If you recognize what triggers your symptoms of asthma you can avoid those triggers or minimize your exposure to them which will then lessen or eliminate your asthma attacks. Many things trigger asthma including irritants, allergens, respiratory infections, exercise and weather. One irritant trigger is dust. If a person’s asthma is triggered by dust they should have someone else dust the house and be sure to take measures to minimize dust especially in the bedroom.

Treatments for asthma include long-term control medications, inhaled corticosteroids, and rescue inhalers. There are many things that determine what medications will be right for your asthma symptoms including the age of the patient, the particular triggers that cause the asthma and your history of prior treatment and the success you had using those treatments.

There are various medications used to treat asthma. Rescue or quick-relief inhalers are used to quickly open airways during an asthma attack. Rescue inhalers may include one of the following medications:

Short-acting beta agonists such as Albuterol, Levalbuterol or Pirbuterol.

Ipratropium, which is a bronchodilator.

Oral and intravenous corticosteroids, which decrease inflammation in the airway.

If allergens are determined to cause asthma you will be prescribed allergy medications. Inhaled corticosteroids are medications that take several days to weeks to reach the full benefit level but have long-term success with low risk of side effects and are safe for patients to use over long periods of time. Oral medications such as leukotriene modifiers are used to prevent asthma symptoms for up to 24 hours after they are taken. Theophylline is a daily pill that is used to help keep airways open and relax the muscles around the airways so breathing is easier. This was a commonly used medication years ago but not used as much nowadays.

If allergies are determined to be a trigger for asthma it is important to take measure to control allergic reactions. Immunotherapy or allergy shots have been used successfully to reduce the allergic reaction experienced by exposure to certain allergens. A person will be tested to discover what the allergens are and then be given an allergy shot schedule; usually once a week for a few months, and then once a month for a period of one to five years depending on how severe the allergy has been determined to be.

Allergy medications can be oral or nasal spray and are usually a combination of antihistamines and decongestants. Corticosteroid, Cromolyn and Ipratropium nasal sprays are commonly used to control allergy symptoms.

Your doctor will discuss various treatment plans with you and your input will be important when deciding what treatment plan is best for you. Your treatment plan may change during the year especially if you have seasonal allergies, have asthma that is triggered by cold weather or participate in sports only part of the year.

Treatment typically is a combination of avoidance, lifestyle changes, medications and patient education about asthma. The treatment plan should be in writing with a way to measure success. Your doctor will want to have follow-up appointments in order to access how well your asthma is being controlled and to adjust your treatment plan to be sure that your asthma is well controlled.

The following week, I had a client call me saying that “My House Is Killing Me” and wanted us to investigate and find out what it was. He was having Asthma symptoms in every room of the house. During the Environmental Inspection, I noticed an area over a closet that had water stains on it. This area was also adjacent to the Air Handler Closet. Decided to look in the attic and there it was: 10 cardboard boxes for storage that were covered with mold. Apparently, there was a roof leak above this area and the roof leak leaked into the boxes with minimal damage in the house. What happened was the A/C Closet had a hole in the ceiling and every time the Air Conditioning cycled on, it would suck air in from the attic which was next to the moldy boxes. The mold spores were being spread throughout the home via the A/C System.

These are typical stories of the type of clients we have worked with for the last 15 years. Some problems are easy to fix and others can get very complicated. We have witnessed first hand how mold can affect people with Asthma and Allergies. Women and children seem to suffer worse than men living in the same house. Why, I do not know. I once had a Doctor say that it could be hormonal. The sad thing is when the husband is not allergic in the house, there can be a lot of tension around the issue of Asthma and Allergies.

We also deal with a lot of individuals who have Chemical Sensitivity from some type of injury from the job. This is worse than Asthma or Allergies because they are reactive to every thing. It is tough living like this but they are troopers who keep trying to make it in a world that is full of chemicals that can affect them. A simple Glade Plugin will affect them and not affect other people. I give them credit for not giving up.

In conclusion, people can be allergic to their pets and not understand their allergies. Mold can be caused by roof leaks in hidden areas of a house and you do not even know it is happening. There can be tension in a home when one person is sick and other is not. Chemical Sensitivity can be an increased vulnerability to chemicals and other airborne irritants. It is hard to deal with also. If you feel that you have Asthma, Allergies or Chemical Sensitivity, call you Doctor immediately.

