What Is Asthma

What is Asthma?

Asthma is a lungs disease that causes breathing impairment in you due to blocked air passages. Asthma sufferers have highly sensitive airways, which constrict when they become irritated. This makes it difficult for the air to pass through the obstructed airways. The main factors responsible for severe asthma attacks are allergens, irritants or anxiety, low blood pressure, extreme arid or moist environments or stress.

You will find numerous pharmaceutical drugs used for asthma control, either to minimize swelling and mucus production in the airways, or to sooth smooth muscle around the airways. But unfortunately, these drugs have many life-threatening side effects, especially in cases of prolonged usage.

The good news is that you can go for a natural asthma control without going for these dangerous pharmaceutical drugs that ruin your body.

The natural cures for asthma comprises of a combination of lifestyle and a balanced diet, that are designed to build up your immune system, and prevent you from future asthma attacks.

Now, before we go for the natural cures for asthma, here are some cautions for you to apply first:

1. Avoid dairy and starchy products

Start this today only. Both these things are said to increase the symptoms of asthma and make it worse.

2. Say no to Preservatives

Just forget about the food products with preservatives. They destroy your resistance completely making you highly asthmatic.

Natural Cures For Asthma

Now, lets move ahead with the hidden treasures in our nature around us. Below are the richest collection of the natural cures for asthma for all you out there who are desperate to lead a young and healthy life free from asthma problems:

1. Honey

Honey is the one of the most effective home remedies for asthma. Normally, it is believed that an asthma patient gets great relief in breathing if a jug of honey is brought closer to the nose and the patient has to inhale the air coming in contact. Or there is another option for an asthma patient to consume honey directly. Just take one teaspoon honey while going to bed in winters. This increases your resistance to cold climate.

2. Drumstick Leaves

Prepare a soup of these drumstick leaves and consume it daily for the best results. Here is the recipe for the soup - Take a handful of drumstick leaves and add them to 180 ml of water and boil it for 5 minutes. Allow it to cool and then add a little salt, pepper and lime juice to it according to your taste.

3. Lemon

Lemon is considered one among the best remedies in the treatment of asthma. Take one lemon juice and dilute it in a glass of water and take it with your every meal. This home remedy for asthma will definitely bring good results.

4. Bishop's Weed

Take 1/2 teaspoon of bishop's weed and mix it in a glass of buttermilk. Take this for twice daily. It is one of the natural cures for asthma that is much relied upon for relieving difficult expectoration caused by dried-up phlegm. Use a hot poultice of the seeds for dry fomentation to the chest twice daily. Or inhale steam twice a day from boiling water mixed with ajwain as this will dilate your bronchial passages.

5. Bitter Gourd Roots

Bitter Gourd Roots has proven its effectiveness time by time. This plant has been used as a basic medicine for asthma since ancient times. Make a paste of this bitter gourd roots and mix with honey or juice of the tulsi leaves (say 1-1 teaspoon both). Take once every night for at least a month. It acts as an excellent home remedy for asthma.

6. Figs

Figs is a great fruit used for asthma treatment. Figs prove to be extremely beneficial in removing the phlegm from the lungs of an asthmatic patient. Take 3 to 4 figs and clean them thoroughly with warm water. Now soak them overnight and consume in the morning.

7. Ginger

Yes, now this is what we call the perfect home remedy for asthma. Take a teaspoon of fresh ginger juice and mix it with a cup of fenugreek decoction and honey to taste. This proves to be an excellent natural cure for asthma. You can make fenugreek decoction by mixing 1 tablespoon of fenugreek seeds with a cup full of water. Take this asthma medication once in the morning and once in the evening.

8. Garlic

Take ten garlic cloves and boil them in 30 ml of milk. This makes a superbly effective natural cure for asthma (early stages). Take this mixture once daily for the best results. Steam ginger tea with two minced garlic cloves in it and see the results you get. Amazing! Take this twice everyday, once in the morning and once in the evening.

9. Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar is one of the most effective natural cures for asthma. Take 1 tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar and dilute it in water after your meal, or at bed-time (or both). This will help you on how to get rid of asthma. Most of the asthma sufferers have reported relief the very first day they went for it. Apple Cider Vinegar also helps you to beat acid reflux, acne and allergies.

