Asthma Triggers vs Causes

If you have asthma, do you know the difference between its triggers and causes? You should -- your breathing may depend on it.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes airways (bronchial tubes) particularly sensitive to irritants, and this is characterized by difficulty in breathing. Asthma cannot be cured, but for most patients it can be controlled so that they have only minimal and infrequent symptoms and they can live an active life.

If you have asthma, managing it should be an important part of your life. Controlling your asthma means staying away from things that bother your airways and taking your medicines as directed by your doctor.

When discussing diseases, it is important to distinguish between causes and triggers. A trigger is something which sets off an attack, but which did not make you asthmatic in the first place.

"Trigger factors", or "triggers", of asthma are used to describe the things which can cause an attack in someone who already has asthma..

But you hear these words used for the dog to which you are allergic, or the cat, or the pollen that cause your asthma, or the mold on the wallpaper which causes your asthma, and even about house dust mites. Instead of calling these causes, which is what they are, people call them "triggers". They say that their cat is triggering their asthma.

This is a bit like calling an on-coming car the trigger of an accident.

Demoting causes, by calling them triggers, makes people think that the causes are not so important, and that maybe they should just keep using their inhalers instead of making efforts to root out the cause of their asthma and remove these from their environment.

A cause is something, without which, an effect (such as asthma) will not occur. Thus, a cause is something without which you would not be asthmatic. There may be more than one cause for an asthma attack.

We normally think of a trigger as something small that causes something big to happen suddenly. A trigger is one type of cause. But the implication is that the important causes have to be there already if the trigger is to work, and that the trigger is not important. It is the cause which is important.

For example, if you don't have asthmatic lungs, or your asthma is under control, a cold won't give you any symptoms of asthma.

In this sense, it is fair to call the cold a "trigger factor". In addition, if you stopped catching colds, this would not stop you having asthma, so in that sense it cannot be called the true cause of the disease.

But if you have an attack whenever you go near dogs, then dogs in the past have been the cause, and a dog now can trigger an attack. In other words, a dog can be a cause of asthma and also the trigger of an attack.

Concentrating only on the triggers of the attacks misses the really important point that contact with dogs was a cause of the asthma in the first place.

Obviously, an asthma sufferer will want to avoid both the causes and triggers of asthma, but the causes are more serious. Without the causes, the triggers could do absolutely no harm.

By: Barbara Jones

Diet For Asthma

Yogic Diet for Asthma

Yoga lays great emphasis on diet and insists on avoiding common dietary errors. Sattvic (pure) foods form the ideal diet for an asthmatic. They are both, nourishing as well as easy to digest. An asthmatic’s diet should ideally be lacto-vegetarian. Research has proven that a predominantly vegetarian diet is best for them. Meat proteins take longer to digest and tend to be put a burden on the metabolic system. Non-vegetarians may start by cutting down on red meat, then gradually eliminate it altogether. Later, as they develop a taste for vegetarian fare, they will find themselves giving up other meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, too. However, seafoods, if not fried, have been proven beneficial to asthmatics.

An asthmatic’s diet should ideally contain a limited quantity of carbohydrates, fats and proteins (they are acid-forming), with liberal helpings of alkaline foods like fresh fruits, green vegetables and germinated grains and pulses. Have plenty of dried fruits, like prunes, oranges or berries or a few black raisins with honey. Also have lots of salads of raw vegetables like beets, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, lettuce and wheat bread with one or two green vegetables, sautéed or slightly cooked.

Asthmatics should always eat less than their full capacity as it bears down upon the chest, resulting in a feeling of over-fullness and discomfort. Besides, they should pay careful attention to eating slowly, chewing their food well. They should also drink anywhere between six to ten glasses of water daily, but avoid liquids during meals.

Vitamins and Minerals for Asthma

1. Vitamin A plays a vital role in curing asthma. Beta-carotene A precursor to Vitamin A is found abundantly in carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, cantaloupe, pink grapefruit, apricots, broccoli, and spinach. The more intense the color of a fruit or vegetable, the higher is the beta-carotene content.

2. Vitamin B-6 enhances the autoimmune function and formation of hemoglobin. It is amply found in beans, nuts, legumes, eggs, meats, fish, whole grains, and fortified breads and cereals.

