At first reading, there isn’t much extremely shocking in this report. But with a little research, in my opinion it becomes alarming.

This information comes from the Asthma Society of Canada:

“Doctors define asthma as a ‘chronic inflammatory disease of the airways’ . It is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions affecting Canadians. Asthma can be diagnosed at any age, but often starts in childhood. Its prevalence in Canada has been increasing over the last 20 years and it is estimated that currently over 3 million Canadians have asthma.

“The three strongest risk factors for developing asthma are family history, exposure in infancy to high levels of antigens such as house dust mites, and exposure to tobacco smoke and/or chemical irritants.

“We’re all pretty familiar with allergic triggers of asthmatic symptoms, such as mould, animal dander, pollen, dust mites, etc., but perhaps less familiar with non-allergic triggers such as certain drugs, chemicals, fumes and odours, respiratory viral infections, certain weather conditions, strenuous physical exercise, tobacco smoke, and air pollution.

“Urbanization appears to be correlated with an increase in asthma. The nature of the risk is unclear because studies have not taken into account indoor allergens although these have been identified as significant risk factors.

“Experts are struggling to understand why prevalence rates world-wide are, on average, rising by 50% every decade.”

Alarming? Yes. Why?

First of all, the report was updated in April of 2005, yet most of the footnoted references are from the mid to late 90’s. So the report is about “Canadians” in general; children are still not identified as a unique segment of the population, their needs, habits and susceptibilities are not taken into special consideration, even though the studies all concur that asthma often starts in childhood.

Next, approximately 3 million Canadians have asthma. You have to put that into the context of how many Canadians there are, which in the year 2000 was about 31 million, with an annual growth rate of approximately 1%. So about 9.6% of all Canadians have asthma. Almost one out of 10. If one out of 10 Canadians were in a wheelchair, or wearing a cast, we would take notice. Alarming, since we treat it so casually. It’s a chronic disease, which means lifelong constant management and medication.

The world’s current (overall as well as natural) growth rate is about 1.3% per year, while prevalence rates of asthma world-wide are, on average, rising by 50% every decade. So asthma is occuring over 3 times more than can be attributed to population growth. These are rough figures, just to give us an idea of what we’re looking at.

And this is only about asthma. It isn’t about illness from chemical poisoning, or deaths from poisoning, or lung cancer, or…

So it’s time to take steps to prevent asthma and other chronic environmental illnesses and diseases. At the very least, search for and buy the least toxic cleansers for household use. Get educated! Then, store all chemicals safely and securely away from children and pets.

Don’t allow smoking in your home, and be aware of and avoid air pollution, both inside and out. Air out your home completely three times a day. Did you know that cigarette smoke contains about 4,000 chemical agents, including over 60 carcinogens? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Science’s National Toxicology Program, and the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen–a category reserved for agents for which there is sufficient scientific evidence that they cause cancer.

The U.S. EPA has estimated that exposure to secondhand smoke causes about 3,000 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers and is responsible for up to 300,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections in children up to 18 months of age in the United States each year. If you have to smoke, just dig your own grave, don’t drag others with you!

So, become aware and clean up your home environment.

About the author:

Kathryn Beach is a writer and wellness businesswoman at home in Nova Scotia, Canada. Find out more about the healing properties of tea tree oil at Learn About the Tea Tree Oil Phenomenon!

Written By: Kathryn Beach

Posted: September 29th, 2007 under Asthma.
Comments: none

Did you know that the indoor air is at least six times more contaminated than the outdoor air? Unfortunately, you cannot clean the outdoor air but what you can do is to improve the quality of the indoor air. The only device that could help you do this is an air purifier. It eliminates the indoor air from various contaminants, such as simple dust, volatile gases, pollen, pet dander and dust mites. More sophisticated air cleaning devices can even rid of dangerous bacteria and viruses leaving your house a healthy place to live at.

You might be asking yourself why you should waste your money on an air purifier. And you would be surprised what indoor air contaminants do to your health. They irritate your respiratory system and with time may cause a lot of disorders. So, buying an air purifier that would clean the indoor air of your house is not a waste of money. On the contrary, preventing serious health disorders from occurring can actually save your money and time.

