What Is Asthma

Respiratory problems are common in the United States as well as many other developed nations. Part of the contributing factors of today's respiratory issues are a direct result of indoor and outdoor pollution, including particles, biological contaminants and gaseous pollutants. Air pollution: viruses, germs and other contaminants are everywhere. So how can the average person improve there respiratory health and wellbeing?

Aromatherapy is fast becoming a viable alternative for many people looking to live healthier lives - proactively. But what is aromatherapy? It is not just a product that smells good. Aromatherapy is the practice of utilizing volatile oils (essential oils) that are found in plants as a natural, holistic approach to medicine, or an alternative method of caring for the body and mind. These essential oils are very aromatic - hence the term "aromatherapy".

So how does aromatherapy help with respiratory distress? Researchers are finding more and more evidence of the medical benefits of using essential oils such as eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, tea tree oil and others. These benefits include improved respiratory health, reduction of stress and trauma, lowering blood sugar and blood pressure, and pain management just to name a few. Scientists are also exploring the role of essential oils for treatment of different types of cancers.

What is eucalyptus oil?
Eucalyptus oil is the volatile oil extracted for the leaf of the eucalyptus tree. The leaves are harvested from the tree and distilled in a stream distillation unit. The result is an aromatic volatile oil extract containing the essence of the leaf. According to the US National Institute of Health, "Eucalyptus leaf contains chemicals that might help control blood sugar. It also contains chemicals that might have activity against bacteria and fungi. Eucalyptus oil contains chemicals that might help pain and inflammation. It might also block chemicals that cause asthma."

How can Eucalyptus Oil help with respiratory problems?
The US National Institute of Health also states "Developing research suggests that eucalyptol, a chemical found in eucalyptus oil, might be able to break up mucous. Some people with severe asthma have been able to lower their dosage of steroid medications if they take eucalyptol." Those suffering from asthma can prepare topical applications and/or use an inhaler that contains the oil. Eucalyptus oil can help open bronchial pathways while reducing phlegm and mucus, thus allowing fore easier breathing. The same treatment can be used on those suffering from sinusitis. Another method of treatment is through steam inhalation. A simple method would be adding a few drops of eucalyptus oil to a hot pot of water - gently lean in and place your head over the pot - breathing deeply. A few drops of oil in a warm shower will have a similar effect.

Scuba diving is prohibited for asthma sufferers in some countries but not others. Why? Should asthma sufferers risk ignoring this rule? Either scuba diving is dangerous to an asthma sufferer, or it is safe. Why this confusion?

Insurance Companies Make the Rules
Depending on which country you are in, you may scuba dive to your heart's content -- or not. The simple answer is that insurance companies make the rules. Countries with high insurance coverage are less likely to allow scuba diving for asthma sufferers as they will not be covered for the risk: the fact that most asthma sufferers are at no greater risk than any other person while scuba diving is not considered relevant. Insurance policies work on a hypothetical basis, not necessarily on facts. Stats from last year on scuba diving accidents show that only one of the 5,000 reported was attributed to having had an asthma attack in an underwater environment.

Insurance companies have taken advice from doctors. Doctors base their recommendations on the presumption that if one were to have an asthma attack while under water, he wouldn't know how to breathe. They state "The limiting factor for asthmatics is adequate ventilatory capacity underwater." This is a sweeping statement and is certainly not true for all asthma sufferers. It puts everyone who has asthma into the one category, not taking into account that where asthma is concerned, people's needs and abilities vary hugely.

Asthma is Unique to an Individual
It ignores asthma is unique to each individual, affecting people in different ways. Some people get asthma from being near perfume and are perfectly OK in cold water. Some are triggered by dust while being absolutely fine in dry air. It is impossible to generalize what is likely to cause an asthma attack as no two cases are the same.

The perceived problem is the cold air breathed in by the diver. Then there are individuals who are prone to strong emotions -- they may be in a high state of fear or excitement. These emotions are in the general public and can be controlled drug-free with guidance and practice. Asthma sufferers may look for successful alternative methods for controlling their asthma. Breathing methods have been brought into the mainstream in recent years: research done in Russia has brought relief to millions of people world wide: yoga has helped countless people live full lives again. It would be good to see more conventional medical practitioners become aware of these drug-free benefits. How much effort does it take to look up a website with an alternative solution about how to cure asthma the natural way?