3. Vitamin C is another highly beneficial ingredient. Apples, apricots, avocadoes, breadfruit, blackberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, kiwifruits, jujubes, melons, cantaloupess, peaches and pears are rich in Vitamin C.

4. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that increases the blood capacity to carry oxygen. It is found in wheat germ, corn, nuts, seeds, olives, spinach, asparagus, and other green leafy vegetables and vegetable oils.

5. Zinc is an immune-enhancer that supports the adrenal glands. It is found in profusion in the following: baked beans, raisin bran, black, dried, peas, oatmeal and mixed nuts, particularly unsalted, roasted peanuts, almonds and walnuts.

6. Selenium is an antioxidant that protects the immune system from hypersensitivity. Brazil nuts, dried, oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat bread, black, dried, walnuts are all selenium rich foods.

7. Essential fatty acids, particularly omega-3 oils are extremely beneficial in reducing inflammation and alleviating asthma attacks. They are found abundantly in vegetarian foods like almonds, walnuts, pumpkin and flax seeds.

8. Tulsi or Holy Basil is one of the most beloved Ayurvedic herbs that helps reduce mucus and symptoms of irritability. The chemical eugenol, found in Tulsi is one of the most active constituents that contributes to its therapeutic effects.

Other Dietary Tips on Asthma

1. Common food allergens that tend to trigger an asthma attack include eggs, fish, shellfish, milk, chocolate, citrus fruits, food preservatives and coloring.

2. Remember an apple a day, keeps the doctor away. They are rich in flavonoids that function as antioxidants and reduce inflammation.

3. If you have a tendency to produces excess mucus, avoid dairy products.

4. Other foods that tend to produce phlegm are rice, sugar, pickles, chutneys, ice and iced drinks and curds, as also fried stuff and are difficult to digest and best avoided.

5. Spicy, fried, fatty foods, too much tea and coffee are best avoided.

6. The evening meal should preferably be finished before sundown or at least three hours before bedtime.

By: Kevin Pederson

Yoga For Asthma

What is Asthma?

Asthma is an ancient Greek word that means "panting, gasping or short-drawn breath." It is one of the most discomforting of respiratory ailments, known to affect around 5% of the world’s adult population and 10% of children. Asthmatics suffer from periodic attacks of breathlessness interspersed with bouts of complete normalcy.

When normal people inhale, their air sacs fill up with air like small balloons. In exhalation they deflate expelling air. Airways are clear and open in healthy people. In asthmatics, the reverse takes place because their airways and air sacs have lost their shape and have become floppy. Their bronchi and alveoli collapse, rather than expand when air flows through them. As a result, they can inhale and exhale less.

Symptoms of Asthma

1. Dry cough
2. Difficulty in breathing
3. Shortness of breath
4. Feeling of lightness in the chest
5. Wheezing (hissing or whistling sounds during exhalation.)
6. Sometimes an attack is preceded by a running nose, irritated eyes, or an itchy throat.

Two peculiarities of asthmatics:

1. Almost all patients suffer more attacks at night, in their sleep.

2. Asthmatics have more trouble exhaling than inhaling.

Causes for Asthma

Factors that precipitate an asthma attack are called triggers. They cause the air passages to get clogged and constricted, making it difficult for the patient to breathe. The inflamed bronchioles generate more mucus and also cause the muscles around them to tighten and get irritated, constricting the airways. This is called a bronchospasm.

However, asthma has a variety of causes.

1. Allergy: For most it is an allergy to foods, perfumes, scents, body sprays, deodorizers, the weather, drugs or any other irritants. They vary from person to person. However, dust allergies seem to be the most common factor.

2. Combination of Factors: For others, it is triggered off by a combination of allergic and non-allergic factors including stress and tension, air pollution or infections.

3. Abnormal Body Chemistry: Asthma may result from the abnormal body chemistry involving the body’s enzymes or a defect in muscular action within the lungs.

4. Heredity: In 75 to 100 per cent cases it has been found that when one or both parents suffer from asthma, the children have similar allergic reactions.