Those, who suffer from allergies or asthma and other respiratory diseases, know how poor indoor air quality affects their health. Indoor air pollutants may aggravate the symptoms of these diseases. It is not true that closing all the windows and doors helps the indoor air keeping clean and healthy. All the contaminants from the outdoor are brought to your home by heating and cooling systems. All of these contaminants accumulate in your living environment putting you and your family in danger. The only way to change that is to buy a residential air purifier.

A lot of trials have been made in order to find out whether air purifiers can reduce health effects or not. The trials have showed that the use of air purifiers definitely reduces certain health effects. These include minor effects, such as eye and lung irritation. In addition, air cleaning devices may reduce the risk for some serious disorders, such as cancer and decreased lung function. Those who cannot bear the tobacco smoke in their living environment should also consider buying an air purifier. Most air purifiers eliminate cigarette smoke from the indoor air, reducing not only disgusting smell but also serious health effects.

Children are extremely sensitive to airborne pollutants therefore those, who care about their children’s health, should seriously consider using an air purifier in their environment. Pet danders, pollen, volatile organic compounds, cigarette smoke are only few mentioned contaminants that may affect children’s health and cause serious illnesses. Since children are exposed to dangerous airborne compounds from the early childhood, they may get serious diseases, such as asthma, various allergies, lung irritation and even lung cancer in the end.

Anyone who cares to breathe the air that is clean, healthy, and free of various pollutants and allergens should buy an air purifier for their homes. It may be either portable or non-portable, depending on the area coverage. Especially those, who are extremely sensitive to the indoor air pollution, should consider having an air purification system. Such are asthma sufferers, people who have allergies, children, youth and the elderly people. Poor quality of the indoor air affects these people the most. In the end, it is of course your individual decision you have to make on the use of air purifiers. Most health organizations recommend people to use air purification systems to improve their indoor air quality. There are various factors one should consider before making one’s decision on an air purifier. But what really matters the most is what you cannot see or feel - the indoor air quality. You shouldn’t take it for granted.

Use of this article is permitted as long as there are clickable links back to us at: The best air purifiers and all credits are given to the author.

About the author:

Written By: Diana Valo

Posted: September 26th, 2007 under Asthma.
Comments: none

Asthma is an inflammatory condition where your bronchiales constrict causing breathing difficulties. Your bronchioles become inflamed for a variety of physical, emotional and environmental reasons. It is not contagious so, you cannot catch it from another person.

But what is the real cause asthma? Why do some people develop asthma and why is asthma more common in the western world?

Inheriting Asthma

However, you can inherit the asthma tendency from your parents, although people with asthma should not worry about their future children on this score.

Studies show that children whose parents smoke are twice as likely to develop asthma as children of non-smoking parents. Also, children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy tend to be born with smaller airways, which greatly increases their chances of developing the disease.

The “westernised” environment and lifestyle in developed countries has a lot to do with the chances of whether a person will develop asthma or not.

Many people believe air pollution has something to do with asthma, although the evidence, at this stage, is surprisingly very weak.

Allergies

Causes of asthma include allergies to house dust mites, cats, dogs, and moulds.

Childhood infections and exposure to substances from bacteria in a dirty environment seem to protect against allergies, and this seems to be the main reason why richer populations have more allergic disease.

So the causes of asthma are complicated. They include genetics, exposure to chemical irritants and pollution, a low immune system, emotional or mental problems, allergies to certain foods.

Almost all asthma in young people is cause by allergies. This means that if you have asthma you probably have inherited genes which make it possible for you to get asthma. Add to this, allergy-producing things in your environment, such as house dust mites, cats, or dog and your asthma get worse.. The allergies and the genes are the causes for developing asthma, because if either of them were not present you would not developed asthma.

But, what about colds, exercise, laughter, or tobacco smoke, which are asthma triggers?

You can’t cure your asthma by not doing exercise, or by not laughing. Quite simply, these are not causes of asthma, though they can be causes of an attack.

The type of interior house paint can apparently make asthma worse. Glossy oil paints used for home decorating can bring on asthma attacks. The good news is that emulsion paints don’t seem to do this.

