Stress and Asthma

Stress is a common asthma trigger. An asthma trigger is anything that brings on asthma symptoms. When you have stress and asthma, you might feel short of breath, anxious, and even panicked. Stress may cause your asthma symptoms to worsen and cause you to feel frightened.

 

When stress levels start to creep upward -- whether it's over bills, work, or your kids' jam-packed calendar -- asthma symptoms can kick into overdrive. As the wheezing and coughing gets worse, your health becomes one more reason to worry. Asthma, stress, and anxiety make for a vicious circle, and one that can spiral downward quickly.

 

When Asthma Treatment Triggers More Anxiety

With persistent asthma, you have symptoms more than once a week, but not constantly. Treating persistent asthma requires long-term maintenance therapy, such as an inhaled steroid, plus rescue therapy when something triggers symptoms. And when your symptoms are out of control (in the red zone, a severe asthma attack), prednisone for asthma might be necessary for a few days. The problem is that prednisone often causes mood swings as a side effect, adding fuel to the anxiety fire.

 

Remember, prednisone is a short-term treatment for most people with asthma. After you finish taking the "burst" of oral steroids, your mood will return to normal. Inhaled steroids don't cause permanent mood changes.

 

If your long-term asthma medication doesn't work well, and wheezing and chest tightness occur too often, a vicious circle can begin where anxiety worsens asthma, and asthma worsens anxiety. That's when you need to talk to your doctor about your symptoms, triggers, and stress. Also discuss other asthma treatment options that can get your asthma under control again, so you can prevent symptoms of asthma.

Antihistamines or Decongestants? Getting Allergy Relief

While there is no quick fix for your runny or congested nose, antihistamines and decongestants continue to be some of the most widely used medicines for allergy relief.

But how do you know if an antihistamine or a decongestant will give you allergy relief? Who should use these allergy relief medicines -- and who should avoid them?

Why are antihistamines used for allergy relief?

Allergies occur when the body’s immune cells release a chemical called histamine in response to contact with an allergen. Histamine is one of the chemicals that causes swelling of the membranes in the nose and increases mucus.

When histamine is released during an allergic reaction, you may have symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing, swollen nasal passages, weepy eyes, and nasal stuffiness.

While antihistamines cannot cure your allergy symptoms, they do block the effect of histamine and give you some allergy relief.  Antihistamines help relieve such miserable symptoms as sneezing, itching, and nasal discharge. They may also help relieve nasal congestion, and skin and eye symptoms.

Your doctor may prescribe short-acting antihistamines, which are taken every four to six hours. There are also timed-release antihistamines that you can take every 12 or 24 hours.

Bee Pollen Benefits and Side Effects

For years, herbalists have touted bee pollen as an exceptionally nutritious food. They've even claimed it is a cure for certain health problems. Yet after years of research, scientists still cannot confirm that bee pollen has any health benefits.

 

What Is Bee Pollen?

Bee pollen contains vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, lipids, and protein. It comes from the pollen that collects on the bodies of bees. Bee pollen may also include bee saliva.

It's important to avoid confusing bee pollen with natural honey, honeycomb, bee venom, or royal jelly. These products do not contain bee pollen.

 

How Is Bee Pollen Used?

Bee pollen is available at many health food stores. You may find bee pollen in other natural dietary supplements as well as in skin softening products used for baby's diaper rash or eczema.

You may also hear recommendations for using bee pollen for alcoholism, asthma, allergies, health maintenance, or stomach problems. But before you take any natural product for a health condition, check with your doctor.

Bee pollen is also recommended by some herbalists to enhance athletic performance, reduce side effects of chemotherapy, and improve allergies and asthma.

At this point, medical research has not shown that bee pollen is effective for any of these health concerns.

 

Is Bee Pollen Safe?

Bee pollen appears to be safe, at least when taken for a short term. But if you have pollen allergies, you may get more than you bargained for. Bee pollen can cause a serious allergic reaction -- including shortness of breath, hives, swelling, and anaphylaxis.

Bee pollen is not safe for pregnant women. A woman should also avoid using bee pollen if she is breastfeeding

Donkey milk can help children with milk allergies

In the hills outside Bologna in northern Italy a slightly peculiar farm has become the centre of a health experiment that harks back to the practices of ancient Greece and Rome.