10. Indian Gooseberry

Indian Gooseberry is beneficial in the treatment of asthma if taken in certain variations- Take 5 gms of gooseberry and mix it with 1 tablespoon of honey. This makes an effective medicinal tonic or home remedy for the treatment of asthma. Do consume it every morning.

11. Vitamin B12

A pill of Vitamin B12 helps you in treatment of asthma quickly. Most of the people find relief within a few days of the intake of this supplement of Vitamin B12. Also this makes you more energetic and mentally active.

12. Safflower

Safflower seeds are very effective for the treatment of bronchial asthma. Take 1/2 teaspoon of powder of the dry seeds and mix it with 1 tablespoon of honey. You can take this once or twice a day as a home remedy for asthma. A mixture of 5 gms of flowers mixed with one tablespoon of honey, if taken once daily, can also prove to be a great home remedy for asthma.

Just go for these home remedies for asthma and pray to God to make your life free from all these physical problems. Because this life is too short to waste it in these meaningless diseases and stresses. Just give a meaning to your existence and do not let these physical problems dominate your personality and your relationships. Just move ahead and get a new you!

May God Bless You!

For those allergic asthmatics, who are fed up of traditional methods of treatment, then natural treatment of allergic asthma comes as a rescuer. Regular asthma drugs can have side effects, but you are bound to take them for instant relief. In the long run, you get addicted to them. Why not employ nature for the cure?

Nature, no doubt, holds best of medicinal herbs that can help you combat most critical ailments. Natural treatment is not only safe, but also can be followed along with the regular treatment. Though, in any case, it should be started after proper consultation from the health counselor. Today, a number of natural remedies for allergic asthma are in use. Some of them can even be found in your kitchen. You just need to be informed well about them.

Let's Start From Your Kitchen

The allergic asthma natural treatment can be started right from your kitchen. Ever wondered about Garlic, which is known to be the most essential ingredient of the food? Apart from increasing the taste value, it also nourishes the immune system. When a garlic bead is consumed with a glass of water on a daily basis, it minimizes the frequency of asthma attacks. Apart from this, it also lessens the intensity of attacks. Honey can be the most sought after and tastier method of asthma treatment. The smell of honey can work wonders for asthma patients. It melts down the thick mucous layer, thus making the task of breathing much easier. Citrus fruits like Orange, Lemon, grapefruit, etc. are rich in Vitamin C. Vitamin C strengthen body's defense mechanism. Regular intake of such fruits and vegetables boosts up breathing capacity. It minimizes the sensitivity of the bronchial system. So, chances of asthma attacks become considerably low.

Make Most From Nature's Bounty

Like Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 also relieves you from the grip of allergic asthma. It helps you combat this menace by giving you ample energy. Foods that readily contain this Vitamin are fish, eggs, pork, soya products, peanuts, avocado, bananas, and brown rice. Make all these items part of your diet and you will be able to fight all sorts of bronchial problems. Many researches made on fish oil show that the supplementation of the same helps cure even long-term asthma. A number of Ayurvedic medicines containing rare herbs have also been introduced for allergic asthma treatment. If taken regularly, they give tremendous resistance to the body. The medicinal plants like figs also play a pivotal role in treating asthma. Soak dried fig leaves in water overnight and consume it the next day. Make this a regular practice and you will see the difference. The phlegm causing difficulty in breathing gets drained, thus giving you a new life. To decrease the sensitivity towards allergens, a traditional Chinese method has also been employed to a great extent. This method is termed as Acupuncture. Several points in the body are identified. Very thin needles are inserted through these points. This causes stimulation at these points that empowers body's capability to prevent asthma symptoms. It helps maintain good health for healthy living.

Apart from this, it is always advisable to stay away from the agents triggering asthmatic conditions. Increase your exposure towards them gradually, in accordance with the development of resistance in your body. It is worthwhile to note that Mother Nature holds a lot of enriching agents that have rejuvenating powers. They can even induce new life to almost dead cells.

Obesity is always connected with certain diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. But recent studies show that obesity has also some links with asthma. Asthmatics who have managed to lose weight through proper diet have better lung function which makes breathing easier. Eating the right kind of food not only help asthmatics manage their asthma symptoms but make asthmatics live longer and healthier.