You can learn some amazing tools to stop an asthma attack without an inhaler--as long as you have your inhaler filled and ready as your back-up. Your body can stop the attack with these suggestions. I'll teach you how right now!

As a sufferer of adult-onset asthma I know what it's like to be faced with the terrifying moment of not being able to breath. I nearly "checked out" six separate times. I'm going to teach you 5 powerful ways to stop an asthma attack without an inhaler--but be 100% certain you have an inhaler available and that it is full. Inhalers are not the enemy; they are life-saving tools that you should always use if or when these tools don't bring immediate & satisfactory relief. Remember, your inhaler can save your life. Use it if you need it!

Tip #1: Sit down. Too simple? No. It's crucial. It's much easier to breathe sitting than any other position. Sit down and stay seated until your breath is fully back under your control. The dishes will wait. Your schedule will wait. Your "to-do list" will wait. Think about it. If you're not around to do your dishes, your schedule or your "to-do list" then there's no point. Sit and stay seated. Breathing is much easier.

Tip #2: Drink some more clean, un-carbonated water. Your lungs run on water to pump air. That's right. Not enough water means not enough pumping of air. The water needs to be clean, flat (un-carbonated) with nothing else in it. Tea doesn't count, nor coffee, nor soup. Just water. Part of the reason you have asthma is due to a shortage of clean water in your system. Time to fill up!

Tip #3: Put a small pinch of salt on your tongue after two glasses of water and let it dissolve on your tongue. This strange recipe can be miraculous. The order is crucial. First drink two full (tall) glasses of water and then follow that with a small pinch of salt on the tongue. Think of it as salty candy and just let it dissolve. The ideal is good quality sea salt--but any salt will work. It can be a life-saving recipe for you.

Tip #4: Hold your middle finger while you're sitting down. Take your hand and wrap all the fingers around the middle (longest) finger of the other hand. No, it's not a "pull my finger" joke (though it may look like it!). It's a powerful energetic Mudra (secret hand-clasping technique for healing) that is thousands of years old and quite amazing. It doesn't matter whether you hold onto your left or right middle finger, just wrap all the fingers of one hand around the opposite middle finger and hold gently. No pulling, rubbing, squeezing or massaging is required. Just hold. Hold it until your breath FULLY normalizes. Sometimes that's 30 seconds, sometimes 4 to 6 minutes and sometimes (for folks like myself who managed to never use an inhaler--NOT something I recommend!) it's hours. Find out for yourself how reliable and powerful this is.

Tip #5: Do something SIMPLE with your terrified mind to pull down your anxiety. Not so easy. However, it's possible to use something so simple that your anxiety WILL drop. The simplest is to put your attention on objects in the room or place you find yourself in and trace curved lines with your eyes. What??? Look for objects in your environment that have curved edges (not straight lines) and trace those curves with your eyes. Good objects like lamps, vases and rounded table corners are everywhere. If that's too stressful to find, just imagine circles, spheres and curved lines in the air in front of you and trace those with your eyes. You'll be amazed at how this neurological "trick" pulls down anxious thoughts.

All 5 tips can (and should) be done together for best results. Sit. Drink 2 tall glasses of water. Pinch of salt dissolving on the tongue. Then hold your middle finger and trace curved lines with your eyes. Wait until your FULL breath is FULLY under your control before you slowly return to your life. With these simple steps you CAN return to your life, instead of checking out. We need you here!

You'll find all kinds of healing and anti-stress tools that are completely FREE on my website: http://www.HuntersHealingCalls.com. They are available to you 24/7 every day of the year. That means you can access them at 3 a.m. when your chest feels tight and you need some help. The audio tools were designed for exactly this purpose; to let me lead you through energetic processes to help you. Please be sure (as this article stresses) you have your inhaler nearby, you are seated, you've had your water + salt and you're holding your middle finger. You'll make tremendous progress not only when you're in trouble, but if you use these tools frequently (when you're not in the midst of an attack) you'll see remarkable progress with your breathing.

Warmest wishes and here's to your easy, gentle and un-encumbered breath!

Copyright 2011 by Rudy Hunter. All rights reserved.