Polyurethane paints, usually recognisable because they come in two packs which need to be mixed together before use, can cause occupational asthma in people who use them regularly. However, they probably cause no great risk in people with asthma who use them infrequently. As always, when using chemicals and paints, it is surely a good idea to ventilate the area well during and after use.

Emotional issues

Now, deep seated emotionally issue can be the cause of asthma. When emotion is embedded into the body, it has to express itself in a way that its electrical charge can be released. This release happens over and over as outside situations trigger the memory.

The way an embedded emotion issue choses to express itself is by the path of least resistance. If your heart is weak, the emotional issue will pound your heart. If your joints are weak, it will pound your joints. If your bronchia or lungs are weak, it will pound them and eventually weaken those more, leading you to asthma or other respiratory diseases.

Early on everyone should be aware of their family illness history. This is something that is seldom considered. If it were, you could take preventative measures if you knew you were prone to asthma. Choosing the right foods and keeping specific body organs or systems strong, with the right nutrients early on, would definitely prevent you from having to suffer with asthma as you became older.

About the author:

Rudy Silva is a Natural Nutritionist. To discover more about using natural remedies for asthma go to: http://www.asthmatreatments.info

Written By: Rudy Silva

Posted: September 23rd, 2007 under Asthma.
Comments: none

Air Purifiers are all the rage now, everybody has them and everybody sells them. There are Ionic Air Purifiers, regular filter Purifiers and HEPA filter purifiers.

the Journal of the American Medical Association now suggests that the air pollution existing today in the US raises the risk of lung disease to a point where more than half of the US population is breathing unhealthy amounts of air pollution.

More than 50 million Americans seem to be suffering from allergies and more than 20 million battle asthma.

There is such a thing as Sick Building Syndrome, a worldwide phenomenon, when chemical substances used in office construction such as glue, insulating materials, cardboard, and fiberglass are steadily released into the atmosphere from electronic equipment, carpeting, furniture and fittings.

That is why the air inside buildings or residential structures may be many times more polluted than the air outside, according to the EPA.

Because of all these reasons Air Purifiers have become very important. The different types of air purifiers include mechanical purifiers, electronic air purifying systems, hybrid purifiers and gas phase purifiers. Most of these systems remove particles and harmful toxins from the indoor air.

The HEPA Filter is a High Efficiency Particulate Arrested Filter designed to remove 99.97% of all airborne pollutants 0.3 microns or larger from the air that passes through the filter ( including tobacco smoke, household dust and pollen).

There are also filtering technologies that operate by using ozonation. The most popular air purifier on the market today uses ozone. These purifiers actually produce ozone which is an irritant that can worsen asthma and decrease lung function.

The removal of particles from the air is what is measured when the efficiency rate is trying to be achieved.

The fraction of particles that is removed from the indoor air being measured is what determines the amount of efficiency an air purifier possesses.

Air cleaners using mechanical filters or electronic technology can perform particle removal. Mechanical home air purifiers are units that can draw the indoor air through a metal or fibrous filter that is designed to trap the particles.

Because filters have different size pores they are able to catch these particles. is able to catch these particles with its different sized pores. Different types of filters may be pleated , square, round, with different levels of efficiency.

Mechanical filters in general are very efficient in eliminating contaminants from the air as long as they are cleaned regularly. There are 3 diferent types of electronic purifiers:

Electrostatic purifiers pull air into a chamber and charge the particles electrically. The air is then let through wafers which are negative ion generators, give particles a charge and cause them to stick to the nearest solid object.

These purifiers are not as effective as the other electronic or mechanical purifiers because they do not eliminate particles but move them to another location.

Ionizers do the same thing but create ozone which in itself may be bad for your health. Ozone is a lung irritant produced by ion generators and some other electronic air cleaners and ozone generators.

While indirect ozone production is of concern, there is even greater concern with the direct, and purposeful introduction of a lung irritant into indoor air. There is no difference, despite some marketers’ claims, between ozone in smog outdoors and ozone produced by these devices. Repeated exposure to ozone pollution may cause permanent damage to the lungs.

Hybrid air cleaners use both mechanical filters and electronic technology in order to clean the air of particles. Ozone emissions may be present from the use of electrostatic air purifiers and negative ion generators. High levels of ozone may be harmful but cleaning the units as specified by the manufacturer may mitigate the possible bad effects of ozone to some extent.