In this article we're going to discuss how to lose weight and manage your asthma symptoms through proper diet. A diet rich in vitamins and nutrients which could help you lose weight and prevent asthma attacks leading to a healthier life even if you are asthmatics.

We will be covering the right food to eat to lose weight and foods to avoid that triggers asthma symptoms leading to attacks and allergies. We will also talk about foods as natural medicines.

Hopefully, after reading this article you will realize that proper diet is the best way to lose weight and manage your asthma symptoms. We eat to live but choosing the right kind of food makes you live longer and healthier.

Losing weight is not easy; it takes a lot of determination and discipline. It is easier to indulge yourself with unhealthy foods and eat everything you want that suites your taste. But as an asthmatic you have to decide that losing weight and eating the right kind of food have greater benefits to effectively manage your asthma and don't depend solely on those medications. You can lose weight by following these eating habits. Don't over eat, eat only in small sizes. Avoid fried foods or foods with too much oil. Keep away from processed foods including sausages, luncheon meats, hotdogs and processed cheese. Proper hydration is important, drink plenty of water about 6-8 glasses a day. Include more fresh fruits and vegetables on your diet. Lean meat and fish are also good to be included on your diet. Following this diet will improve your weight and much more it will improve your health.

Foods rich in vitamins and nutrients have natural medicine properties which are useful for your asthma management. Asthmatics should increase their intake of anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine foods which are natural medicines. Food that contains phytochemicals and flavanoid found in strawberries, cranberries and grapes are anti-inflammatory. Apple is a very good anti-histamine food which contains quercetin.

There are certain foods that aggravate asthma condition and should be avoided. This food allergy may manifest at once and some may take days to take effect. Laboratory tests are necessary to determine your reaction to certain foods and to avoid food allergies in the future. Common food allergens are dairy products and milk, processed foods, peanuts and eggs.

Proper diet plays a very important role for you to lose weight and manage your asthma. Asthmatics can very well manage their asthma symptoms not only by taking the necessary medication but through eating the right kind of food. Weight control can also be obtained through proper diet and eating discipline. Having the right kind of food on your table means you are in control of your life and your health.

As asthma sufferer myself, I am fully aware of the perils of this potential killer. Having being hospitalised twice, this isn't much fun!

Asthma is chronic disease that affects the airways which the tubes the carry the air to the lungs become inflamed. This produces excess mucus and makes breathing challenging. The wheezing sound I've had resembled an out of tune accordion, in addition, tightening of the chest and coughing.
The biggest problem is that people do not deal with their asthma early enough and dismiss the early symptoms, which I've done to my cost. I urge anyone reading this not to make the same mistake as prevention is always better than cure.
The best way to manage your asthma to take EARLY ACTION! Treatment includes:

o Identify and avoid your triggers that will worsen your asthma symptoms. This will reduce you dependency on medication. Some causes are allergens such as dust and pollens. Common colds and irritants like perfumes and aerosols are also asthma hazards.

o Pay close attention to your asthma to know when your symptoms worsening so that you can prevent attacks.

o The inhalers are used to prevent and treat asthma attacks. Seek your doctor's advice on how to best administer these medications, to achieve better condition results.

o Keep up with latest asthma developments or alternative cures. Diet can play a major part as it is claimed dairy produce can exacerbate asthma. I noticed an improvement just by reducing my dairy intake and using Soya milk. Breathing techniques such as The Buteyko "Shallow Breathing" method is a simple, easy way to help to help relieve the symptoms of asthma.

In summary, asthma, when managed effectively does not need to take over your life. Indeed some of the world's top sportsmen such as Greg Louganis, Dennis Rodman, or Paul Scholes of Manchester United are asthmatics, who've had successful careers. So asthma can be controlled and no-one need to suffer unnecessarily.

The truth is asthma is a very curable disease and the cure for this disease may surprise you. What I mean is, what if overcoming asthma completely was not just a fairy tale? What if realizing the cause for asthma is something that a lot of people just over look or aren't really opened minded enough to see the truth. That truth is asthma is caused by environmental pollution. Cases of asthma are on the rise and guess what; environmental pollution is on the rise with it. Is there a correlation between asthma and pollution? You bet there is!