You often hear the terms “asthma” and “allergies” lumped together. But do you know why?

Asthma is a chronic lung condition, characterized by difficulty in breathing due to extra sensitive or hyper-responsive airways. During an asthma attack, the airways become irritated and react by narrowing and constructing, causing increased resistance to airflow, and obstructing the flow of air to and from the lungs. Common early warning signs of asthma include fatigue, coughing (especially at night), wheezing, difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest, runny nose, and itchy throat.

Allergies, on the other hand, are immune system reactions to things that most people would experience as harmless. Certain foods, dust, pollen … these are allergens that can trigger an allergy attack. When they’re encountered, the body’s immune system produces IgE antibodies to fight the allergen. These antibodies create the release of chemicals into the bloodstream, one of which (histamine) affects the eyes, nose, throat, lungs, and skin, causing the allergy’s symptoms.

So now that we have a better picture of how these two health conditions function, the question becomes … is there a relationship between allergies and asthma?

It’s true that those with certain allergies (usually allergies that affect the nose and eyes, such as dust mites, animal dander, mold or pollen) are more likely to develop asthma than say … those without allergies or those with allergies in other classifications, such as food allergies. But it’s also true that many of those with allergies never develop asthma at all.

In addition, there are other factors that can contribute to a person’s asthma. Unmonitored exercise, for example. Or other illnesses, such as colds or the flu.

Scientists aren’t sure what lies at the root cause of asthma. Various studies are looking at a variety of factors, including air pollution, obesity, and as strange as it might sound, even the lack of exposure to viruses and bacteria in childhood (which may prevent the immune system from growing stronger).

What we do know is that exposure to indoor allergens, pollen, animal dander, grass … in other words, allergy-related factors, are often found in asthmatics. Often, but not always. And it also appears that asthma tends to run in families. If both parents have asthma, there’s actually a 40% probability their children will develop the disease as well.

Current research efforts have been exploring the influence of environmental factors, genetics (as mentioned above), and even stress on asthma. This creates the potential to dramatically reduce a person’s asthma severity levels by altering his or her exposure to the aggravating factors. This can be particularly successful when the culprit is something that’s relatively easy to control. Dust, for instance. Or something only encountered in a work environment. Or, though it’s certainly much more difficult because of the emotional component, a family pet.

Unfortunately, the most common allergy that appears to have a direct influence on asthma is an allergy to dust mites. Eliminating these mites to the extent that it might make a difference in the severity of your asthma requires a major change in lifestyle and can often be quite expensive. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, only that it’s not as easy as simply staying indoors during the pollen season or switching to a less stressful job.

Of course, new treatments are coming along all the time, and considerable research is currently dedicated to finding ways to modify, abolish or diminish the affect allergies have on the body. It’s believed that with the successful control of allergies can come the successful control of asthma, particularly in younger sufferers.

In the meantime, here’s what we know … asthma can be triggered by allergic reactions, but it can also be triggered by nonallergic reactions. Most asthma attacks result from exposure to allergens such as pollen, household dust, and mold. These attacks can be influenced by indoor or outdoor environments. Because a majority of asthma sufferers are affected by some form of allergies, it’s worth the effor to work closely with your doctor to try to identify and control all potential allergens within your influence.

To be honest about it, emphysema life expectancy is not very encouraging. This disease affects a person progressively and it is irreversible and thus life expectancy because of emphysema is certainly affected. Alternative treatments may however offer some help. Not only humans, emphysema attacks animals too. For example, canine emphysema is not that uncommon.

Prior to antibiotics, infection in the lungs, particularly by the tubercular bacilli that caused pulmonary tuberculosis could not be cured – doctors merely described the disorder as a “wasting disease”. Even today, after the invention of multi-powered drugs, TB remains as one of the toughest diseases to be fully cured.

Emphysema, which also involves the lungs, is yet another difficult to cure disease. As a matter of fact, modern day medics cannot cure it at all. While pulmonary tuberculosis is manageable with highly potent antibiotics that can eventually kill the bacilli before the bacilli can kill the patient, no antibiotic can repair the holes in the lungs that has been caused by the alveoli. And this is the tragedy of emphysema.

