asthma medications

Asthma is a terrible disease and, if left untreated, can lead to hospitalization and even death. If you suffer from asthma we don't have to tell you about the symptoms -- the wheezing and shortness of breath, the chest pain or chest tightness, the difficulty sleeping and the shortness of breath during exercise. See your doctor first. Buteyko breathing technique The first natural remedy you can try is called the Buteyko breathing technique. This was developed by a Russian-born researcher and consists of shallow breathing exercises designed to help you breathe easier. It is based on the premise that raising carbon dioxide blood levels through shallow breathing will help as carbon dioxide is believed to dilate the smooth muscles of your airways. Trials undertaken in Brisbane, Australia, showed people taught the Buteyko Method were able to reduce Bronchodilator usage (symptom related medications) by 90% within six weeks; along with a marked improvement in quality of life (they felt much better). Herbs While many medical practitioners doubt the ability of herbs to help with asthma, there are some alternative medicines that have been used in Asia for centuries. Among the herbs that have been used to treat asthma include ginkgo biloba, Tylophora Indica, Solanum xanthocarpum and Solanum trilobatum. Many people do believe that these herbs along with breathing exercises and the right diet can lessen both the severity and frequency of your asthma attacks.  

 

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Folk medicine has used the bitter gourd plant for treating asthma since ancient times. To use the bitter gourd roots mix a teaspoon of the root paste with an equal amount of honey or juice of the tulsi leaves and take this every night for a month. Garlic has also proven to give some people relief from asthma. If you are in the early stages of asthma, take 10 garlic cloves and boil them in 30 ml of milk. You should take this mixture once daily. You may also find you can keep the problem under control by adding two minced garlic cloves to steaming ginger tea.

Home Remedies for asthma : The most common home remedy for asthma is honey. The way the honey is used is to hold it under your nose and inhale the air that comes in contact with it. This may make breathing easier and deeper.

Lemon and figs Figs have also been used to treat asthma. They help by draining off the phlegm. Just clean the figs thoroughly with warm water and soak them overnight. Some asthma sufferers have found relief by using lemon juice diluted in a glass of water and taken with meals. Other natural remedies Other home remedies for asthma include drumstick leaves, ginger, bishops weed, and safflower. To treat asthma with the bishops weed, mix a teaspoon of it into a glass of buttermilk and take it twice daily. To use safflower, put a half teaspoon of the powder (of the dry seeds) into a tablespoon of honey and take this once or twice a day. This acts as an expectorant and can help reduce spasms by liquefying the tenacious sputum.


 

 

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Asthma symptoms can be substantially reduced by avoiding known allergens and airway irritants. There are things in the environment that trigger your asthma symptoms and lead to asthma attacks. Allergens like animal dander (from the skin, hair, or feathers of animals), Dust mites, Cockroaches, pollen from trees and grass mold (both indoor and outdoor) can trigger asthma Irritants like cigarette smoke, air pollution, cold air or changes in weather, strong odors from painting or cooking, scented products can also cause asthma There also psychological factors like strong emotional expression including crying or laughing hard and stress that can trigger asthma A condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) that causes heartburn can worsen asthma symptoms especially at night. This is not a complete list of all the things that can bring on asthma symptoms If other people in your family have asthma then you are more likely to develop it.

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New research suggests that being exposed to things like tobacco smoke, infections, and some allergens early in your life may increase your chances of developing asthma Asthma in adults can be a recurrence of childhood asthma Asthma can develop when a person is middle-aged or older. Asthma control is about more than just treating symptoms. Asthma is what is known as a chronic disease, which simply means that it usually doesn't go away once you have it. Do you experience asthma symptoms more than twice a week? Do your asthma symptoms limit your activities? Then you should immediately consult with your doctor and modify/increase or start on a course of medication so that you have fewer asthma symptoms throughout the day and night. It is important to recognize and treat even mild asthma symptoms so as to control the condition and prevent severe episodes.

 

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Asthma partially obstructs the bronchial tubes, making breathing difficult. The cause of asthma is still not known. But if you are an asthma sufferer, you can, through natural means, considerably reduce the number of asthma attacks you get. A placebo study has shown that asthmatics who consume 1 gram of vitamin C per day had 4 times fewer attacks. When they stopped taking vitamin C, the attacks resumed with the same frequency as before . As for magnesium, it also works wonders! Dr. Zack H. Haddad of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southern California conducted a study on thirty children suffering from asthma associated with allergies. Twenty of them drank a daily amount of mineral water rich in magnesium, while the others received no magnesium supplement. After three months, the first group had a higher level of magnesium in their blood, and they were able to breathe more easily. So taking vitamin C and magnesium is an excellent way to prevent asthma attacks. But what can you do to breathe more easily during an attack? Simply drink 2 or 3 cups of strong coffee. By activating blood circulation, it eases respiratory blockage.