I don't know anyone that has asthma that can tell you it's a fun disease to live with. It's a scary thing having an asthma attack, and its something every asthmatic would want to avoid.

The good news is asthma attacks can be avoided, if the correct steps are taken to natural asthma control for your asthma improvement. One of the best ways of doing this is using natural ways to control your asthma, and staying away from your asthma triggers.

For top notch and best natural asthma control eating more foods with Vitamin C in it, is an excellent way to control your asthma. Vitamin C will bolster your immunity and help you get rid of nasty cold, and flu germs. It will also help improve your asthma in this process too.

By doing this you will be able to breathe a lot better, and do a lot more than what you were able to do before. It almost gets rid of symptoms as soon as it is taken in.

The more you eat Vitamin C, the better it is for your asthma, and the easier your natural asthma control becomes. Things such as Limes, Lemons, Oranges, Strawberries, and Tomatoes, are all things that have Vitamin C.

This is good for any person that has asthma, and I highly recommend you try this for your asthma management. You will be surprised at the positive impact that this will have on your asthma, and you will be happy you decided to try it.

Natural asthma control is really easy, but it does take time and commitment in order to get the results you are looking for. Just don't give up and stay focused, just because one thing fails you, it doesn't mean the next thing you are going to try is going to fail.

Today we appreciate how much the sinus affects asthma and related cough. Sinuses and lungs come from the same embryo bud and have systems known as cilia. These are tiny oars that beat to move bacteria out of the sinus and chest. Sinus drainage affects cough and asthma. Why do we cough, even when we are not particularly sick?

The coal minor digs coal and inhales coal dust. But he doesn't cough. Then he inhales a large piece of coal dust, too big for the chest cilia to move out of the lungs. Now he coughs.

Mr. Jones never coughed before. There was an accident at the plant and he inhaled a large amount of Chlorine Gas. Now he coughs. Tests show that his chest cilia no longer move at 14 pulses/second in order to remove material from the lungs. Chlorine is a known cilia inhibitor. If the chest cilia are not moving particles out of the lungs, then coughing takes over to do the job.

Sinusitis occurs when the nasal cilia move too slowly, thereby allowing bacteria to multiply in the sinuses. After 9/11 many of the rescuers developed sinus disease as a result of the nasal cilia being damaged by the toxic fumes. Unfortunately, many also cough. How does the nasal/chest cilia work?

There is a layer of mucus that traps bacteria. Below that layer there are tiny cilia, like oars, and they move the mucus blanket with the trapped bacteria out of the nose where it falls into the stomach and the stomach acid takes out the bacteria.

In the chest the cilia move the mucus blanket out of the lungs, the trachea and into the stomach. When cilia fail in the lungs, cough takes over. When cilia fail in the nose, you sneeze.

In Postnasal Drip, the cilia move too slowly and the mucus thickens. The bacteria have time to multiply so you get breath problems.

In allergy, in the acute stage, the nose runs because the cilia are trying to wash out the allergens. Weeks later, the cilia are exhausted, no longer able to move bacteria out, and sinus disease develops. You can prevent this by restoring normal cilia movement.

After sinus surgery the nasal cilia are "stunned" and move slowly or not at all. Even though the surgeon says that the sinus disease is corrected, and X-rays show improvement, the patient may continue to complain of nasal congestion, yellow or green discharge and felling tired or sick. A sinus infection can take place that requires an antibiotic. This condition is called Post Operative Nasal/ Sinus Infection Syndrome or PONSIS.

PONSIS may be due to biofilm that resists antibiotics or can be caused by blockage of sinus drainage due to thick phlegm. This phlegm and drainage adds to the cough and wheezing symptoms. Pulsatile irrigation at the correct speed of pulsation not only helps restore normal cilia function, but also is effective in disrupting and removing biofilm. Pulsation irrigation is best for getting rid of thick mucus and the bacteria. With fewer bacteria and good cilia function, the body can heal without drugs.

A common cause for persistent sinus sysmptoms is daily use of nasal irrigation devices that have flowback. The bacteria from the nose flows back into the bottle and the bottle is contaminated. Then the sinus is reinfected by the contaminated liquid.

