For the 20 to 40 million Americans who suffer
from asthma, life can be very scary. In addition to dealing with
debilitating and frightening attacks, many sufferers experience
unpleasant side effects from the medications used to control the
illness. "I've seen patients shaking, anxious, jittery, unable to
concentrate and even complaining of chest pain -- and they don't
know it's their asthma medication," says New York City-based
family physician Richard Firshein, DO, who specializes in
complementary medicine. What's worse, some of the remedies
fail to address the underlying causes, so sufferers continue
to experience attacks.
The good news is that drug-free treatments
abound, and they really work. "Alternative traditional therapies
not only reduce or eliminate the need for medications, they also
improve people's quality of life quite dramatically," says Dr.
Firshein, author of Reversing Asthma (Warner).
Managing asthma, an allergic inflammation
of the lungs, is increasingly important. The number of cases
in this country is rising at an alarming rate -- it has more
than doubled just in the last 20 years.
Dr. Firshein calls on an arsenal of natural
remedies and includes the manipulation of diet and environment
and the addition of supplements, breathing exercises and
acupuncture to help his patients live drug-free.
Examine you Diet
Asthma is a disease of inflammation, so
it's especially important for sufferers to avoid foods that
are triggers. Excessive sugar and salt are prime culprits,
as are heavily processed foods that contain
all kinds of chemicals.
In addition, individual asthmatics may
find that they have other individual food allergies that
trigger asthma attacks. To determine the problematic fare,
Dr. Firshein recommends doing a "rotation diet" in which
you avoid one of the major allergens -- milk, corn, soy,
wheat, eggs or nuts -- for a four- to five-day period and
see if symptoms abate. After you omit one item, reintroduce
the food and see if you feel worse. When you have completed
one food, try the next. "It's not fool-proof," says Dr. Firshein,
"but if you do it long enough, you might realize that you're
only allergic to one or two things. Then you can feel so much
better simply by avoiding those items," he says.
Dr. Firshein also recommends identifying
your personal allergens with one of two tests -- skin testing
or a blood test called the radioallergosorbent test (RAST). In
this test, substances known to trigger allergies are added to
the blood sample and then the level of allergy antibodies is measured.
The levels will be high if there is an allergic reaction. One of
these tests, along with the rotation diet, should determine 80% of
triggers, Dr. Firshein says.
Nutritional Shortfalls
Dr. Firshein, who also is author of The
Nutraceutical Revolution (Riverhead), recommends talking to a
doctor who specializes in nutrition about taking a well-balanced
antioxidant, one that contains moderate amounts of vitamins A, C
and E, the B vitamins, selenium and others. Several studies have
drawn connections between low levels of antioxidants and higher
levels of asthma. For example, many asthmatics have been shown to be
deficient in magnesium, which acts as a natural bronchodilator.
In other research, vitamin C has been found to reduce
exercise-induced asthma.
Try Breathing
Most people don't know how to breathe properly.
They breathe shallowly, allowing their chest to rise and fall with
each breath. Abdominal breathing -- using the diaphragm to draw air
in and out -- is, according to Dr. Firshein, "one of the most effective
ways to strengthen weakened lungs and control attacks. Using your
diaphragm helps you relax and gain control over your breathing,
improving oxygenation," he says. "It can make a
substantial difference."
With asthma, he explains, the problem is not
that air can't get into the lungs -- it is that it can't get out.
The following breathing exercise helps constricted lungs pump air
out more efficiently. "It's like a Heimlich maneuver for asthma
sufferers, a natural bronchodilator," he says. Do it for 10 minutes
once or twice a day..
Start by getting into a relaxed state of mind,
by using meditation or imagining yourself lounging on a beach.
Breathe in deeply and visualize your stomach,
not your chest, expanding. You even can place one hand on your
stomach and one on your chest to ensure that your body is
following along.
Start counting out your breaths -- inhale
on three counts, exhale on six counts. Blow air out
through pursed lips.
This breathing technique is taught as
"pranayama" by instructors in hatha yoga. It is the art
of yogic breathing.
Acupuncture
The 1996 National Institutes of Health
(NIH) Consensus Statement on Acupuncture found strong
evidence that acupuncture can treat asthma effectively.
Kim Jobst, MD, of Oxford University reports in an article
for the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
that, at the request of the NIH, he collected all the
research on acupuncture and chronic lung diseases. Of the
16 studies he reviewed, he found that acupuncture was
effective -- reducing attacks and doses of drugs --
in 62% of cases. Other research, including data from The
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, puts the success
rate at closer to 75% or 80%.
Dr. Firshein finds acupuncture to be
an important part of any non-conventional treatment for
asthma because it's helpful in maintaining proper lung
function. It works by stimulating certain responsive parts
of the body's nervous system, which then transmit signals
along the nerves and also produce biochemical's that influence
other cells of the body. The nervous system also is linked to
the hormonal system by way of the adrenal gland, so it can
send healing signals to the body's every cell and system.
Control your Enviroment
Most asthmatics already know this, but
it's good to mention that your home can have many triggers.
Go through your house room by room to eliminate potential
allergens, such as smoke, dust mites, mold, pet dander and
water or chimney leaks. Also, install a carbon
monoxide detector.
"It's very exciting to have all these
different modalities for treating asthma," Dr. Firshein says.
"It gives people a lot of options, a lot of choices, and they
don't feel as threatened by the condition. They feel that they
can do something to help themselves." Most important, these
techniques look to cure the underlying ailments rather than
simply suppress symptoms. Consider adding a physician formally
schooled in these nonconventional modalities who can cooperate
with your allergist or pulmonologist. It is a much more effective
strategy for long-term health.