The farm is home to 700 donkeys and produces donkey milk, a product that is creating a lot of interest among health professionals.

Donkey milk is proving to be a viable alternative for young children and infants in Italy who suffer from allergies to cows' milk.

More than 50% of what the farm produces is sold directly to paediatric units in the region.

Dr Giovanna Monti, a paediatrician at the head of the allergy unit at Turin's St Anna hospital, has been studying the effects of donkey milk on babies and children since 2004.

"We use this milk mostly for children who are allergic to certain proteins in cows' milk," she told the BBC World Service's Health Check programme. "These proteins are often also present in formulated milk too."

What is the difference between COPD and asthma?

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, may have many similarities as far as symptoms are concerned, but they are very different conditions in terms of onset and reversibility.

What is COPD?

COPD is a term that refers to two respiratory diseases: emphysema and chronic bronchitis. As one of the leading causes of death in the United States, COPD affects millions annually. COPD is a slow, progressive disease which is characterized by airways becoming inflamed and filling with mucus. This inflammation causes less oxygen to be able to move in and out of the lungs. Sufferers often fail to recognize the symptoms until it is too late to manage them effectively. Heavy smokers often don’t have detectable symptoms until they are in their 40’s. The early warning signs include shortness of breath after minimal exertion, increased mucus production and chronic cough. As damage continues to occur with ongoing tobacco use, the lungs slowly lose their ability to efficiently utilize oxygen. In addition, the lungs become less capable of removing carbon dioxide, the toxic by-product of respiration.

Treatment of COPD

One essential treatment goal for slowing the decline of lung function in COPD patients is, of course, the discontinuation of tobacco use. Aside from this, other treatment objectives include relieving symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath.

What is Asthma?

Asthma differs from COPD in that the onset usually occurs during adolescence and may have a genetic component. As with COPD, asthma is a condition characterized by restricted and swollen airways which fill with mucus, making it hard to breath. Asthma, however, is often triggered by allergies, and damage to the lungs can often be reversed or managed successfully with medication.

Treatment for Asthma

Some of the same medications may be used to treat both COPD and asthma, but the treatment goals are somewhat different. The objective for asthma patients is to be as close to symptom free as possible. In many cases, asthma patients can achieve near normal lung function. Inhaled steroids, short-acting bronchodialators, and long-acting beta agonists are some of the protocols currently used to treat asthma.

Asthma and COPD are both marked by airway constriction and swelling which make breathing difficult. In addition, both conditions produce some of the same symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, congestion and shortness of breath. The major difference between asthma and COPD is that the latter is almost always brought about by heavy tobacco use or prolonged exposure to toxic second-hand smoke, whereas, the onset of asthma usually occurs in childhood and is either related to genetics or may be allergy induced. Another difference is that COPD causes irreversible lung damage, and the decline in lung function can only be slowed down by treatment, but lung damage caused by asthma can be reversed in many cases and asthma patients often live their lives free of asthma symptoms.  

Ruiz, Linda. "The Differences Between COPD and Asthma." 29 January 2011 www.spiriva.com/resources/pdf/hcp/Asthma_COPD.pdf.

Guidelines Call for Increase in Vitamin D

 

New guidelines for vitamin D  call for increasing the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin D to 600 international units (IU) for everyone aged 1-70, and raising it to 800 IU for adults older than 70 to optimize bone health.

The guidelines, released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), also raised daily calcium RDAs.

The new guidelines call for a recommended dietary allowance of 700 milligrams of calcium per day for children aged 1 through 3, 1,000 milligrams daily for almost all children aged 4 through 8, 1,300 milligrams of calcium per day for adolescents aged 9 through 18, and 1,000 milligrams for all adults aged 19 through 50  and men until age 71. Women starting at age 51 and men and women aged 71 and older need 1,200 milligrams of calcium per day.

The majority of Americans and Canadians are getting sufficient vitamin D and calcium, the new guidelines state. Some adolescent girls aged 9-18 may fall below the daily recommended level of calcium intake, and some elderly people may have an inadequate intake of calcium and vitamin D.

New Food Allergy Guidelines Out

Comprehensive new guidelines on food allergies are out from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The new guidelines are directed at doctors to help them diagnose and manage food allergies.