The cilia of the nose and chest are closely related:
- Hot tea with lemon and honey helps the nasal cilia as well as the chest.
- Allergy pills that help the nose also help the allergic chest.
- Prednisone affects both areas similarly.
- In infection, cultures from the sinus and lungs show similar results.
- The speed of the nasal cilia is often identical to the speed of the chest cilia.
- The severity of the asthma attack is inversely proportional to the cilia speed-the slower the cilia, the worse the attack.
- Harmonic vibration can affect both nose and chest favorably. Sing "oooommmm' at a low tone. Your chest and nasal cilia will speed up.
- Both chest and nasal cilia respond to the same medications.

What should you do if you have PONSIS? Or, you continue to have sinus or chest symptoms?
- Drink huge amounts of hot tea, lemon and honey. Should be black or green tea, with or without caffeine.
- Sing "oooooommmm" at a low tone
- Jump rope and jumping jacks
- Irrigate with saline using pulsatile irrigation.
- Take probiotics/yogurt
- Get good sleep
- Avoid heavy nose blowing
- Listen to cheerful music and smile

Tea has chemicals that speed cilia movement.

Singing "ooommm" and jump rope thins mucus and vibrates cilia.

Pulsatile saline irrigation with the Hydro Pulse Nasal/Sinus irrigator is at a pulse rate that is "harmonic" to restore slow cilia. The pulsation removes biofilm, and the steady stream is best to suction out bacteria from the sinus cavities.

Chronic Sinusitis has the same causes as PONSIS- slow cilia that allow bacteria to multiply and the same methods are used to prevent sinus symptoms. This method also is used to prevent the need for sinus surgery.

One of the things that you should recognize is that the closing of your airpipes is basically your bodys defense against the lowering CO2 levels caused by you breathing more than is appropriate for the amount of physical work you are doing. It is your defense against your releasing more CO2 than you produce.

So when you suck the Asthma Relief chemicals into your airpipes, their powerful effect over-rides your defense, and allows you to breathe as deeply as your breathostat wants you to. It is a great feeling of relief when the airpipes are pushed open again, and you are able to go back to breathing many times more air than you need. Aaaahhhhhhhh.

If you use a drug with a long action, you can breathe as much as you want all day. Almost no restriction at all. The only problem is that after a while, it may be days, weeks or years, your defenses will start to get a bit more serious about stopping the CO2 loss [which it knows is fatal].

An Example of the Development of Severe Asthma

Let us follow the development of a typical asthmatic. Let us say the young boy had a cough [bronchitis] during childhood, and probably some hay fever. As a teenager, the cough reduced, but was replaced by a restriction in his breathing, usually very early in the morning, or when he exercised.

A worried parent took him to the doctor, who did various measure¬ments, and the doctor diagnosed, "Asthma!" The shame of this was hidden, and the teenager instructed on the use of a puffer [let us say "relief-puffer"]. At the start, all it took was two puffs, every now and then, say twice a week, and the wheeze disappeared like magic. Not too bad.

Later in the same year, the winter was quite nasty. He found he needed to use the puffer more and more. His mother, having read about the increased death rate associated with high use of puffers returned him to the doctor. "Ahh" said the doctor wisely, "we will need to introduce a .preventative puffer", as this has been shown to reduce the death rate that had apparently risen because of the increased use of the relief-type puffer.

He had to take the preventative puffer every morning and night. "Is this for the rest of his life?" asked his mother. "Very likely, but we will see," said the doctor.

Despite the new puffer, he began to get more and more tighter, more and more often. The two puffs of relief puffer no longer worked well enough, so they bought a machine that sprayed the chemical out of a mask he wore on his face. This gave pretty good relief, but on some days he needed it 3 or 4 times. He was a large teenager, so he received the full adult dose, and made sure he used all of it. [Note: .1 puff of relief puffer is 1/ 10,000th of a gram. A full nebule of relief puffer is 50/10,000th of a gram. So one nebule is equal to 50 puffs, but a lot gets out of the sides so let us say it is equal to 25 puffs from the relief puffer.]

Mother is getting very worried now, has been back to the doctor, who has doubled the dose of preventative puffer and referred them to a "pulmonologist." This doctor sees mostly asthma, and is considered the best in the area. He immediately does more tests involving mostly huffing and puffing, and puts our lad onto 50mg of oral steroids per day, for 6 days, then on a reducing amount. This reduces the asthma, and two weeks later, only puffers are needed. A few weeks later, it all starts again.

