Asthma

The word asthma has originated from an ancient Greek word meaning panting. Essentially asthma is a chronic andAsthma in Adults.docx 1 recurring inflammation of the air ways (bronchi) that results in obstruction of air flow. Asthma is very common all over the world, in all age groups. It may start in as early as months old baby to elder age group. Asthma is largely controllable and to an extent curable, depending on the stage and extent of the disease.

Causes

Asthma has no single cause. It is caused my multiple factors, which can be divided in two groups:

  1. External
  2. Internal.

Asthma is caused and maintained by more than one of the following causes:Asthma in Adults.docx 6

  1. Genetic or hereditary cause
  2. Environmental factors (pollution, pollen, etc) – Systemic diseases
  3. Mental stress
  4. Allergens

Asthma has a tendency to recur and get chronic. It is often observed to be a life long disease like diabetes or high blood pressure.

One or more of the above factors lead to altered immunity which eventually leads to chronic asthma. It may be noted that the genetic tendency for asthma forms soil, leading to susceptibility to be affected by other external or internal trigger factors.

What happens in Asthma? (Pathogenesis)

There is a decrease in the lumen of the air ways resulting from a two fold response to the allergens and other irritants.

Primarily in a hyper reactive response, the smooth muscles in the airways constrict and narrow excessively. Followed by an inflammatory response where the immune system responds to the allergens by sending white blood cells and other immune factors to the airways. These inflammatory factors cause a swelling of the airways and also an increase in the mucus secretion thus causing symptoms like wheezing, cough and shortness of breath.

Symptoms of asthma

The most common symptoms are

  • Cough
  • Difficulty in breathing
  • Mucus production
  • Exhaustion

Asthma in children

The most important and distressing symptom is the breathlessness or sense of suffocation, which may be of varying intensity. Some patients may not have cough or mucus production (expectoration) at all.

The symptoms of asthma may be

  • Periodical (once in a a week to once in a year)
  • Seasonal (a few weeks in a year)
  • Continuous (all throughout or most of the time)

The symptoms might get triggered by one or more of the following:

  1. Physical exertion
  2. Change in weather or temperature
  3. Infection
  4. Mental stress
  5. Exposure to pollution (dust, chemical, pollen, etc.)
  6. Without any apparent reason

Homeopathic treatment

Homeopathy offers excellent treatment for asthma, which can do following jobs:

  1. Reduce significantly frequency of asthmatic attacks
  2. Reduce significantly severity of asthmatic attacks
  3. Reduce duration of attacks
  4. Reduce need for bronchodilators, cortisone and antibiotic (in case of infections). In many patients, especially in children, homeopathic treatment can help get rid off all other medications.

It can be said that those who do not take homeopathy for asthma are deprived of the wonderful benefits of it. Homeopathy  is very strongly recommended during all stages of asthma. Homeopathy medicines can be taken safely with the conventional medicines.

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