Experts say food allergies appear to be on the rise, affecting nearly 5% of children younger than 5 and about 4% of teens and adults.

''We hope the guidelines will help patients and family members work better with their physician'' to identify the causes of food allergies, said Matthew Fenton, PhD, chief of the asthma, allergy, and inflammation branch of the division of allergy, immunology and transplantation at NIAID. He spoke at a Friday news conference detailing the new guidelines and led the guidelines development project for NIAID.

The guidelines address diagnostic tests, treatment, and prevention, among other areas.

While the guidelines are aimed at doctors, it will help parents and those with food allergies to be aware of their existence, said Hugh Sampson, MD, professor of pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, who serves on the guidelines coordinating committee and also spoke at the news conference. "When they see their physician or request a referral to an allergist, they should know what type of questions will be asked of them and have some idea of what kind of tests their physician will be doing."

 

Food Allergy Guidelines: Back Story

A coordinating committee representing 34 professional medical organizations, advocacy groups, and federal agencies oversaw the guidelines development.

Then, a 25-member expert panel was selected; it pored over published literature and drew on clinical opinions to draft the guidelines.

Public comment was invited before the final guidelines were issued.

 

Hayfever Symptoms And Remedies.

Hay fever or allergic rhinitis is an allergic inflammation where the individual nasal airways becomes blocked when dust, allergen or pollen grains attack the nasal path. Most of the time, people with weak immunity are more susceptible to pollenosis. When the pollens or dust goes into the the body, it triggers the production of antibodies.

These antibodies contain histamine is a nitrogen compound that regulates the physiological function and acts as neurotransmitter in the physiology. The pollenosis is classified in various categories such as tree pollen allergies, pollen allergies, animal allergies, dust mite allergies, perennial allergic rhinitis and seasonal allergic rhinitis.
Symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis

Eye Allergies

An eye allergy that affects the conjunctiva, a clear layer of skin overlying the eyes, is commonly referred to as allergic conjunctivitis.

Allergic conjunctivitis is divided into several major subtypes, but the most common subtypes are seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC) and perennial allergic conjunctivitis (PAC). SAC and PAC are triggered by an immune reaction involving a sensitized individual and an allergen. Simply stated, this means that if you are allergic to a particular substance and then come into contact with it, you experience an allergic reaction (symptoms like itching and sneezing).

Although it frequently occurs, allergic conjunctivitis is most commonly seen in areas with high seasonal allergens.

Causes of Eye Allergies

Eye allergies often affect the conjunctiva, a clear layer of skin overlying the eyes. This clear layer of skin is the same type of skin that lines the inside surface of the nose. Because these two areas are so similar, the same allergens (substances that induce an allergic reaction) can trigger the same allergic response in both areas.

How to use a Nebulizer

A nebulizer turns your asthma medicine into a mist. It is easy and pleasant to breathe the medicine into your lungs this way. If you use a nebulizer, your asthma medicines will come in liquid form.

With a nebulizer, medicine goes into your lungs when you take slow, deep breaths for 10 to 15 minutes.

Many patients with asthma do not need to use a nebulizer. Another way to get your medicine is with an inhaler. Inhalers work just as well, and they are easier to use.

Most nebulizers are small, so they are easy to carry with you. Most nebulizers use air compressors. A different kind uses sound vibrations. These are called "ultrasonic nebulizers." They are quieter, but they cost more money.

10 Things You Can Do to Make Your Home More Asthma Friendly

Allergens are one of the most common reasons asthma symptoms flare. Importantly, there are a number of things you can do in your home to prevent your asthma from worsening. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, these 10 things will help keep your asthma in check:

1. Take it outside. Secondhand smoke is a common asthma trigger. Encourage people to quit and make sure they smoke outside, not in your home or car.
2. Good night, little mite! Dust mites are also common asthma triggers. Covering mattresses and pillows with dust-proof  zippered covers and washing all bedding once a week in hot water will help keep the mites at bay.

Fall Allergies

Though the flowers are no longer blooming and the air has turned crisp and cool, many allergy sufferers get no reprieve during the fall months. The allergy triggers might be slightly different, but they can be just as misery-inducing as the flower pollen that fills the air in the spring and summer.

What Causes Fall Allergies?

