon dioxide. Consider the following facts:

The basic reaction that produces the energy inside each of our body cells involves two main gases. Most energy comes from the breakdown [or burning] of sugars [carbohydrates] in the presence of oxygen [O2]. This produces a nice amount of energy that we use to run our bodies. It also produces water and very importantly carbon dioxide. So we have:

Carbohydrate + Oxygen

Are reacted in the cells to produce

ENERGY + Water + Carbon Dioxide

The amount of carbohydrate and oxygen used up and the amount of water and carbon dioxide produced depends on the energy need of the cell. For example running up a flight of stairs will use up more oxygen and produce more carbon dioxide than sitting quietly in front of your computer.

To keep the levels of both oxygen and carbon dioxide within safe levels our body adjusts your level of breathing. You will breathe more deeply when you are more active and produce more carbon dioxide, and less deeply when you are quiet and produce less carbon dioxide. You will note that it is the levels of carbon dioxide that regulates your breathing, not oxygen. [The exception is when you are being strangled.]

So our breathing is how we release the carbon dioxide that we have produced [and also replenish our oxygen.]

A Little More About Carbon Dioxide

There is only 0.03% carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today. This is almost none at all.

If you are perfectly healthy you will have about 6.5% carbon dioxide in the alveoli of your lungs. This is more than 200 times more than is present in the air around us.

Therefore your lungs act to trap in some of the carbon dioxide produced by your body.

This carbon dioxide is critical for keeping the pH [A chemical measure of how much acid is in our body fluids] at a safe level. Our pH is the ratio of bicarbonate to carbonic acid, which are both forms of carbon dioxide. The level of your carbonic acid depends on the amount of carbon dioxide that is in the alveoli of your lungs. If the carbon dioxide level drops [or rises] too much it can make fatally large changes to your pH.

More simply, the amount of carbon dioxide you keep in your lungs is very important. It affects the chemistry all of fluids of your body.

If you adopt a breathing pattern which causes you to release more carbon dioxide than you produce, the level in your lungs will drop. If it drops too far, the level of carbonic acid will be altered, and so the pH will also change. Even a slight change in your pH is usually fatal.

Now stay with me, this is the interesting part!

To help prevent the loss of carbon dioxide to a fatally low level, the body has developed certain defensive mechanisms. These include spasms of the air pipes and blood pipes, and the increased production of mucus.

ASTHMA Is A Defense - Your Body Works Perfectly!

To use asthma as a simple example, let's think like a plumber in talk in terms of pipes.

Let's say that your breathing is too great. As you are breathing out air that is rich in carbon dioxide, and breathing in air that has almost no carbon dioxide, the more you breathe - the less you trap in. If the level of carbon dioxide in your lungs gets too low - you really will have a serious problem. As you continue to release more carbon dioxide than you produce, your level gets lower and lower. Now your body does not want you to die, so if it is [genetically] able it will act to restrict the airflow to trap in some carbon dioxide.

It will do this by either reducing the size of the opening in your air pipes, or by increasing the production of mucus in the pipes, clogging them up. The first defense will make you feel tight or wheezy the second will give you a cough. Both will cause more carbon dioxide to be trapped in - as you physically cannot get as much out of your body through a smaller or blocked air pipe. The harder you try to breathe deeply during an asthma attack, the more your air pipe will constrict.

If you can learn to reduce your breathing depth more than your asthma is making you, the attack will subside. That is what the Buteyko method gently and carefully teaches you to do.

Even more than that, the Buteyko method shows you how to gently condition the section of your brain that is sensitive to carbon dioxide to get used to higher levels of carbon dioxide in your lungs! This means that as you have started with a normal higher level in your lungs, you will have a "safety" or "buffer" zone between you and any asthma at all. You will then have fewer and less severe attacks.

This is how the extraordinary results of Buteyko and Asthma are achieved. I recently spent time with a Certified Buteyko Practitioner James Hooper and he showed me evidence that, people who have personal classes with him had maintained a full guarantee of significant improvement in just one week.

James went onto say, "The average decrease in symptoms and relief medication use in my clinic in 7 days is 92.5%."

My article written in conjunction with James has given you a very basic part of the theory of what causes asthma, and how the Buteyko Breathing Method training stops it. I should also note that the Buteyko Method is not one of those techniques that people have created to simply make money off people with Asthma. The Buteyko Breathing Method underwent clinical trials at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane in 1994 and Respirtory Physicians Prof C Mitchell and Dr S Bowler who ran the trials found that the trial patients had a 90% decrease in the their reliance on Asthmatic Reliever Medicine.

Top Signs of an Asthma Attack


Asthma is a very serious health pre-disposition and many people world over suffer from it. It is vital for all people affected to know how to deal with the condition when or if it strikes and the best way to do this is to understand the disease and most importantly know how it occurs.

For this reason, this article is going to highlight some of the top symptoms and signs that you should look out for. This condition comes with numerous symptoms and top on the list are signs that are named below.

First, the chest area will be affected and victims will often feel tightens and have heaviness that has a strong grip as a result. This pressure in the chest has been seen to be the cause of heartache and even panic from many people who might be close to a person who suffers.

Another strong sign is shortness of breath which is able to have a great hold on the victim. Many will actually stop breathing when an attack comes and first aid that is tailored to the condition must be administered. Wheezing is another symptom that people should look out for. For those who are not sure what wheezing is, the following is the definition. Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling sound that is heard when exhaling.

Coughing is another one and in many cases, it will occur at night. An asthma attack will mainly involve a lot of coughing and also a combination of the above named symptoms. The most common early warning signs are named as signs of a cold, coughing at night, decrease in lung function and the list goes on.

With the above in mind, it is important then to know when you need to call your doctor. There are several instances where you need to call for help immediately and they include when you or a person you are close to suffers the signs of asthma for the first time.

Call a doctor immediately when the inhaler you are using does not relieve symptoms in 20 minutes or so. Also, call for help if you or the person suffering is not able to talk in complete sentences. Make sure not to ignore warning signs because they could mean life and death.