Efficient Air Purifiers can cost anywhere from $500 to $1500 for a single room and a System to clean a whole house can easily run into the thousands of dollars.

About the author:

Frank Hague is very interested in air purifiers as you can see at: http://www.air-purifiers-now.info and http://www.youwillquit.com

Written By: Frank Hague

Posted: September 20th, 2007 under Asthma.
Comments: none

Asthma (pronounced AZ-muh) is a chronic (long term) inflammatory disease that makes the bronchial airways particularly sensitive to irritants such as air pollution. It affects people of all ages causing breathing difficulties, shortness of breath and wheezing.

It is the leading chronic illness in children and is becoming increasingly common in the developed world and is now the most common chronic condition in the west.

Asthma sufferers are often described as “being allergic to modern life” as air pollution, processed foods and centrally heated, double-glazed houses (an ideal breeding ground for house dust mites) are thought to be major contributing factors.

Asthma can affect anyone, at any age, anywhere and about one in eight children and one in thirteen adults have asthma in the western world, and rates are on the increase.

Although there is no cure, it can be controlled or managed in most patients so that they have only minimal and infrequent symptoms and can live an active life.

Asthma attacks Asthma suffererers have extra sensitive or hyper-responsive airways that narrow due to a mixture of factors. The muscles around the air passages in the lungs can contract and at the same time the airway lining can become inflamed and swell. This results in narrowing the airways that can get further blocked by the secretion of excess mucus.

This is described as an asthma attack with symptoms including a feeling of tightness in the chest, a wheezing or whistling noise when breathing, coughing, breathlessness and difficulty breathing.

This feeling of fighting for every breath is one that some asthmatics describe as being a sensation similar to drowning.

Asthma attacks vary not only between patients but for the same patient from a slight tightness or breathlessness to a severe attack when the airways can close so much that not enough oxygen reaches the vital organs causing a life threatening medical emergency.

Managing the disease If you have asthma, then learning to self-manage it becomes an important part of your life. This may mean restricting exposure to things that trigger your attacks and taking medicines as directed by your doctor.

By controlling your asthma every day, you can prevent serious symptoms and take part in all normal activities and reduce the time lost at school or work.

Anyone with asthma should seek long term medical help as a doctor will not only prescribe the necessary medication but also monitor its effectiveness.

This is important as asthma is a chronic or long term illness and the effectiveness of medication can decrease over time and symptoms can return.

Drugs that resemble natural hormones help fight asthma. Adrenaline (epinephrine in the USA) based drugs act as relievers to provide almost instant relief from symptoms and hydrocortisone (a steroid) is the base for longer term drugs that try and reduce the sensitivity of an asthmatics airways, thereby reducing the chances of an attack.

Asthma can change progressively during the lifetime of a patient affecting them in very different ways.

Some patients suffer acute episodes but then enjoy long periods with few symptoms.

Others may have childhood asthma and then grow out of it only for it to return in later life.

At a Glance … What is Asthma All About?

* Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes airways (bronchial tubes) particularly sensitive to irritants such as pollution, and this is characterized by difficulty in breathing.

* If untreated, asthma can be a life-threatening disease.

* Asthma affects people of all ages and is the leading chronic illness of children.

* While asthma cannot be cured it can be controlled, reducing the frequency and severity of attacks.

* If you have asthma, managing it is an important part of your life as taking medicines and reducing contact with things that bother you can cut down time lost at work or school.

About the author:

Do you, a spouse or a child, have asthma? Learn more, including the treatments available at Asthma-Explained.com

Written By: Mike Herman

Posted: September 17th, 2007 under Asthma.
Comments: none

Most asthma sufferers are familiar with the inhalers and oral remedies prescribed by their doctors for the treatment of wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath that accompany an asthmatic episode. While these medicines are typically effective in the treatment of the condition, there are people who may prefer a more natural approach to asthma relief, for a variety of reasons. Some people want more natural remedies.

Any drug introduced to the body has the potential for unpleasant side effects; short term reactions such as nausea and long term concerns such as potential permanent damage from steroids used to decrease inflammation in the lung tissues. There has been ongoing controversy in the medical community regarding the safety and advisability of steroid use. While these can be life-saving, there is concern that the steroids may cause irreversible damage such as muscle weakness and bone loss. To minimize the frequency of use, the asthma sufferer can make some dietary and lifestyle changes to help reduce the likelihood of an asthma attack.