Male plants release tiny cells called pollen into the air in order to reproduce. When these pollen or other allergy triggers get into the noses of certain people, their immune system mistakenly sees them as foreign invaders and releases antibodies -- substances that normally identify and go after bacteria, viruses, and other illness-causing organisms. The antibodies attack the allergens, which leads to the release of chemicals called histamines into the blood. Histamines trigger the runny nose, itchy eyes, and other symptoms of allergies.

During the fall season, ragweed is the biggest allergy trigger. Though the yellow-flowering weed typically begins pollinating in August, it can linger well into the fall months. About three-quarters of people who are allergic to spring pollen-producing plants are also allergic to ragweed. Ragweed pollen can travel for hundreds of miles on the wind, so even if it doesn't grow where you live, it can still make you miserable if you're allergic to it.

Mold is another culprit, because its spores can easily get airborne. Mold thrives in damp areas, both indoors and outdoors. The piles of damp leaves that line yards and streets in the fall are breeding grounds for mold, as are damp basements and bathrooms at home.

Dust mites -- microscopic, spider-like insects -- are yet another common indoor allergen. They are most prevalent during the humid summer months, but can get stirred into the air the first time you turn on your furnace in the fall. From the air, dust mites can make their way into your nose, triggering sneezes, wheezes, and runny noses.

New Blood Test for Newborns to Detect Allergy Risk

A simple blood test can now predict whether newborn babies are at high risk of developing allergies as they grow older, thanks to research involving the University of Adelaide.

Professor Tony Ferrante, an immunologist from SA Pathology and the Children's Research Centre at the University of Adelaide, says the new marker may be the most significant breakthrough in allergy testing for some decades.

"A protein in the immune cells of newborns appears to hold the answer as to whether a baby will either be protected, or susceptible to the development of allergies later on," Professor Ferrante says.

Asthma attacks found to be caused by suppressed immune system

A study published in the journal Nature Medicine has found that asthma sufferers have low levels of an immune system protein that acts as the lungs' first defense against the cold viruses that can cause severe asthma attacks.

Researchers from Imperial College and the Medical Research Council Centre on Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma compared the lung cells of people with and without asthma, and found that asthma sufferers have low levels of interferon -- an antiviral protein generated by the immune system to fight off common cold viruses called rhinovirus. The researchers found a direct correlation between low levels of the protein and higher severity of asthma attacks.

"The discovery of this mechanism could be of huge importance in how we treat asthma attacks," says Professor Sebastian Johnston, the study's lead researcher. "Delivery of the deficient interferons by inhalers could be an ideal way to treat and prevent severe attacks of asthma, potentially vastly improving the quality of life for many asthma patients."

Johnston's team is currently conducting trials to discover why asthma sufferers have low interferon levels, as well as how to treat them. Asthma experts have welcomed the results of the study, and are working on treatments to increase levels of interferon in asthma patients.

"What this study really shows," explained Mike Adams, a consumer health advocate, "is that asthma should be treated by supporting the patient's immune system function, not by hijacking the biochemistry of the lungs with synthetic chemicals and antihistamines. Conventional medical researchers look at these results and conclude that interferons should be artificially blasted into the lungs," Adams adds, "but the more obvious solution is to help patients manufacture their own interferon proteins, which they do freely and automatically when immune function is restored through nutritional therapies, stress reduction, avoidance of toxic chemicals and other natural health strategies."

Foods That Cure Asthma and Allergies

Outbreaks of asthma and allergies have increased considerably since the early 1980s.  Asthma statistics outline a jump of 74% for children between the ages of 5-14 years and 160% for children under four years old, according to the National Institutes of Health.  Additionally, one of every four children in the U.S. also suffers from some type of allergy.  With annual costs in the billions, researchers offer a glimpse of hope for a natural cure.

Earlier this month, published findings in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology from a seven-year study of 460 Spanish children concluded that a definitive link exists between symptom-free children and a diet rich in "fruity vegetables" and fish.  Fruity vegetables are those that grow from a blossom in the plant that comes from seed; such veggies include tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, green beans, cucumbers and butternut squash, among others.

Scientists explain that the protective effects of this type of diet were irrefutable, and were very specific to this kind of vegetables.  Researchers tested different types of foods such as diary, meats and vegetables, but only fruity vegetables and fish were beneficial to these conditions.

