March 2007
You are currently browsing the articles from Allergy News written in the month of March 2007.
HealthAn asthma attack is usually regarded as a physical experience. Sufferers often experience chest tightness, coughing, and an increased effort to breathe. Yet asthma also has an emotional component. There is the frustration of experiencing an attack and the fear of what might happen if the attack worsens.
Asthma can be a life-threatening condition. This can increase levels of anxiety, leading to panic, which in turn can trigger or worsen an asthma attack. Anxiety, resentment and despair are common emotions felt by the asthmatic.
For centuries, many people believed asthma was caused by stress or emotional disorders. This led to a stigma being attached to the condition and there grew a stereotype of the asthmatic being a weak, anxious person, forever wheezing and coughing.
Breathing is obviously tied in with emotion. We gasp with fear when we watch a scary movie, and take short breaths if we get involved in an action flick. We catch our breath if something startles us. Laughing and crying are certainly expressions of emotion and they both involve a change in our normal breathing pattern.
Being under stress can gradually tighten the airways. Sometimes people suffer their first asthma attack at a time of heightened emotion, like the death of a close relative. In these cases the person was probably already susceptible to asthma and the traumatic event and stress triggered the attack.
The beliefs of a person can also influence their asthma. Experiments have shown that asthmatics can produce and decrease asthma attacks using the power of suggestion. Just as Pavlov’s dogs salivated to the sound of a bell, asthma patients can suffer attacks if they are convinced they have inhaled an allergen even if the allergen is not present. Similarly they can experience relief if they believe they are taking a reliever drug though the substance they have taken has no medical effects. This ‘placebo effect’ has been noted for many conditions and situations.
This power of suggestion may explain why some people suffer a worsening of their asthma if they just see something related to their asthma trigger. It may also explain why some feel they cannot be without their inhaler.
The cause of asthma is not in the mind. It is in the genes and airways. But it seems that the mind can aggravate the condition.
Research has shown that asthma attacks can be connected to panic disorder - recurrent unexplained panic attacks. This connection seems stronger in smokers than non-smokers, and in women than in men.
It has also been found that the children of mothers prone to depression or panic attacks have an increased risk of developing asthma.
More recently researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison performed tests in which asthma patients heard various different words. They found that simply mentioning asthma related words such as ‘wheeze’ stimulated responses in two regions of the brain. One region is associated with emotional responses; the other is involved in obtaining information about the body’s physiological condition, such as shortness of breath.
The results suggest a direct link between an emotion-processing area of the brain and the physical response to the disease. The brains of people with asthma may over-react to emotional and physiological signals, like inflammation, which in turn may affect the severity of symptoms. This may help explain why asthma attacks in response to allergens can worsen during stressful times.
This research may one day lead to drugs or behavioral interventions to control asthma. Meanwhile it is know that certain relaxation techniques and martial arts can help control asthma that is triggered by emotional events.
David Kane is the author of ‘Stop Asthma Now’ and is giving away copies of his ‘Guide to Allergy and Asthma Relief’. To get your copy visit the Stop Asthma Now - Asthma Relief eBook site while the offer lasts.
Written by dpi on March 31st, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on allergy asthma.
HealthNot everyone with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease suffers from chronic asthma, but many individuals who experience emphysema or chronic bronchitis have asthma-like symptoms.
Not everyone with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease suffers from chronic asthma, but many individuals who experience emphysema or chronic bronchitis have asthma-like symptoms. Medical experts continue to debate whether chronic asthma should be classified as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, since asthma can be reversed.
Chronic asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways; the term asthma is derived from an ancient Greek word which means panting. With chronic asthma, the inflammation leads to the narrowing of the airways, which can cause wheezing, breathlessness, and gasping for air.
Studies indicate that chronic asthma involves two stages: the hyper-reactive response and the inflammatory response. The hyper-reactive response in chronic asthma refers to the constriction of the airways in response to inhaled irritants, while the inflammatory stage involves the production of white blood cells in the airways.
During a chronic asthma attack, the muscle tissue in the walls of the bronchi experiences spasms, causing labored breathing. With chronic asthma, coughing, shortness of breath and wheezing occur almost everyday. In order to combat chronic asthma, several medications may be needed.
Some medical experts speculate that the persistent symptoms of chronic asthma indicate a food allergy. As a result, some doctors encourage those suffering from chronic asthma to revise their diets in order to reduce the incidence of flare-ups.
There are some other simple strategies one can follow in order to alleviate symptoms of chronic asthma. These include removing the cause of chronic asthma, treating the symptoms, or altering the host to be more tolerant of the causes.