The best “natural” defense against an asthmatic episode is to avoid known triggers. People with sensitivity to tobacco smoke should obviously stay away from it; and if your trigger is cat dander, you’ll just have to avoid petting the kittens in the pet store - no matter how adorable. Stay indoors on “high pollen” days if that is your trigger and always try to keep stress levels down. Using common sense is the first step toward lowering frequency of asthmatic episodes.

Asthma sufferers can also make healthy changes to their diets which can minimize asthma symptoms. Beyond avoiding known dietary triggers such as food allergies, nutritional supplements in the form of necessary vitamins and minerals can go a long way toward minimizing asthma attacks. Nutritional deficiencies make for a weakened system that isn’t able to effectively fight unexpected environmental triggers. Asthmatics need to exercise care even when using natural supplements. Make sure supplements are hypo-allergenic so as not to react to those! The need for certain vitamins and minerals may be greater among asthma sufferers than the average person as the condition itself tends to contribute to certain deficiencies. A good multi-vitamin is recommended to compensate for these deficiencies and make for a healthier body, better equipped to ward off reactions. Asthmatics also tend to have very low magnesium levels - a mineral that helps relax bronchial tubes - so a supplemental dose may be advisable. Finally, Vitamin C is believed to improve bronchial functioning.

More and more people are turning to herbal remedies to find relief from asthma symptoms. While most herbal supplements are not evaluated or endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration, there have been reports of success among those who have used them. Tylophora indica, used in Auyervedic medicine in India, has been getting a lot of positive attention thanks to its anti-inflammatory effects. Additionally, some individuals treated with the herb, Boswellia, reported a reduced number of asthma attacks. Butterbur is another promising herb shown to be as effective as traditional antihistamines in initial studies. As conclusive studies have not been done on most herbal remedies, the asthma sufferer is advised to be cautious when experimenting with these.

While it is possible to relieve symptoms of asthma, and reduce the likelihood of an asthma attack by avoiding known triggers, making lifestyle and dietary changes, and using certain herbal remedies, it is imperative to listen to your healthcare provider. Discuss vitamin and herbal supplements with your physician, and keep him informed of any changes you make and improvements you notice in your condition. The journey to a healthier life begins with a healthy amount of care and old-fashioned common sense.

About the author:

Gray Rollins is a featured writer for AsthmaDocs.com. To learn more about natural asthma remedies and asthma treatments, please visit our site.

Written By: Gray Rollins

Posted: September 14th, 2007 under Asthma.
Comments: none

It’s nice to be able to breathe–that’s something we take for granted sometimes. However, for almost two hundred years scientists, researchers, doctors, and businesses have worked diligently to allow people the every day luxury of breathing. Today with almost ten million asthma suffers alone, air purifiers are offering allergy sufferers, firefighters, soldiers, coal miners, hospital workers, PC manufacturers, factory workers, etc. the opportunity to breathe easier with an absolute plethora of products. Air purifiers and air cleaners have evolved by leaps and bounds from the original “inhalers” and “lung protectors” of the early days and continue to evolve to meet the constant need to breathe.

In the early 1800’s, John and Charles Dean developed a mask for firefighters that allowed them to charge into burning buildings without being overcome with smoke fumes. Along the same time, breathing masks for divers and coal miners were also being developed. In the early 1850’s, John Stenhouse developed a charcoal based filter which became the first gas mask. The original breathing masks and gas masks focused on filtering out specific enemies using an approach called High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA). The addition of charcoal to the filtration system was a huge advancement because the charcoal filtered multiple toxins.

World War II brought about one of the largest advancements in air filtration / purification history with the Manhattan Project. This project focused scientists and government funding on developing a breathing apparatus that would protect soldiers from which was later revealed to be the atomic bomb. That development prompted further advancements to combat chlorine gas, flame throwers, and mustard gas. A few years later the Ebola plague in Africa drew attention to the need for electronic generator air filters / purifiers. Corona Discharge Systems (CDS) used a spark to convert oxygen to ozone and allowed victims the gift of clean air to breathe.