Did you know that pollution is one of the most devastating triggers for someone who suffers from asthma? What if what causes the triggers is also the cause of asthma? What we have been studying this theory for quite some time now and found an amazing new discovery that may sound almost too good to be true. What we discovered is if you remove the pollutants from the body, your body just repairs itself. The truth that we learned is our bodies are the cure for disease. There is no doctor, no drug and no natural remedy that can cure asthma or any other disease. Your body is the only thing in this world designed to heal itself and all we need to do is provide it with the right tools for the job.

We discovered a way to remove these pollutants from your body right down to the cellular level. What we uncovered is your body is able to heal itself when your toxic burden is removed. We have done studies on people with asthma, all we did was simply remove these environmental pollutants from their body and they became asthma free in a very short time. What did this show us? It showed us that environmental pollution is responsible for not just asthma but a whole host of other health issues as well.

So, the truth about asthma is it is very easily overcome if you provide it with the right tools. The right tools are using something natural to remove these impurities from our bodies that cause the imbalances in the first place. Asthma is a disease that could affect anyone at any time. It steals the lives of those with weak lungs. Then the pharmaceutical companies come along and show you that they can help you manage your symptoms instead of overcoming them. Are you someone that just wants your symptoms managed instead of overcoming them? I bet you are one that wants to beat it, that's why you're reading this right now.

Discover this newly discovered method for yourself and find some of Mother Nature's most amazing tools that she herself provided for us to help us overcome disease. It is very elegant, simple and is so easy that my 6 year old son who was diagnosed with asthma at the age of 4 was able to completely overcome asthma by doing one simple amazing thing. Removing from his body what didn't belong there, environmental pollutants. You too can help your body overcome your asthma. Healing may be just clicks away, discover how you too can live an asthma free future.

One of the most common childhood diseases affecting children all over the world is 'pediatric asthma'. It is necessary for parents to identify the initial signs and symptoms of this disease so that preventative as well as curative measures can be undertaken. Moreover, parents should be aware of the environmental irritants, or allergies, which trigger this disease and therefore, prevent an attack.

Pediatric Asthma occurs as a result of many causes including eczema, smoking during pregnancy, pollution, allergies, colds and viral infections. Apart from these, a trigger may be caused by pets, prescription medications, dust, pollen, tobacco smoke etc. Children's airways are narrower than those of adults, so the irritants or allergens which cause only minor problems in adults can cause more serious problems in children. This can leads to a sudden attack along with severe symptoms.

Keeping that in mind, it is necessary that asthma be diagnosed and treated carefully. Some of the symptoms of pediatric asthma include labored breathing, along with coughing and wheezing, followed by chronic infections of the upper respiratory system. Depending upon the child's age and severity of attack, the signs become apparent in various ways.

Since asthmatic conditions usually become severe in children, toddlers and young children may cough and wheeze during physical activity, while infants become restless and cry continuously. Upper respiratory infections aggravate asthma symptoms, making them more obvious.

Asthmatic treatment involves two different approaches, first which involves avoidance of triggers which cause asthma. Common triggers include allergens and environmental triggers like smoke, dust etc. Next is the pharmacological approach, which includes long term and quick relief medication depending on the severity of the attack.

Inhalers and dosages for children are different from adults. Children need to use a nebulizer to take their medicine instead of inhalers, because of the difficulty in using them. With proper treatment and a team effort involving families and health care professionals, asthma can be properly managed, with most children leading a normal life.

Although there is no fool-proof method of preventing an asthma attack, the best way of reducing attacks is to eliminate triggers like tobacco, smoke, humidity, dust, molds etc from the household.

When viruses from common ailments such as the cold or the flu start causing asthma symptoms that is then called viral induced asthma. According to research there are two ways that viruses can set up the whole stage for triggering asthma attacks. There are actually two categories which can be considered when looking at viral induced asthma.

The first type affects people who literally have had no experience or history of asthma but begins to develop symptoms such as coughing and wheezing which begins after a viral illness like a cold or flu for example. The second type or viral-induced asthma has been known to affect children and adults who already have persistent asthma thereby worsening the already present symptoms associated with the condition. Survey shows that about 40% of asthma attacks in adults are caused by viral illness.