The family learn to live with it, and have some periods of good health. Their pulmonologist sees them every month, and gets hold of new drugs earlier for them to try. Which work for a while, but then seem to fail, a trip to the emergency ward is made about twice a year.

Then, after 8 years, the family moves to a different area near the beach. The lad takes up surfing, and within 1 week the asthma has stopped. A call to their pulmonologist gets the reply that this happens quite often, .they seem to just grow out of it.

This story illustrates how the amount of relief medication needed usually increases with time in many people. Others never need much more that a couple of puffs a day.

What is really happening? Your overbreathing pattern is causing you to lose more and more CO2 from your lungs. When it gets low enough, your body acts to trap more in. When you feel this restriction, it feels unpleasant and you feel you are not getting enough air. The bronchodilator you take tells the air pipes to open up. [Turns off your defense, and stops it for about 4 hours.] This means that you can return to the breathing that caused your need for the defense in the first place. If your breathing has not improved when the drug wears off, your defense will start again. You will want more drugs, to improve your airflow again.

Over a period of time, this will cause you to need more and more of the drug, as your body becomes more resistant to it. Where one puff per day was enough before, you may start to need many more puffs, plus the addition of other drugs. If this loop continues without an improvement [decrease] in your breathing, your body will work harder and harder to stop the CO2 loss, until the point where hospitalization is needed because your airpipes no longer respond at all to your drugs.

One technique that has been shown to help people with this issue is the Buteyko Breathing Method. The Buteyko Breathing Method teaches you to use your breathing to trap in more CO2 at the first sign of asthma, and after a short time use your fast acting, short acting drugs then only if needed.

When spring arrives it brings with it gobs of pollen. In March and April, everything gets this fine yellow dust cover of pollen, especially from the trees. For some people, this triggers allergy and asthma attacks. Asthma is much more alarming than the stuffy, runny nose and the swollen, weepy eyes of an allergy attack. Of course, asthma is triggered by more than allergies. Stress can be a strong contributor to this breathing problem. One relatively new theory also claims dehydration can cause asthma attacks.

Asthma is usually defined as a shortness of breath that can come on without any warning. The breath become shallow, more rapid and can be accompanied by a notable wheeze or whistling in the out-breath. Sufferers can sometimes feel that they are almost suffocating as breathing becomes more labored. New theories out there, determine that asthma may be no more than a dehydration response because of known lung mechanics. It can be illustrated this way. Breathe through your mouth for a few minutes.

Notice how dry your mouth gets, so much so that you have to stimulate saliva to move around your mouth with your tongue.

In a dehydration response in the body, histamine is activated. Histamine has two functions, one of which is not generally known. Histamine is in charge of the immune activation system, mobilizing the defenses against incoming invaders. Histamine is also in charge of water management in the body. It is the foreman, deciding where available water goes and how much goes where.

When dehydration becomes apparent, histamine activity greatly increases and the body is alerted that the emergency response team is at the ready. When the moisture level in the lungs decreases to the point where dehydration is becoming apparent, an increase in histamine levels in the lungs causes the bronchioles to spasm, which makes them contract. This spasming action caused by histamine in the bronchial tubes is part of the body's way to conserve water that would normally just get breathed out to evaporate during the out breath, that normally occurs when we breathe out naturally. Now the body cannot afford to give up that water, so it tries to save it.

In dehydration, the lung tissue can become very susceptible to drying out. The little air sacs in the lungs have very thin layers of tissue to easily and quickly pass gases and toxins through the thin walls as we breathe in and out. This tissue must be kept moist all the time or the tissue can become damaged, creating permanent breathing problems. Moisture in the lungs naturally evaporates when we breathe, so to prevent lung damage, the tissue constricts in response to histamine, to conserve water, preventing it from evaporating. As histamine constricts the tissues, the amount of air passing through and around the lung tissues is lessened, giving us the impression it is harder to breathe and we labor to get more air into our lungs.

Histamine also triggers mucous production to coat the tissues and protect them from drying out. This can stimulate the asthmatic cough as one tries to clear the passages enough to get the next breath. It can be scary as the breathing becomes more restricted if the body becomes even more dehydrated.