Over the last twenty years the terms MCS - Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and ETS - Environmental Tobacco Smoke have become an integral part of air filtration / purification technology. Early filtration focused on toxic chemicals, noxious gas, and foul orders while more modern filtration devices focused on mold, viruses, bacteria. The need for the air purification devices has expanded over the years to include protection against fabric chemicals, perfumes, building materials, pesticides, dust mites, pollen, food odors, along with the plain ole’ desire for fresh air.

The 1980’s brought attention to the concept of a dust free environment. HEPA filters screen 99.7% of all 0.3 micron breathing offenders. Newer developments such as nebulizers for asthma patients and AHPCO ‘ Advanced Hydrated Photocatalytic Technical Quad Catalyst Ultraviolet Cells have helped bring filtration rates to 99.7% of all microns 0.1 and larger. The Hepa air cleaner now act as air purifiers using granular carbon filters, among many other types, to cleanse the air of as many unwanted pollutants as possible.

The number of applications has grown over the years, along with the technology and development of the indoor air purifier and filtration process. Thanks to almost two hundred years of research, the end result is the fulfillment of the simple desire to breathe.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Gazzo is a successful writer with info on the best air purifiers & air cleaners , home air purifiers. Find reviews and ratings on the ionic air purifier & the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze. http://www.home-air-purifiers-n-cleaners.com/

Written By: Chris Vorelli

Posted: September 11th, 2007 under Asthma.
Comments: none

In the waiting room in my clinic, there is a poster that says Self Forgiveness is Essential for Healing. A patient once asked me what it means and why I put it up there.

There are two main reasons why I put the poster up.

Firstly, I want my patients to realise that some physical illnesses are just manifestations of unresolved emotions and conflicts. Most times, these unresolved emotions have to do with anger and self blame. Both emotions are actually two sides of the same coin. The difference is that with anger, we direct the negative emotion outward at an external object or person while we direct it inwardly at ourselves in self blame. Both emotions are harmful to ourselves and may actually lead to physical illnesses. Some researchers believe that there is a strong link between such negative emotions with cancer.

In my own practice, I see some patients whose physical symptoms are actually caused by such negative emotions. One particularly noteworthy case was of a lady in her mid-thirties who suddenly developed asthma after a recent miscarriage. We initially treated her with anti-asthmatic medications with very little improvement. After about a month on medications, she came one afternoon looking rather sad. When I enquired further, she burst out crying. She disclosed that she had been feeling guilty about her miscarriage and blamed herself for the lost. To make matter worse, she could not discuss her feelings with her husband because he refused to talk about the matter.

I spend about an hour listening to her sorrows, allowing her to grieve for her lost. As she described her pain, she cried but I could see that it was good for her to discharge her pent up emotions.

After this visit, I did not see her for some time. Several months later, she came by to see me again. This time it was to thank me for the last consultation. Apparently, ever since that consultation, her asthmatic symptoms disappeared and never came back.

This demonstrates the negative effects of self blame and guilt, and the power of self forgiving.

There is another reason why I put that poster up, and it is to remind myself sometimes to be kind to myself. As a doctor and a human being, I am sometimes faced with difficult decisions and choices. Sometimes, the decisions I made may turn out to be detrimental to my patients, resulting in unpleasant consequences. Fortunately, such incidents are rare and far in between, but they are a reality of life as a doctor. No doctor with a conscience can continue to provide quality healthcare to his patients if he allows such guilt to haunt him indefinitely. Self blame in such a case is not only harmful to the doctor himself but to the patients he has to treat everyday.

Thus, as a doctor, one has to learn to accept responsibility for his choices, both good and bad. If the decisions happened to be bad, he has to allow himself to grieve and move on as quickly as he can. He does not have the luxury of prolonged griefs.

A healthy way to handle such situations is to consciously accept responsibility for his choices, even if he does not openly admit it to others, learn from it so as not to repeat the same mistake, and then to focus on the immediate task at hand. This can only be achieved with a lot of self forgiving.

As the saying goes, To err is human, to forgive divine. While forgiving is indeed divine, self forgiving can be the most difficult thing to do. It is often much easier to blame someone else instead of accepting responsibility for ones choices. It takes a person of courage and integrity to own his actions.