Several viruses can be blamed for triggering viral induced asthma but the two most common causes would be the Rhinovirus which causes colds and Influenza A which causes the flu. Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV is a virus that causes respiratory has also been found to cause respiratory infections in adults as well as children and infants. While RSV can pose great risks to adults it has been found to have a more significant impact on infants as getting this type of respiratory infection at a younger age would be likely to cause asthma and the symptoms associated with it until the age of 6.

There also seems to be a correlation between the severity of the respiratory infections, allergies in the child or parent, and the chance of having airway sensitivity that is very similar to asthma. The main reason as to why viruses cause asthma it seems lie within our own body's defence mechanism. Under normal circumstances, when faced with a viral infection, our body triggers and inflammatory response to attack the virus and defend our body. During this phase, our body has increased sensitivity or airway cells, excessive mucus production and can cause swelling.

The problem starts when the virus starts to progress to the lower airway directly because our body start defending it from there causing asthma symptoms to occur or worsen in return. Inflammation can make it difficult for air to pass in and out freely, mucus can also add to the problem by blocking the already inflamed passages.

As of the moment there is no effective means being offered which can directly deal with the condition. The best advice that can be given would be prevention by getting flu shots yearly. Along with practice of proper hygiene and limited contact with those who have flu or colds can help.

What is the difference between God and a Doctor? God doesn't think that he is a doctor. How do you tell the difference between a Doctor and a banana? If the banana doesn't go rotten in 14 days then it isn't a doctor. According to your doctor asthma is incurable, or as your Doctor learned after 8 years in University envying the number of women chasing the quarterback, who your Doctor in a jealous and drunken rage referred to in his secret diary as a "hairy Neanderthal", asthma is a "chronic (permanent) inflammatory condition of the lungs." The medical schools and the big drug companies and the big corporate executives have pawned off this deadly myth for so long that now even they believe it.

20 million Americans suffer from asthma. Does this mean that we should lay the blame for asthma on our creator? Did God not know how to create a functioning lung? Are we just prototypes in God's vast laboratory? Perhaps without inhalers all of the asthmatics would die off and then the human gene pool would be freed from this genetic defect and then future generations would evolve into a species with perfectly functioning bronchial tubes. In the interest of future generations perhaps you should throw out your puffer and just choke to death sacrificing your life for the common good. This may get you into heaven in case you forgot to put your $5 into the collection plate last Sunday. Did Jesus have asthma? Did Jesus ever cure an asthmatic? Did Jesus know that asthma was incurable? Did Jesus go to medical school? Did Jesus play football? Was Mary Magdalene a cheerleader for the Jerusalem University Keepahs?

The reasons that the environmental organizations are going nowhere are myriad. One of them is that the word environmental is a combination of the words enviro and mental. No one knows what the word enviro means which leaves us with the word mental. People just think that these people are mental. George Bush's father referred to them as "the spotted owl crowd". His son George proclaimed that there is no evidence that global warming exists. Jesus referred to the leaders of his day as snakes, blind guides, leading us all into the fire. The United States which likes to think of itself as the role model for a world which thinks of the U.S. as the black sheep of the family is the highest per capita polluter in the world. The reason that pollution groups are going nowhere is because people don't understand the meaning of the word pollution. The world is like a giant Jonestown filled with people believing that poison cannot kill them because some Bible writers, scribes, and who Jesus referred to as snakes spewing their deadly poisonous lies into your Bibles (Matthew 23) wrote this baloney in your Bible 2,000 years ago beside "The Earth does not move and it never will" three times. If God wrote your Bible then not only can he not create a functioning lung but he is also very poor at astronomy. Your Bible has 2,000 pages of God's Word and no cure for asthma? Perhaps if the George Bushes had paid a little less attention to their Holy Bibles and checked out the Greenpeace website a couple of times, Greenland, Antarctica and the Arctic would not now be melting into the world's 1 ocean which will shortly cause the sea level to rise 50 feet leaving nothing left of the United States except the peaks of Vail, which will be prime beachfront property.