Although this is not the first study that links a benefit of a diet rich in fish and vegetables to health improvement, the findings here are quite powerful as the researchers followed the children from the womb until age six, taking the mother's dietary habits into consideration among other factors.  Incidents of asthma and allergies were reduced significantly in children consuming more than 2 oz of fish and 1½ oz of fruity vegetables a day.

Anaphylactic shock

CAUSES

Anaphylaxis is a severe, whole-body allergic reaction to a chemical that has become an allergen. After being exposed to a substance such as bee sting venom, the person's immune system becomes sensitized to it. On a later exposure to that allergen, an allergic reaction may occur. This reaction happens quickly after the exposure, is severe, and involves the whole body.

Tissues in different parts of the body release histamine and other substances. This causes the airways to tighten and leads to other symptoms.

Some drugs (morphine, x-ray dye, and others) may cause an anaphylactic-like reaction (anaphylactoid reaction) when people are first exposed to them. Aspirin may also cause a reaction. These reactions are not the same as the immune system response that occurs with "true" anaphylaxis. However, the symptoms, risk for complications, and treatment are the same for both types of reactions.

Anaphylaxis can occur in response to any allergen. Common causes include:

• Drug allergies
• Food allergies
• Insect bites/stings

Pollens and other inhaled allergens rarely cause anaphylaxis. Some people have an anaphylactic reaction with no known cause.

Anaphylaxis is life-threatening and can occur at any time. Risks include a history of any type of allergic reaction.

Asthma in Pregnancy

Asthma in pregnancy pregnancy is a delicate moment in the life of the woman: the arrival of a baby generates joy and anxiety for the future that is unknown, a mix of sensations. The asthmatic pregnant, in addition to these sentiments, however, comes with a number of other fears:

• Pregnancy worsens asthma of mother? 
• The woman who has asthma in pregnancy will suffer more? 
• Asthma mother hinders development of the foetus? 
• The baby will have problems if the mother has crisis? 
• And the medications harm the baby?

All about Sinusitis.

The word sinusitis (sinus = bosom, ite = inflammation) means inflammation of the sinuses, also called sinuses. It is very difficult to speak of sinusitis without speaking of rhinitis. Sinusitis is the most common complication of allergic rhinitis. Therefore, the name used by the experts is: Rhinosinusitis.

What are the sinuses?

Sinuses (or sinuses) are hollow and aeradas cavities in the bones of the face and that serve to: 

1) resound the voice 

2) balance the weight of the head 

3) assist air circulation and elimination of secretions 
4) assist the nose on their roles. 

The mucous that coats the sinuses is very similar to the lining of the nose. Therefore it is so easy that nasal inflammation spreads until sinuses.

Asthma Causes

No one really knows the causes of asthma. What we do know is that asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. The causes of asthma symptoms can vary for different people. Still, one thing is consistent with asthma: when airways come into contact with an asthma trigger, the airways become inflamed, narrow, and fill with mucus.

When you have an asthma attack, spasms of the muscles around the airways, inflammation and swelling of the mucosal membrane lining the airways, and excessive amounts of mucus contribute to airway narrowing. This makes airway resistance increase and the work of breathing more difficult, causing shortness of breath, cough, and wheezing. You may have coughing with asthma because of the irritation inside the airway and the body’s attempt to clean out the accumulations of thick mucus.

So why do you have asthma and your friend doesn’t? No one really knows for sure. We do know that allergies play a role in many people with asthma but not in all. As with allergy, you can blame your family history, as there is a strong genetic component for asthma.

What is Asthma?

Asthma is a chronic (long-term) lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning.

Asthma affects people of all ages, but it most often starts in childhood. In the United States, more than 22 million people are known to have asthma. Nearly 6 million of these people are children.

Overview

The airways are tubes that carry air into and out of your lungs. People who have asthma have inflamed airways. This makes the airways swollen and very sensitive. They tend to react strongly to certain substances that are breathed in.

When the airways react, the muscles around them tighten. This causes the airways to narrow, and less air flows to your lungs. The swelling also can worsen, making the airways even narrower. Cells in the airways may make more mucus than normal. Mucus is a sticky, thick liquid that can further narrow your airways.