Allergy Asthma
by: Katherine Martin

1. Practice breathing from the diaphragm or abdomen instead of the chest. When you are breathing correctly the belly will push outward on breathing in, and contract or tighten when breathing out. The chest and shoulders do not rise up.

2. If you do start wheezing or getting short of breath try to breath slower while relaxing the rest of your body. This reduces the demand for oxygen in the body. If you are exercising slow down or stop.

3. Stop smoking or hanging out in smoky rooms whenever possible. If you live with a smoker who won’t quit or go outside to smoke then encourage the use of an air-filter or devise that sucks up the smoke. Don’t underestimate the dangers of second hand smoke, particularly on children and the elderly.

4. Try swimming as the exercise of choice. The increased moisture seems to lessen the chance of spasm of the bronchial tubes. Starting slowly with walking or a stationary bike can also safely improve cardiovascular stamina.

5. Drink extra glasses of water or liquids. With more rapid breathing it is easier to get dehydrated. Some regular tea is ok as it has a chemical to relax the bronchial tubes called Theo bromide, similar to the asthma medicine theophylline.

6. If you are using a rescue inhaler such as Albuterol more than three times a week you may need a preventive medicine either as another inhaler and/or a pill such as Singulair. Keep ahead of your asthma. At the first sign of worsening, use your medications early. In the end you will require less medicine overall. Make sure you tell your doctor if your symptoms become more frequent. In short, DON’T WAIT.

7. Often people with asthma also have allergies to pollen, animals, and dust. Discuss with your doctor getting allergy testing to see if desensitization shots will cure the problem. Be sure to mention stuffy nose and itchy, watery eyes “sinus problems” during your visit if they occur.

About the author:
Author: Katherine A Martin, D.O. - Board Certified Family Practice Physician. Medical Coaching and Consulting. Health for the whole person. Visit my web site at http://www.DO-Medicine.com

Allergy Asthma
by: Allan Wilson

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.

About the author:
If you are interested in your health and well being then you will find some great reading at: http://www.findhealtharticles.com

Asthma
by: John Smith

is considered to be a respiratory system disease. This condition causes the person with Asthma to have difficulty breathing in the form of shortness of breath, coughing, the feeling of chest tightness, and sometimes feeling winded.

Asthma attacks the narrowing of the bronchial tubes that can leave the person without enough air to receive the oxygen they need. When these “attacks” occur the person can be left breathless, dizzy, and can cause them to faint.

Many things can bring on an asthma attack such as a burst of cold air, running, odors, mold, and other allergens. These attacks or asthmatic episodes can include breathless, fast breathing, delayed expiration of breath, and a faster heart rate. With severe asthma attacks the person experiences lack of oxygen which can bring on chest pain, fainting, and unconsciousness. In some rare cases with severe attacks their have been incidences of respiratory arrest and even death. Other that during these asthma attacks the person shows no signs of asthma.

The major symptoms of Asthma include shortness of breath, a “wheezing” sound and coughing. During the coughing the mucous will be clear with no sign of green or yellow. Green or yellow mucous shows signs of an infection. Asthma is not an infection, so the mucous will be clear.

In allergic asthma the attacks are brought on by allergens. This type of attack is always brought on by inhaling something like pet dander, mold, dust, or even the pollen from plants and flowers. These allergens bring on a reaction of the airways to the lungs to become swollen and the oxygen that you breathe in can not go through the airways. This can cause coughing, a wheezing sound, and shortness of breath.

In non-allergic asthma is usually brought on by nervousness, tension, a burst of cold air or hot dry air, exercising, smoking, or other inhaled irritants. The symptoms are the same but it is not caused from an allergy.

Asthma is a hereditary condition, but just because one or both of your parents have asthma does not necessarily mean you will also have asthma. Many with no history of asthma also can have this condition. It can be triggered by a cold, exercise, allergies, etc…

Asthma can be treated in two different forms one with and inhaler and one in pill form. Inhalers are considered to be the quick cure. This will relieve the symptoms and the person will be able to breathe normally in just a few minutes. The long term controllers are of course pills. The pills are normally anti-inflammatory medications that can keep control of the inflammation in the airways to the lungs.

There is no way to prevent asthma but you can lead a very normal life by doing as your physician suggests.

About the author:
John Smith is a writer at healthcaredir ( http://www.healthcaredir.com), a news source for the latest in health and medicine.

Allergy Asthma
by: Carole Pagan
My daughter recently had a bout with asthma. The strange thing is, she hadn’t had any problems for a couple of years. In looking at the possible triggers - She had a new batch of puppies at her dad’s. While the 2 dogs didn’t seem to bother her, the addional puppies seemed to put her over the edge. To make matters worse, since we hadn’t had problems for a couple of years, I had become lax in some of the cleaning that I would have done when she had problems every year. Once I realized what her problem was, I immediately started cleaning for asthma. That means thoroughly vacuuming walls, behind furniture, matresses, pillows, upholstery, screens, and vents, and dusting every crevice- including things like behind the tv and stereo inside the cabinet, the backs of furniture. I normally dust the ceiling fans and blinds, but if you kinda skip those, you need to pay more attention if you have any allergies or asthma in your home. A quick carpet clean and changing air filters and furnace filters finishes up the cleaning job. You also want to change your hand towels everyday, just in case it’s a virus triggering the response. If you have pets, keep them clean and brushed, and their living areas cleaned. Keep pets out of the bedrooms of affected people. The things that typically trigger asthma is actually pretty long House dust mites found in carpeting, mattresses, bed linens, toys, upholstered furniture, dampness, poor ventilation, unvented cooking, humidifiers, Animal-derived allergens from dogs, cats, rodents, and birds. Mold found in carpeting, walls, and windows, caused by leaks, poor ventialtion, water damage, or dampness. Nitrogen oxides produced by space heaters or gas-fueled cooking stove, used with poor ventilation. Wood Smoke from wood stoves or fireplaces, used with poor ventilation, or faulty equipment causing fumes to come back into the room. Fumes from cleaners, aerosols- like hairsprays, perfumes and even air fresheners, pesticides, formaldehyde found in some older household products. Viral respiratory infections - exposure to infected people Endotoxins from bacteria growing in soil, humidifiers, and other moist places. Cockroach allergen Tobacco smoke Excess weight. If there is one thing you can do to minimize allergy or asthma suffering- it is to become a vacuuming fanatic. The more you get into that bag, the less you have floating around in the air. It’s healthier, and you’ll have less dusting to do in the long run. About the author: Carole is the author of Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak. If you Love a really clean home, but Hate cleaning it, you’ll want your own copy of the secrets. Click on the link to get it now-http://ThinAttitude.CommonSenseLiving.com