About The Author

Dr. Tim Ong is a medical doctor and runs a successful family medicine practice. In his free time, he devotes himself to meditation and community works. He is also the webmaster of http://klinikong.com, http://theselfimprovementsite.com and http://mindscienceinfo.com.

Written By: Dr. Tim Ong

Posted: September 5th, 2007 under Asthma.
Comments: none

More than 17 million people in the US alone suffer from asthma, a serious lung ailment, resulting in 5,000 asthma deaths a year. Asthma is an allergic inflammation of the lungs, which is generally triggered by pollens, molds, dust, animal dander, air pollution, chemicals, exercise, temperature changes or ingestion of certain foods. Asthma drugs, which are traditionally used to control asthma symptoms can have very serious side effects, plus they are also quite expensive. For a detailed list of asthma drugs and their known side effects see:

http://www.dramatic-asthma-relief.com/asthma-drug-side-effects.htm

Fortunately there are alternative asthma treatments which are quite effective, relatively inexpensive compared to drugs and best of all they are without negative side effects. However, it is best to prevent the development of asthma in the first place.

Asthma Prevention - Measures You Can Take to Prevent the Devlopment of Asthma

Doctors and researchers agree that the single most important thing that parents can do to prevent their child from developing asthma in the first place is to eliminate or significantly reduce dust mite allergens or asthma triggers in the home.

“Clinical studies have revealed that avoidance of dust mite allergens in early childhood can prevent the onset of asthma…” Michael LeNoir Md

Dust mite allergens are known to play a major role in it’s development. Researchers have determined that other important allergens (after dust mites) that also need to be eliminated from the home are cats, certain types of mold, dogs, cockroaches and tobacco smoke. It is a popular misconception that children will “outgrow” asthma. It is a severe and potentially life-threatening illness that should be taken seriously. Long term use of steroid drugs is not recommended by doctors and has serious side effects. Making these preventative environmental changes is a much more viable, healthy and preferable alternative. If you or your child are already suffering from asthma or allergies these measures will certainly help.

What are Dust Mites?
Dust mites are microscopic insects and live in bedding, pillows, mattresses, blankets, upholstery, carpets etc. They thrive particularly in humid climates. They live off of dead skin cells and produce an allergen from their excrement, which is inhaled.

All Homes Contain Dust Mites No Matter How Clean They Are.
Studies have shown that dust mite allergens in the home must be reduced to at least 2mcg/g dust or mite populations decreased to 100/g dust to have any significant benefit. There are several things that can be done to accomplish this.

What Can Be Done To Eliminate or Reduce Dust Mites?
Researchers have found through numerous studies that these are the most effective measures:
Changing the relative humidity and temperature of the home:

-Keeping relative humidity less than 50% is proven to greatly reduce the dust mite population. (Portable dehumidifiers were not shown to significantly reduce humidity).

-Mechanical ventilation with a heat recovery unit has proved to be the most effective to reduce humidity in the home.

-Using air cleaners that have HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters, which will also eliminate other allergens such as pollen and animal dander.

-Cleaning using a vacuum with a HEPA filter and steam cleaning rugs and upholstery regularly.

-Washing all bedding in hot water (60 degrees C, 130 degrees F) on a weekly basis is known to kill dust mites. Drying bedding in a hot dryer.

-Dry cleaning quilts and blankets weekly will also kill dust mites.

-Placing plastic casings specifically made for dust mite control on pillows and mattresses.

-Chemicals used on carpets and upholstery which are known to kill dust mites include benzyl benzoate, permethrin, pirimiphos methyl, phenyl salicylate, tannic acid, common household disinfectants, combinations of these, and insect growth regulators. (please note: some chemicals can also trigger asthma and allergy reactions, therefore research them carefully before using).

About the Author:

Susan Millar is a researcher and ex-asthma and allergy sufferer, providing people suffering from asthma with free asthma prevention resources. To download your free Asthma Prevention Report in pdf format,visit http://www.dramatic-asthma-relief.com/asthma-prevention.htm

Written By: Susan Millar

Posted: September 2nd, 2007 under Asthma.
Comments: none