Asthma Remedies
Some Natural Asthma Remedies
Natural asthma remedies can often be as helpful for patients as prescribed medications. Asthma is defined as a chronic condition in the lungs that causes the patient difficulty in breathing. The bronchial tubes, which are the airways of the lungs, become inflamed, and then the muscles surrounding them tighten. This produces mucus, and all the symptoms together narrow the airways.
If you have flare-ups of asthma and don't treat them, you may require hospitalization, and if your breathing is impaired enough, it can even cause death.
A physician will diagnose your asthma, but the general symptoms can range from severe, which involves coughing and wheezing, down to mild, which may just be wheezing. Some of the signs of asthma are:
Shortness of breath
Chest pain or tightness
Difficulty sleeping due to wheezing and coughing
Increased need for bronchodilators
Natural asthma remedies have not proven to be overly effective, but there are ways you can treat your asthma symptoms alternatively.
The first method is the Buteyko Breathing technique. It was developed by a researcher from Russia. This consists of shallow breathing exercises that may help you breathe more easily. This technique is based on the idea that if you raise your carbon dioxide levels in the blood, you will dilate the airway muscles.
There have been some other clinical trials that looked promising. But their scope was small, and many researchers feel that this method does not help asthma sufferers. They feel that the carbon dioxide does not increase, and that patients feel better only because the technique relaxes them.
The second of the natural asthma remedies is based on Omega Fatty Acids. This treatment works on the premise that eating less foods with arachidonic acid will help asthma. To counter this, practitioners recommend increased intake of omega fatty acids, which help counter-act the ill effects of arachidonic.
Vegetables and fruits in healthy quantities may be able to lower your risk of developing asthma. Children especially benefit from high amounts of vegetables and fruits. Particularly helpful are carrots, tomatoes and leafy vegetables.
The fourth of the natural asthma remedies uses the butterbur, which is a shrub that can be found in North America, Asia and Europe. The active parts of the butterbur are isopetasin and petasin, and these are believed to help reduce the spasms in smooth muscle, and they have an anti-inflammatory effect.
Butterbur does have side effects, which may include constipation, vomiting, nausea, headache or indigestion. You should not use the raw herb in extracts, teas or capsules, because there is a substance in them that can cause kidney and liver damage.
Bromelain is another of the more popular natural asthma remedies. It is extracted from pineapples, and some researchers believe that it has anti-inflammatory properties. It has been shown to reduce airway inflammation in some asthmatics.