The Emphysema Disease And Its Life Expectancy

Emphysema is a chronic and progressive pulmonary (lung) disorder and it is characterized by breathing symptoms that include shortness of breath, difficulties in breathing and a feeling of being winded during exertion. Though the symptoms in emphysema and chronic bronchitis are more or less similar, emphysema’s breathing trouble is a unique and singular phenomenon.

Studies reveal that emphysema is more prevalent in men above the age of 65 years. And if someone is diagnosed with the disease at this age, many doctors give the person a maximum of 3 years to live. Children and those in pregnancy can also be a victim. Of course though life expectancy takes a beating here too, but they can expect to live for longer. It can be said that the life expectancy goes down with age. But on the positive side, at least emphysema is not contagious and so there is no risk of the family members getting affected.

The distinguishing symptoms include as much as 35% to 55% damage in the lung tissues, and most of such damage is beyond repair. Based on the results of breathing tests (PFT or the Pulmonary Function Test) there are 4 successive stages of emphysema and they are…

Stage 1 – Mild

Stage 2 – Moderate

Stage 3 – Severe

Stage 4 – Very severe or Terminal

Emphysema Life Expectancy And The Role Of Spirometry

Spirometry is employed to measure the volumes/percentage of exhaled air by the patient in a second. This is medically termed as FEV 1 or Forced Expiratory Volume over one second. This is an important test because it gives the doctor an estimate about the patient’s health status and how long he or she may live. For a normal healthy person, the Spirometer reading will hover between 80 and 100. But for an emphysema patient whose reading is below 35, the person will belong to Stage 4, and this will mean that he or she is not expected to live for long. However, with some information and effective measures, the person will be certainly able to survive for many years.

Diagnostic test results apart, several other factors also help determine emphysema life expectancy. These include the patient’s body weight (lower weight indicates a greater risk), how much he or she can cover before experiencing breathing problems, the ability to resist viral or other infections and others.

To improve emphysema life expectancy, doctors usually prescribe long-term oxygen therapy and this also eases the breathing problems. Small, handy oxygen cylinders can provide 24-hour supply of oxygen, thereby increasing the life expectancy to a great extent. But the key is to act according to the physician’s advice.

If you are one of the many men or women who have been diagnosed with emphysema, you may be looking for alternative or complementary emphysema treatment options. Consequently, detoxification in conjunction with other methods may be a suitable idea for you and your needs.

Why detox for emphysema treatment? Really, it’s a round-about method of attacking emphysema symptoms and aggravators at their root.

Emphysema affects the respiratory system and is often associated with firsthand smoking; thus, it’s essential that all patients suffering emphysema symptoms stop smoking and seek out ways to treat the disease physically. And de-toxing can be a powerful weapon in smoking cessation, which will in turn help stave off emphysema symptoms and signs.

But plenty of people aren’t familiar with the way detoxification works, nor are they “in the know” in terms of how to properly detox their bodies. Many falsely assume that it’s as easy as avoiding food and drinking only water for a time, but it’s much more than that. Despite that, it’s quite a simple process when done correctly and can provide amazing results.

Detoxification cleanses the body of toxins that are flooding the bloodstream and causing problems in day-to-day functions. However, true detoxing cannot be accomplished as a means of emphysema treatment by merely drinking and eating a certain way. The ideal detoxification program for sufferers of emphysema symptoms must have a holistic approach, and that includes a focus on both the patient’s mind and body.

For those victims seeking emphysema treatment by detoxification, it’s recommended to adopt a short-term eating plan that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables as well as fruit and vegetable juices. These items will keep the body’s blood sugar levels stable and provide the patient with enough calories for sustenance and daily energy (unless the patient is woefully underweight), but will also help “scrub” the arteries and clean out the stomach and colon naturally.

Additionally, detoxing as an emphysema treatment should include the use of vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C tablets. Vitamin C has long been used to detox the body, and when used in accordance with nutritional guidelines (too much can cause abdominal discomfort and ulcers), it’s a wonderful tool for the detoxing man or woman.

Finally, those who choose detoxification for emphysema treatment need to find their own mind-body connections to truly see the results that detoxing can bring. That’s why adopting a daily regimen of exercise (including yoga, tae bo, meditation, and/or pilates) is highly recommended. Though it may be difficult at first to work out if emphysema symptoms are flaring up, constantly moving and performing low-impact activities (such as meditating) can actually help in keeping emphysema symptoms and signs at bay in the future.