Yoga Therapy for Asthma

Tests carried out at Yoga Therapy Centers, across the world, have shown remarkable results in curing asthma. In some cases it has also been found that attacks can actually be averted, without the aid of drugs, just through yogic practices. There is ample research evidence to substantiate the fact that Yoga Therapy makes the treatment so much more successful. Nowadays, even allopathic and homeopathic doctors have arrived at the consensus that Yoga is an excellent alternative therapy for Asthma.

Since Yoga believes that the mind is central to a diseased condition, pacifying and placating it would, in itself, help cure the disease to a great extent. The practice of yogasanas, yogic kriyas, pranayamas, relaxation and meditation calm down the whole system. This, in turn, facilitates proper assimilation of food and strengthens the lungs, digestive and circulatory system. Over a period of time, that checks attacks and even cures the condition.

This is because Yogic practices result in more anxiety reduction than drugs do. Yoga gives patients access to their own internal experience and helps them pin-point the cause of their ailment, i.e find their own triggers. This comes through increased self-awareness. Simple Yogic practices help regulate breathing patterns, as well as enhance lung functioning. Result: Most patients are able to manage their condition by simply allaying their fears and anxieties.

Yoga also has a stabilizing effect on the body’s immune system. It is now proven that the regular and consistent practice of yoga raises the body’s tolerance to infection as well as its local resistance to infections in the respiratory tract. Yogic rest and relaxation reduce the nervous system’s overall activity, leading to remarkable recovery. Only Yoga offers resources like Abhyasa (regular, constant practice) and Vairagya (detachment) as means of holistic healing.

For best results, do all the practices prescribed in our sections on Yoga Asanas, Cleansing Techniques and Pranayama. Lay more emphasis on cleansing techniques like Jala Neti and Sutra Neti, Vaman Dhauti and pranayamas like Kapalbhati, Anuloma-Viloma, Ujjayi, Surbyabhedana and Bhramari. All yogaasanas prescribed are highly beneficial without exceptions or emphasis on any. However, Shavasana, should be practiced for as long as possible and whenever possible, lying down, sitting or standing

The practices work best on an empty stomach, but you should continue to sip water from time to time, to help keep your airways moist. Wear light, loose-fitting clothes and practice in a comfortable, well-ventilated, airy room or outdoors, with adequate room to lie down. If you experience any symptoms lying down, sit on a chair for a while and rest your head on a table, either on your folded arms or on one cheek. If you feel nauseous, anxious, or short of breath in any of the practices, stop immediately, get up and walk around. You are probably just hyperventilating and need to burn off some energy. Don't resume your practices right away. Rather give them a break for about a day or two.

Above all, tell yourself from time to time – particularly when you get irritated or upset with yourself – that the way you breathe now is what is making you ill. It is conditioned behavior, which can easily be altered.

By: Kevin Pederson

Allergies And Asthma

Asthma is a chronic lung affliction that is characterized by breathing difficulties. People who suffer from asthma have extra sensitive or hyper-responsive airways. In the course of an asthma attack, the airways suffer irritation and react by narrowing and constricting, resulting in increased resistance to airflow, and obstruction of the flow of air flow through the air passages to and from the lungs. The cause of the inflammation which underlying most asthma in younger sufferers is the result of one or more allergies. Compared to people in less affluent rural parts of the world, a greater number of people in western countries are affected by allergies. Additionally, allergy rates are on the rise. This is a concerning fact, particularly when allergies affect young children.

There is increasing evidence that virtually proves that asthma is an environmentally-induced disease. This would suggest that asthma may be able to be prevented by altering our environment. The treatment of asthma by removing the allergic cause can be very successful when the trigger is easily removed. An example of this is when the allergic trigger is a dust or vapour inhaled only on the job. This is also true when the trigger is a domestic pet such as a cat or dog, an allergic source that could easily be removed from the environment of the person with asthma. Sadly, though, reluctance to part with a much-loved pet commonly prevents using this successful measure. The most common cause of asthma is a house dust mite allergy. Sufficiently eradicating mites to have a great effect on asthma requires a major lifestyle change on the part of the sufferer and is very costly to achieve.

In the future there may be treatments which diminish, modify, or even abolish the allergic process in the body. Due to the great number of asthma sufferers in the world, not surprisingly, this is an area of considerable research.

By: Patricia Davis