If this theory hold true, researchers say that by drinking two large glasses of water, the breathing will ease. In addition health professionals advise sufferers to make a cup of hot tea, particularly green tea. Take minute sips of the tea, as hot as you can stand it without burning yourself, swallowing them and breathing in the steam from the hot tea. This will moisten the lungs and the hot tea will relieve the spasming and coughing. Within minutes, the attack should subside and you will begin to feel much better.

By rehydrating your body with lots of clean spring water, you should feel better in no time. To prevent further attacks, sufferers are advised to continue to drink as much water as they can each day, half their body weight in ounces.

Asthma suffers should be constantly monitored by their health care professional as an attack can be very serious. Suffers may find that drinking more water may reduce the severity of an attack and may also reduce the number of attacks. By being vigilant, reducing exposure to asthmatic triggers and taking their medication as prescribed, asthma sufferers may find themselves more comfortable and requiring less medication. After all, we can't stop breathing.

If coughing is hampering your sleep patterns and no form of suppressant seems to be easing the incidence of coughing then it could very well be a symptom of asthma.

In fact, in about one out of every two sufferers, coughing could very well be the only symptom. A persistent cough over several weeks shouldn't be tolerated and seeking medical opinion is the best course of action. A chronic cough can usually follow cold symptoms or it may be a symptom of some other condition which is why it's difficult to associate it as a symptom of asthma. That's why your doctor is best qualified to diagnose it.

Asthma Or A Cough?

Asthma cough is not suspected by many sufferers initially simply because the symptom could be associated with any number of other conditions. However, persistent and chronic night time cough should not be ignored and you should seek your doctor's opinion straight away.

Not Just A Child's Disease

It's important to realise asthma is not just a disease affecting children. In fact, adults have a better than 10 percent chance of developing asthma symptoms in their lives and that's why it's important to recognize a persistent cough as possibly more than just a by-product of a severe cold or flu.

During an adult's working life, they may be constantly exposed to non allergic triggers such as workplace irritants or even hormonal changes. Isolating the times when a cough is at it's worst is important when discussing your situation with a doctor.

Did You Know?

The best way to monitor asthma is via a peak flow meter. It's regarded as the thermometer of the asthma world and can relay information such as how well a person is breathing or the state of a person's lung function.Complacency is a problem with asthma sufferers and peak flow meters are a good indicator even when things appear to be normal.

Asthma Cough Facts

Wheezing is associated with this type of cough and it's described as non productive, meaning it doesn't produce wheezing. It's an irritating experience in the fact it has an almost hollow sound and the irritation in the throat seems unmovable. If the cough goes unchecked, shortness of breathe or even episodes of vomit can occur.

Children

In children, the episodes will be frequent and parents should keep a check on when the coughing is at it's worst. Isolating these times is valuable information for your doctor. It may occur most when the child is at play or during the night. You also want to check the child's breathing and look for rapid breathing. If the cough is breaking up normal sleep habits or it's so pronounced that it wakes the child, then your doctor will need to know.

Treating Asthma Cough

So what is the likely treatment course available. Well, bronchodilators are very effective as a quick relief method of treatment. A good asthma management strategy will involve the use of both quick reliever medicine as well as anti-inflammatory medication.

Bronchodilators are part of every asthmatics armoury and work by relaxing the bronchial tube muscles. The airway passages react by opening and the person begins to breathe again normally. Anti-inflammatory medicines are designed to reduce the inflammation of the bronchial tube walls.

For people who tend to have asthma anytime that there is condition that triggers it, there is always the need to make sure that prevention is done. There is no doubt that an asthma attack does not really bring about fatal results immediately. However, there have been cases also that did develop into worse conditions. If you are asthmatic, it would indeed be necessary for you to have an asthma action plan. It is through this that you would set up a systematic prevention system. At the same time, this action plan could eventually lead to the total elimination of any asthma attack in the future.

Introducing Better Prevention for Asthma

The very first reason why you would need an asthma action plan is for you to establish a better way for prevention. It is clear that one of the main causes why the condition recurs is that one who is prone to it has still not defined the best ways for avoiding it. With a plan in mind, however, you would be aware of what particular conditions, especially in the environment, that could trigger an attack. Of course, this would also require you to constantly remember the points mentioned in the plan when it comes to prevention.