Will detoxification for you and your loved ones work as an emphysema treatment technique? The only way to find out is to try it. In the end, you can only wind up feeling healthier.

In the winter time, the most common disease that one can develop is bronchitis. This is the result of an infection with a virus, most of the times. There is always the possibility that symptoms of bronchitis carry out for some time even after bronchitis has been cured. Another reason someone may get bronchitis is because of bacteria. This is less common, but it is almost in all cases a result of an upper infection in your respiratory system. A person can also suffer from bronchitis, but not caused by a virus or bacteria, but a case of bronchitis that is a combination of the both.

If you are a smoke or have any problems with your lungs, bronchitis can be a lot more trouble to you than you think. These people may have more than one attacks of bronchitis. Another health problem that increases the risk of bronchitis is malnutrition. This usually happens in small children or older people. Allergies are also a friend of acute bronchitis. Some children may also have enlarged tonsils of suffer from sinus infections may also have more bronchitis episodes.

It is not very hard to distinguished the bronchitis symptoms. In the beginnings of bronchitis, the symptoms are similar to those of a cold: sore throat, a runny nose and muscles ache. Fever can also be associated with bronchitis, but a mild one. These are the bronchitis symptoms for a few days. When cough appears, that is a sure sigh of acute bronchitis. When a person suffers from bronchitis caused by a virus, this cough can also be accompanied by mucus. The color of the mucus can also tell if besides the virus, bronchitis has also been complicated by a bacterial infection. Although in acute bronchitis fever is not very high, when
the case of bronchitis is getting severe, you might have a high fever, even if you are take antibiotics. Cough, which is the trade mark of bronchitis, is the last symptom of this disease, bronchitis, that goes away.

Bronchitis can also have complications. The most common bronchitis complication is pneumonia. You can also develop an acute respiratory failure as a complication of bronchitis. This usually happens to people that besides bronchitis, suffer from lung problems.

To diagnose bronchitis, the doctor must take into consideration all the bronchitis symptoms and also has to rule out pneumonia. To get a better diagnosis, the doctor might analyze the sputum to proper diagnose bronchitis. Chest x-rays are also taken to see if the patient suffers or not from bronchitis.

There are two forms of bronchitis, the acute and the chronic bronchitis. The most common of the two is the acute bronchitis form. This is the result of an infection with a virus or bacteria. Acute bronchitis is in most of the cases a consequence of an infection in the upper respiratory system.

To actually understand bronchitis, we must know what part of our body it affects and how. Well, bronchitis is a respiratory infection, in which the bronchial tubes become inflated. This is bronchitis. This membrane swallows constantly and it grows thicker every day, making it hard for air to get to your lungs. The acute form of bronchitis lasts about two months. The chronic bronchitis can last up to two years. In this interval, you will suffer from bronchitis, feel better and than develop it again, as this form of bronchitis is recurrent.
There is a third type of bronchitis as well, asthmatic bronchitis. This happens only in people who suffer from asthma and the develop bronchitis. Smoking can also be a problem for you. If you develop bronchitis and you are a smoker, the recovery will be much harder.

Acute bronchitis has many different symptoms, like cough, fever, sore throat, chills and you might sometimes have some problems breathing when suffering from acute bronchitis. The cough is the most common symptom for acute bronchitis. The second type of bronchitis, chronic bronchitis has almost the same symptoms as acute bronchitis, but the cough is persistent and it produces a mucus
colored yellow or green. The period of coughing in chronic bronchitis is also longer, about three months. You might also loose your breath once in a while when suffering from chronic bronchitis.

As bronchitis is a disease that has consequences, a doctor must called as soon as possible. He/ she will give you the proper bronchitis treatment. However, there is reason for concern in some of the following cases:

- if your cough becomes persistent and you have chest pain;

- having bronchitis symptoms for more than one and a half weeks;

- the mucus produced by the cough has a darker color;

- if you have another lung problem and develop bronchitis, you might have serious complications;

The treatment for bronchitis is simple and available for everybody. It depends on what type of bronchitis you have. However, if besides the bronchitis symptoms you cough blood or the symptoms for bronchitis are very severe, a doctor should be seen right away.

