With Herbs, Asthma can be Treated
Asthma is the chronic condition that causes inflammation, swell, produce extra mucus and narrowing in the airway of the lungs. People who have this chronic condition for a long time or recurrent is said to be asthmatic. This causes wheezing, chest tightness, coughing and shortness of breath. A cough often occurs early morning or at night. It affects people with all age groups and often occurs in children’s.
Types
Child onset asthma: For some children’s the onset of asthma may begin during childhood. Due to genetic reason, the child may become sensitized to common allergens in the environment. The child is a topic- generally in the state of hypersensitivity due to environmental allergens. Allergens are the substances that act as a foreign body that triggers the immune to respond.
Adult-Onset Asthma: This term is used when a person develops asthma after reaching 20 years of age. Adult-onset asthma affects women more than men, and it is also much less common than child-onset asthma. It is also triggered by some allergic materials or an allergy. The cause of adult-onset asthma seems to be triggered by the exposure to the allergens called nonallergic adult-onset asthma. This type of non-allergic asthma is also called as intrinsic asthma. Exposure to chemicals, plastics, metals, certain medicines or wood dust can cause adult-onset asthma.
Exercise-Induced Asthma: After exercise, if you feel difficulty in breathing or wheezing, then you could be suffering from exercise-induced asthma. Obviously, your level of fitness is also a factor – a person who is unfit and runs fast for ten minutes is going to be out of breath. However, if your coughing, wheezing or panting does not make sense, this could be an indication of exercise-induced asthma. Some exercise may cause the inflammation of airway tubes or bronchial and thus it results in asthma.
Cough-Induced Asthma: Cough-induced asthma is one of the most difficult asthmas to diagnose. The doctor has to eliminate other possibilities, such as chronic bronchitis, post nasal drip due to hay fever, or sinus disease. In this case, the coughing can occur alone, without other asthma-type symptoms being present. The coughing can happen at any time of day or night. If it happens at night it can disrupt sleep.
Nocturnal Asthma: It occurs only during night time from night to 8 am. It is due to the dust and pet dander or may be due to a sinus condition. The patient may have wheezing or short breath when lying down and may not notice these symptoms until awoken by them in the middle of the night – usually between 2 and 4 AM. Nighttime symptoms may also be a common problem in those with daytime asthma as well.
Steroid-Resistant Asthma (Severe Asthma): Some steroid therapy, thepatient responds to regularly inhaled glucocorticoid (steroid) therapy, due to steroid resistance. By reducing airway inflammation and immune activation, glucocorticoids are used to treat asthma. However, patients with steroid-resistant asthma have higher levels of immune activation in their airways than do patients with steroid-sensitive (SS) asthma.
Risk factors
Some of the risk factors that may cause the risk of having asthma are as follows:
- Being a smoker
- Exposure to occupational triggers, such as chemicals used in farming, hairdressing, and manufacturing
- Having a blood relative (such as a parent or sibling) with asthma
- Having another allergic condition, such as atopic dermatitis or allergic rhinitis (hay fever)
- Being overweight
- Second-hand smoking
- Exposure to exhaust fumes or other types of pollution
- Obesity is the greater risk of getting asthma
Causes
It’s not clear why people get asthma, but probably due to some allergic, genetic and environmental factors. Asthma triggers are different from person to person. Some of the causes of asthma are as follows:
- Air pollution and smoke
- Cold air
- Emotions and stress
- Tobacco smoke
- Atopy
- Gene
- Allergies such as dust, mites, fungi, and cockroaches
- Certain medication such as including beta blockers, aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen (Aleve)
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a condition in which stomach acids back up into your throat
Early warning signs of asthma
- Itchy, scratchy, or sore throat
- Waking up at night
- Dark circles under eyes
- Runny, stuffy or congested nose
- Increased tiredness
- Chest tightness, pain, or pressure
- Shortness of breath
- Coughing, especially at night
- Wheezing
- Thirst
- Itchy, glassy or watery eyes
- Rubbing nose a lot
- Sneezing
- Stomach ache
- Headache
- Fever
- Feeling restless
- Change in face color – pale or flushed
- Throat clearing
Symptoms of asthma in Children
- Nagging cough that lingers for days or weeks to sudden and scary breathing emergencies
- Trouble breathing or fast breathing that causes the skin around the ribs or neck to pull in tightly
- Frequent colds that settle in the chest
Effects of asthma
- Stress, anxiety and depression.
- pneumonia (infection of the lungs)
- Lung collapse
- Respiratory failure, where the levels of oxygen in the blood become dangerously low, or the levels of carbon dioxide become dangerously high
- Status asthmaticus which do not respond to treatment).
Preventive measures
- Use allergy-proof covers on pillows and mattresses.
- Do not allow pets in bedrooms or on furniture.
- Remove carpets and stuffed toys from bedrooms. The spur from them will act as allergens.
- Avoid areas where people smoke also try to avoid smoking.
- Avoid harsh cleaning products and chemicals.
- Reduce your stress and enjoy doing the things in your daily life.
- Pay attention to air quality in your environment.
- Perform physical activity daily.
- Understand the climatic conditions around you and act accordingly to rescue from asthma.