If you’ve been diagnosed with chronic asthma, medical experts suggest stopping all smoking and banning cigarette smoke from the house. Chronic asthma patients should also stop the use of volatile chemicals, which may exacerbate one’s symptoms. Ending contact with pets can also alleviate chronic asthma.
The aims of any treatment program for chronic asthma should include: avoiding the trigger factors for chronic asthma, eliminating symptoms, restoring normal lung function, reducing the incidence of severe attacks, and minimizing the side-effects of drugs.
Drug therapy for chronic asthma can fall into three categories. Chronic asthma can be attacked with preventors or anti-inflammatories; relievers, which provide acute relief of symptoms; and controllers, which provide a sustained bronchodilator action with a mild anti-inflammatory action.
It should be noted that there are some misconceptions about the treatment of chronic asthma. For instance, antihistamines do not appear to be an effective chronic asthma treatment strategy. Immunosuppressives such as methotrexate are rarely beneficial for chronic asthma, and acupuncture has a negligible effect.
The basic goals of educating those with chronic asthma include an ability to understand the nature of asthma, an understanding of different types of asthma medication, an understanding of prevention strategies, knowing the correct use of inhalers, and recognizing signs of worsening asthma.
Interestingly enough, chronic asthma is often misdiagnosed in the elderly. Also, older people are more susceptible to the side-effects of drugs used to treat chronic asthma. As a result, senior citizens need special prevention strategies for chronic asthma.
Written by dpi on March 30th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on allergy asthma.
HealthIn his book, Essential Allergy, Niels Mygind defines asthma as,
“A lung disease characterised by: 1, variable and reversible airway obstruction; 2, airway inflammation; and 3, bronchial hyper-responsiveness.”
Asthma is a disease where bronchial tubes are sensitive to irritants, which cause them to inflame and produce difficult breathing. The inflammation can cause,
” contraction of muscles around the air passages,
” swelling of the airway lining due to airway inflammation, and,
” excessive mucus in the airways.
Asthma occurs in most western countries and is the leading chronic illness of children.
Asthma, in some cases, cannot be cured, but for most patients it can be controlled so that they have only minimal and infrequent symptoms and they can live an active life.
If you have asthma, managing it is an important part of your life. Controlling your asthma means staying away from things that bother your airways and taking medicines or natural remedies as directed by your doctor.
When a person experiences a worsening of their asthma symptoms, it is called an asthma episode or, in severe cases, an asthma attack. During an asthma attack, smooth muscles around the bronchial tubes contract, making the airway openings narrower so less air can flow through. Inflammation increases and the airways become more swollen and narrow. Cells in the airways also make more mucus than usual, which narrows the airways further. The changes to the airways cause the symptoms of asthma.
Asthma attacks are not all the same-some are worse than others. In a severe asthma attack, the airways can close so much that not enough oxygen gets to vital organs. This condition is a medical emergency. People can die from severe asthma attacks. A person suffering from an asthma attack has a sensation similar to drowning.
Learning the warning signs or asthma symptoms can often alert a sufferer in time to take preventive action, such as medication or natural remedies.
Asthma attacks can occur over a long period of time. Although there are times when acute episodes strike asthmatics, most asthma sufferers say that there are long periods during which they suffer few, if any, asthma symptoms.
Here are some asthma symptoms:
” Coughing. Coughing in people with asthma is often worse at night or early in the morning, making it hard for them to sleep. This may be the only symptom a child with asthma has.
” Wheezing. Wheezing is a whistling or squeaky sound when you breathe.
” A tight feeling in the chest. This can feel like someone is squeezing or sitting on your chest.
” Shortness of breath. Asthma sufferers often say they can’t catch their breath, or they feel breathless or out of breath.
” Narrowing of the air passages in the lungs and hence increased resistance to airflow.
” Significant reversibility with steroid drugs
” Symptom-free periods
” Frequent occurrence of allergy
” Inflammation of the air passages
” Bronchial hyper-responsiveness to non-specific stimuli such as cold air, air pollution, pollen, dust, or other irritants
” Asthma symptoms brought on by exercises
” Coughing or wheezing brought on by prolonged crying or laughing
Not all people have these symptoms, and symptoms may vary from one asthma attack to another. Some symptoms are mild and some are life threatening.
Symptoms also differ in how often they occur. Some people with asthma only have symptoms once every few months, others have symptoms every week, and still other people have symptoms every day.
Learn how to use natural remedies to reduce asthma attacks and to eliminate many of the asthma symptoms
Rudy Silva is a Natural Nutritionist. To learn more about using natural remedies for asthma go to: natural-remedies-thatwork.com/asthma1
Written by dpi on March 29th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on allergy asthma.
« Older articles
No newer articles