Hormone Replacement Therapy, or HRT, is a common medical treatment that can relieve the symptoms of menopause. It is also sometimes used to lessen aging symptoms in men. Although it can be helpful, hormone therapy also comes with many health risks. For this reason, every person should discuss the decision to use hormone treatment with their doctor.

What is Hormone Replacement Therapy?

Hormone replacement therapy is a treatment that consists of medication prescribed to women by a family physician. The medication is designed to counteract the effects of menopause. These medications contain female hormones like estrogen and progestin, which is a man-made version of the naturally occurring progesterone. Hormone therapy can alleviate many symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes and vaginal symptoms. Although usually used to treat women, a form of hormone therapy for men is also available to treat low levels of testosterone.

History of the Treatment

Hormone therapy has been around since the 1930′s, when estrogen was used to treat hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. In the 1960′s, doctors found more reasons to use HRT and family physicians began prescribing it more often. Throughout the next ten years, doctors used hormone therapy to treat everything from hot flashes to depression. It was approved by the FDA to treat menopause at first. In the 1980′s it was also approved to treat the loss of bone density. By 2002, it became apparent that hormone therapy can cause serious health problems and the frequency of prescription went down greatly.

Benefits to Hormone Replacement

There are a few benefits to using hormone replacement therapy in the short term. Women seem to gain protection against the loss of bone density, colorectal cancer and heart disease. Studies show that this lowers the chance of fractures and broken bones. The decrease in heart disease occurs when hormone therapy is started at the beginning of menopause. Of course, benefits also include the reduction in menopausal symptoms like mood swings and trouble sleeping as well.

Shortcomings of the Therapy

There are a number of side effects that have decreased the use of hormone therapy medication by family physicians over the past ten years. Taking estrogen medication without progestin increases the risk of uterine cancer. Long term use of hormone therapy is linked to abnormal mammograms, a higher risk of blood clots and an increased chance of certain cancers. For some, the benefits can outweigh the risks of hormone therapy, although family physicians usually recommend it only when menopause symptoms are too difficult to live with.

Hormone replacement therapy has decreased over the past ten years, although it is still an effective treatment for some individuals. HRT can reduce menopausal symptoms and decrease the risk of osteoporosis. Still, the side effects and health risks associated with the process make it necessary to carefully consider the therapy before choosing it for long term treatment.

Weight and appearance now define social and economic opportunities, whereas surname, old school tie and family network used to. Celebrities, movers and shakers and the wealthy are active participants in the wellness revolution today, establishing a beachhead in diet, exercise, vitamins, nutritional supplements and reversing the ageing process. People are actively pursuing healthier lifestyles but don’t have the time for it and there is an upsurge in interest in cosmetic alterations and anti-ageing treatments.

What is wellness? It’s about prevention rather than cure. Curing being the prevail of the medical or the sickness industry. People don’t necessarily choose sickness but can actively choose wellness. The medical industry tends to treat the symptoms, not the underlying problem but very often people have neglected themselves for too long, offering little alternative. Even pharmaceutical companies are more incentivised to spend R & D resources on treating rather than curing ailments, and certainly have little interest in prevention. Because of their economic might they exercise a great deal of influence in the medical fraternity. Health-care funding is a R40 billion+ industry in South Africa alone.

In an increasingly chronic stressful environment, people have less time and look towards “a pill for every ill” solution instead of focusing on the discipline required to establish a sound physical infrastructure. Food, diet and exercise are often neglected. In the USA, 61% of the population are overweight and in ill health. This situation is matched in other developed countries and it is reasonable to assume that a similar picture is emerging in advanced developing nations like ours. The processed and fast food industries have grown exponentially but there is an increasing movement towards healthier lifestyles. This is reflected amongst the wealthier echelons of our population and mirrored by the growth and success of the gym/fitness sector.

Many modern maladies are explained away as a consequence of the ageing process but more and more people will come to realize that stress-related ailments, headaches, body pain, fatigue, arthritis and thousands of other common ailments can be combated by a focus on lifestyle choices. Many existing holistic health practitioners are seen as fringe and also often don’t exploit proven business practices but in the USA, the burgeoning wellness industry represents a turnover of $200 billion pa and some anticipate it will grow to $1 trillion within the next 10 years. Around the world the size of the opportunity is enormous for business minded operators.