 

 

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A lot of people who suffer from asthma also suffer from allergies, and the allergies are usually playing a part in causing the asthma. Children are especially prone to this pattern: about 90% of asthmatic children are allergic to something, and that is either the main cause of their asthma or a critical contributor. However not all asthma is associated with allergy. In particular, people who first develop asthma when they are adults are much less likely to have an allergy playing a part in their asthma. or bee stings, and for others it is the combination of eating an allergenic food and taking exercise that provokes anaphylaxis.


 

 

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When your medical history, physical exam, and lab tests point to allergies as the major reason in your asthma, skin testing is usually done. There are different types of skin test: the prick or puncture test, the scratch test, and the intradermal test. In the prick test, the test allergen is placed on top of the skin, and the skin is pricked through the drop. In the scratch test, the skin in lightly scratched and a drop of the test allergen is placed onto the scratched area. In the intradermal test, allergen is injected beneath the skin with a very small needle. The weaker scratch or prick tests are usually done first to minimize the chances of triggering an allergic reaction. If these tests are negative, a stronger intradermal test is administered. If you are allergic to any of the test allergens a wheal-and-flare reaction will develop at the test site. The flare is the redness. The wheal is the white center in the middle of the redness. In practice an urticaria or hive is produced, and the size of the urticaria can be anything from 2mm onwards. The higher the size of the hive means higher sensitivity to the testing substance. Skin tests are most helpful in identifying an allergy to inhaled substances such as house dust mites, molds, pollens, or animal saliva or dander. It will clearly show which type of allergens are playing a role in your asthma. Though skin test methodology has not changed since decades these are very valuable and accurate ways to determine the presence of allergies. They are inexpensive and are very safe when carried out under the supervision of a physician who is knowledgeable in allergy skin testing. Skin test results are available within an hour after the tests are applied. It is also possible to detect allergies with blood tests. In these tests a small sample of blood is processed through an analyzer to see if the blood contains allergic IgE antibodies to certain allergens. These tests are very helpful when the doctor cannot perform skin tests because of a skin eruption or a patient's fear of needles or when there is a chance of inducing an allergic reaction with skin tests. However allergy blood tests are not considered as accurate as skin tests.


 

 

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It is customary in most houses to clean the houses, sofas, chairs, carpets, clothes, beddings, pillows and other articles so as to divest the house of all its impurities. It is not a bad idea to keep the house clean but some people are so much obsessed by the idea of cleaning that they fail to take into consideration one glaring aspect, that is the dust that flies off as a result of cleaning process, may cause allergy to some, if not all, members in the family. When wind blows, it carries dust particles with it which settle over carpets, furniture and other upholstery items, bed-sheets, wearing clothes, utensils, food remnants, shoes, curtains, photo frames etc. House dust may consist of hair/feathers of pets kept in the house, from insects, fungi, human hair. House dust is easily visible from chairs, sofas, beds, windows, doors, carpets, hangers, shafts etc, when viewed in the sunlight. Dust particles continue to settle over household things and continue to form one layer over the other. A place where trunks, suitcases, redundant and unused articles are stacked continue to gather dust, thus creating a health hazard. It is not that dust itself can cause allergies but when dust-laden articles are dusted and cleaned, the dust flies off and enters through our nasal passages or even through mouth. It was, in fact, the common house dust mite that caused allergen in the house dust. Number of allergenic mites revolves around over 200 in one gram of house dust but all the varieties of mite do not exist at one place. It grows where there is high incidence of humidity and thrives on house dust which serves as a living abode for them. It thrives in moderate temperature of around 20-25°C and also where humidity is generally around or above 80 %. It is a common knowledge that coastal areas have high humidity and moderate temperature and sultry weather conditions. This may be one of the reasons as to why people living in damp areas have high incidence of asthma . In order to stay free from allergic impact of house dust, bed-rooms must be cleaned daily and dust not allowed to settle therein.


 

 

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A new open-label study evaluated patient satisfaction with budesonide/formoterol combination therapy and fluticasone/salmeterol combination therapy, as measured by the Asthma Treatment Satisfaction Measure (ATSM)(1). Patients participating in the study were ages 18 years and older with moderate to severe asthma(1) and had been previously treated with inhaled corticosteroids(1). Results were presented today at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society...

 

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