In the Holy Bible God commands the cutting away of the foreskin, not the foresight. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure especially when there is no cure for asthma. The pollution, the particles of poison in the air which we breathe into our lungs, like deadly airborne cyanide, hemlock and snake venom gets into your lungs when you breathe the air, it inflames your lungs and you have asthma. If you want to get away with poisoning children's lungs with deadly poison chemicals so that they cannot breathe then give your poison a name that no one understands, like a "carcinogen", a cancer causing chemical coming out of the exhaust pipe of your car like a bullet which hits its target and then explodes 10 years later in your own lungs and then slowly eats you alive in an excruciating prolonged death. It was announced yesterday that in Beijing, the site of the next Olympics, where the smog is so bad that more car accidents are caused by low visibility than msg, over 100,000 Chinese people died last year from the indoor air pollution in their skyscrapers from the chemicals gassing off from their carpets, furniture, and poor ventilation. Who would want to open a window in Beijing even if the office buildings did have windows? The air in Beijing is so filled with poison gas that the 100 yard dash at the 2008 Olympics has been shortened to 10 yards. What is the big deal searching for a cure for Aids in Africa? If everyone remained a virgin and then only had sex with their spouse there would be no sexually transmitted diseases. Is this a secret being deliberately held from the African people? You cannot break the laws of nature but if you do it will break your back.

Mold is a fungus, a tiny airborne animal that can only be seen when magnified through the lens of a microscope. Some molds exist in nature and we breathe it in all the time in small amounts and our bodies can handle it. However in larger amounts, or in people with immune systems weakened by all of the poison we breathe in every day, these molds which we breathe in, that multiply in our lungs and digestive tracts, these molds cause allergic reactions, aka tightening of the airways, aka chronic asthma, chronic bronchitis and chronic emphysema leading to death. The end of chapter 14 of the Book of Leviticus recommends that in some cases when these molds get into the wooden walls and stones of your house, you must tear down your house and rebuild it.

Doctors, i.e. allopathic doctors will treat the symptoms of your asthma and not the causes. Allergists will diagnose you with mold allergies and inject you with mold for 5 years of useless and painful treatment. Respiratory specialists will give you cortisone inhalers which cause thrush, candida, yeast, mold, fungus in your throat which your bloodstream then carries to every organ in your body including your lungs thereby aggravating the problem and making the doctors and the drug companies rich. Jesus commanded that everyone sell all of their possessions and then give all of their money to the poor. Are there any Christian doctors? Are there any Christians?

Here is the good news. Go to your naturopathic doctor, your doctor of naturopathy. Take the best from what both traditional and naturopathic doctors have to offer. Actually naturopathic doctors should be called traditional doctors since they are the doctors who are using herbal remedies which have been used and are tried and true since before biblical times, which are recommended in the Bible. In the numerous cases of asthma which are caused by breathing in airborne mold, there is a herbal remedy which can cure it. Oil of oregano has been clinically proven to kill bacterial infections which penicillin cannot kill, viruses which "nothing" can kill, molds, yeast and fungus. Many drugs are synthetic preparations of herbal remedies, plant medicine put on earth by God to save your life. Oil of oregano with sage and cumin taken in capsules will kill off the mold, and remove the root cause of the asthma, tiny animals eating their way through your lungs like they eat through wood and stone no matter how much you clean the surface. Your bloodstream will take the Oregacyn capsules (oil of oregano, sage and cumin - search "oregacyn") which you can buy over the internet or in your health food store to every part of your body including your lungs and kill the mold and cure the asthma. It is also good to take non dairy acidophilus, the healthy bacteria in our bodies which beats back the mold, and NutriBiotic grapefruit seed extract tablets which also kill the fungus. Years ago Doctors accused the naturopaths of practicing voodoo medicine and the Government threatened to ban herbal remedies as being unsafe. (Some are unsafe. Check with your naturopath and your doctor and your health food stores to see which ones.) Today many drug stores look more like health food stores than drugstores. In the fight for power, control and money in medicine and in religion, it is always the patient who ends up the big loser. If the 200 countries on Earth decided to make World Peace they could do it overnight at the United Nations. Unfortunately your Holy Bibles and your religious leaders forbid it. Also, the weapons manufacturers own and are pulling the strings of the politicians, and they will never allow World Peace, until nuclear world war III causes the extinction of all life on earth forever in the near future, which will also put an end to asthma once and for all. Think of it as radiology theology coming to your rescue.