Reducing Asthma Attacks

It may be impossible for you to absolutely get rid of asthma at the soonest. One of the reasons for this is that your body may still need to adapt to environmental conditions before it could learn not to trigger asthma. However, with an asthma action plan, you could effectively reduce the possible episodes. This means that there would be times when you would not have attacks in situations when you would normally have one. In fact, if your plan is really good, the reduction could go a long way and may ultimately render you absolutely free of the condition.

Work or School Absences Avoided

The problem with asthma is when it attacks it virtually stops you from going ahead with an activity. It is in this sense that the said condition could deprive you of the opportunity to excel in work or in school. Apparently, when you have asthma, you certainly could not go to school or to report for work. As a result, the damage that it creates could become serious. The effects on your work or on your schooling, if you happen to be a student, are the reasons why would need to have an asthma action plan.

Less Medical Expenses

Finally, if you have an asthma action plan, you would be able to reduce the instances of going to the hospital or seeing the doctor. It is clear that whenever you do get an attack, you should try to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Of course, this would require you to spend money for professional fees and medications. The result could be bad for your budget. However, if you do have a plan and if you make it a point to follow it, you could drastically reduce the medical expenses.

Most people buy an air purifier to clean up their indoor air and reduce allergy, asthma, or other respiratory symptoms. However, if you don't change the filters regularly, your air purifier / air cleaner can actually make your allergies / asthma worse. Ever notice that your allergies / asthma improved when you first purchased your air purifier, and now your symptoms seem to be 'back' or even worse? It's probably the filters.

Why? Well, to start, when a HEPA air filter becomes clogged, air flow through a HEPA filter is greatly reduced, creating backflow or 'leakage' of polluted air at the seals and other openings. And your symptoms get worse because air is being blown around / stirred up now with allergens and asthma triggers, particles that would normally not be floating around as much or as high, such as up near the nose and mouth. And this problem is especially true with electrostatic air purifiers that are 'filterless' or contain a 'permanent filter'. When the electrostatic rod becomes dirty, it attracts much less dirt/dust. And if the rod isn't trapping the particles, all the fan is doing is simply blowing around / stirring up polluted air so you can breathe more of it. With clogged HEPA air filters or dirty electrostatic rods, it would be better to turn the unit off until you can clean it or replace the HEPA filter.

A similar thing happens with activated carbon air filters that have become saturated or 'filled up' with chemical compounds, vapors, odor compounds, etc. An air purifier with VOC's, chemical vapor saturated activated carbon is now just pushing that polluted air through with nothing to remove the offending chemicals/compounds. This polluted air is being blown around for increased inhalation where less may have been inhaled if the polluted air wasn't being constantly collected and blown around.

And yes, you can vacuum your HEPA filter to get some of the particles out, but it's not going to extend the life of the filter very much, as most of the more dangerous micro-particles are trapped deep within the HEPA air filter's fibers and not accessible by normal vacuuming, leaving the filter still mostly clogged. Washing a HEPA filter doesn't work, either, as getting this HEPA material wet often distorts/blocks the 'air channels' and you end up with a HEPA filter that is just about as dirty, but with less air flow, and more back flow / leakage. What you CAN do to help extend the life of your HEPA filter is to change the pre-filters, if the air purifier has a pre-filter. The pre-filter is often vacuumable and helps keep the HEPA filter from getting clogged as fast.

Some activated carbon or charcoal air filters are indeed, washable, allowing you to free up the carbon to absorb more chemicals / compounds. Some tips: 1) make sure the activated carbon or charcoal filter is actually a washable carbon filter, 2) make sure you allow the carbon filter to dry completely, and 3) make sure the carbon is evenly redistributed, not clumped together.

The real solution here is to change the air purifier's filters on a regular basis, as indicated by the manufacturer. Most of your best air purifier filters will last 2-5 years depending on how 'dirty' the air is. You made a decision to breathe clean air in your home or office and bought an air purifier, so replace those used up air filters-because your health and how you feel every day is important, it's worth it.

For more information on HEPA air filters, activated carbon/charcoal air filters, pre-filters, please see the author box below.