Respiratory diseases are always troublesome, and asthma is definitely no exception. Asthma affects around 22 million Americans, both children and adults alike. During the 1930s, asthma was believed to be a psychosomatic disease, with its main symptom wheezing interpreted as a suppressed cry for a child’s mother. It was once treated using psychoanalysis and “talking cures,” but people nowadays know better. Asthma is a chronic physiological disease that requires physiological interventions.
What are the causes of asthma?
The reason as to why asthma occurs is not clear, but it is generally believed that it is a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Usually, asthma occurs as an allergic response, and what triggers this illness varies from person to person. Some of the most common allergens include pollen, animal dander, and dust mites. If a person has a food allergy, like peanut or seafood allergy for example, asthma may manifest as a reaction. It can also be caused by irritants like cigarette smoke and other air pollutants. These are the extrinsic causes of asthma.
There are also intrinsic causes, which are not allergen-induced. Examples are medications, such as beta blockers, aspirin, and some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs. Stress and strong emotions can also count as intrinsic causes of asthma, as well as some respiratory infections, like common colds.
What are the symptoms of asthma?
Once asthma is triggered, whether by intrinsic or extrinsic factors, the bronchial airways start to constrict and swell, hence leading to bronchoconstriction and bronchial inflammation. There is also the production of excess mucus, and the combination of these three gives the narrowed airways, thus resulting to an obstructed airflow and difficulty of breathing.
Symptoms may vary from mild to severe. These include shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing sound during breathing, and chest pains due to difficulty of breathing. Most asthmatics have difficulty breathing at night, which results to sleep deprivation.
How do you prevent or treat it?
Since asthma is usually an allergic condition, the best way to prevent asthma is to avoid the allergen that causes an attack. To be able to do this, the allergen must be identified. Since the usual allergens are dust particles, it is essential to keep your surroundings clean.
It is also essential to know the warning signs of an imminent asthma attack. This can be coughing, shortness of breath, or wheezing. When you start feeling these symptoms, it is time to get your medications and nebulization kit ready. Acting quickly will enable you to avoid a more severe asthma attack.
You also need to take your medications even if your asthma seems to be on remission. Asthma is a chronic disease; therefore medications should be taken regularly to prevent it from exacerbating. Your physician will advise you when you should stop the treatment, so always consult your doctor before you decide on your health.
Some of the medications used to treat asthma include inhaled corticosteroids, long acting beta-2 agonists, and leukotriene modifiers for long-term use and short acting beta-2 agonists and oral and intravenous corticosteroids for short-term use.
Your lifestyle should also be kept healthy, meaning you should engage in regular exercise to strengthen your respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Exercise will also help you avoid being overweight, since obese persons have more severe asthmatic symptoms than those who are not.
As for one’s diet, the asthma sufferer should eat only small amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, since these are acid-forming foods. Instead, stuff your diet with alkaline foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
One home remedy that is considered to be advantageous for asthma is honey. Simply inhaling or eating honey can help thin out secretions caused by excessive mucus, and thus facilitate easier breathing. Garlic can also be used as a home remedy for early stage of asthma, which can be taken in its boiled form.
Acai berry can also be used as a remedy, since this fruit has anti-inflammatory properties. It is therefore considered to be a natural remedy for asthma, and an effective one at that. Its ability to treat asthma can be largely attributed to its high Vitamin C content, which is around 15% to 22%. Vitamin C helps boost the immune system, which is very important especially if the asthma is caused by an allergen. One of the “ingredients” used by the body to manufacture white blood cells is vitamin C, so having a high amount of vitamin C in the body means better protection against diseases and infections.
Vitamin C also has antioxidant properties, so it helps remove free radicals that may damage the lungs and make it vulnerable to asthmatic attacks.
What Kind of Acai Berry Supplement Should I Choose?
Acai berry can be taken in two different forms, namely the powder and the liquid form, simply because these are the only two forms that can tolerate long transportation hours without perishing. Although it is beneficial to take acai berry in its raw form, only Brazilian locals are fortunate enough to do this since the fruit comes from the Amazon.
One of the advantages that the powder form has over the liquid form is that it can be conveniently taken everywhere you go. Moreover, the freeze-dried pulp retains the purest state of the fruit, meaning it contains a high concentration of acai berry. Juices, on the other hand, contain a lot of preservatives and other ingredients that are not necessarily acai berry extracts. Powder forms have a longer shelf life, which is up to three years. This is the form that is made available all around the world.
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