When the British National Health Service looked for a way to reduce the incidence of allergies and asthma in Scotland, they found a surprising remedy: apples.

Just one apple a week significantly reduced the frequency of both allergies and asthma. A similar benefit was found from eating oranges. In a later study of London school children aged 5 to 10, drinking apple juice at least once a day wasn't found to prevent every single asthma attack, but it was found to reduce wheezing. And a Dutch study found that women who eat apples during pregnancy bear children at lower risk for allergies, asthma, and eczema.

The British experience and subsequent laboratory studies in Japan suggest that the reason an apple a day (or even an apple a week) may keep atopic conditions is check is due to the fruit's content of quercetin.

This antioxidant flavonoid compound blocks the action of an enzyme called hyalouronidase. Hyalouronidase is responsible for swelling in the nasal passages.

Hyalouronidase also breaks open tiny packets inside mast cells filled with histamine, the agent of allergic irritation. Getting quercetin in the diet blocks the action of the enzyme and keeps the irritant from being released.

Eating foods with this useful plant chemical is associated not only with lower risk of skin and lung reactions, but also with lower risk of lung cancer.

Not everyone everywhere, of course, has access to an apple a day. You can also benefit from:

• Grapefruit,


• Onions,


• Red wine,


• Black tea, and to a lesser extent


• Beans and


• Green leafy vegetables

There are, however, certain foods that can wipe out the protective effects of quercetin (and your allergy medications, too). These are foods that contain the amino acid histidine, which the human body can convert to histamine (the irritant chemical anti-histamines are designed to fight). The list includes:

• Soy protein isolates,


• Dried tofu,


• Bacon,


• Game meats (especially whale and seal, but also venison, boar, and antelope), and


• Powdered eggs, although

Almost any kind of fish or meat is high in histidine.

Some foods, like fresh tuna, develop especially high levels of irritant chemcials from the breakdown of histidine if they are not stored under adequate refrigeration. If your tuna steak tastes peppery even before it's been seasoned, it will cause especially intense inflammation (scombroid poisoning) and aggravate any other allergies you may have.

So an apple a day may keep the allergies away, and blinky tuna will make them worse. Try eating apples, oranges, grapefruit, onions, or leafy vegetables and drinking tea every day and see if your allergies don't get better.

It may seem obvious but ask someone what do inhalers do to help stop your asthma attack? And they may struggle to provide an answer. Inhalers or puffers are actually a very common sight around many school playgrounds, and it seems that the number of children with asthma is increasing.

Asthma is a common and chronic condition that directly impacts on the body's respiratory system. Airways in the lungs become constricted and inflamed. There are some common reasons why asthma may develop include allergens, smoke, cold or warm air, perfume, pets, moist air and exercise. Inhalers are the most common forms of medical treatment for asthma sufferers.

There are three main types of inhalers; Nebulizers, Dry Powder Inhaler or Metered-Dose Inhaler. So what do inhalers do to help stop your asthma attack? They are basically designed to deliver a prescribed medicine into the lungs. Nebulizers are not often used forms of inhalers, although it does deliver a liquid mist into the lungs. It is the most potent of inhalers but does have side effects, and so use is limited to the most serious cases of asthma.

Dry Powder Inhalers or DPIs deliver a measured dose of powder to the lungs. The inhaler mouthpiece is then put into the mouth and inhalers the dose, holding the breath for up to ten seconds. DPIs are common forms of getting medication into the lungs, although some people won't use them as they invoke coughing.

The Metered-Dose Inhaler is by far the most common form of inhaler. This releases a pressured dose of aerosol medication. In taking a deep breath out, the medication is then inhaled for ten seconds.

So what do inhalers do to help stop your asthma attack? Well they provide medication to prevent a serious attack as a controller medication, or help to reduce the impact of an attack with quick-relief or rescue medicine. Inhalers though are not the be all and end all of medical treatment and if you do not have one to hand during an asthma attack then there is still plenty that can be done. Having a cup of strong black coffee is a muscle relaxant to help constricted airways. Also a hot shower and the steam allow the body to relax.

Remember though that when asked what do inhalers do to help stop your asthma attack? Well they might just be the thing that saves someone's life.