Asthma Round Up: Is Prevention Still The Cure?
EmPower Research
February 04, 2008
By Sangeeta G. Dastidar
From Bangalore in southern India to Kaziranga in the east and westward too, asthma as a "living" ailment is definitely worth worrying than the "breathless cough" it triggers. Asthma by "prevention" and not mere medical symptomatic cure is the new health buzz. So the question here is whether the cause of the illness can be blamed only on dust, mites, pollens, and allergens alike? Yes and more.
Stressed Out – Then, Beware Of The Cough
A recent Harvard School of Public Health study collated from India and released in the recent weeks reported that domestic violence, divorce, separation, and unhappy relationships have an emotional bearing on a person already affected with asthmatic symptoms. Veterans in the medical world have now linked the trigger elements of asthma to the emotion processing centres in the brain, linking it to the physiological processes that could cause asthmatic symptoms.
To add to the doctor´s dilemma, modern lifestyle has but aggravated the cause and symptom of asthma. The battle to cull this disorder goes on along with and beyond complimentary, companion or adjunct asthma therapies. The need is to control modern lifestyle pressures such as long working hours, inconsistent eating habits and working in shifts that has but precipitated attacks amongst asthma sufferers. How you choose to live your life also adds to whether the ailment is chronic or acute.
Have you ever questioned the "vanilla" or "strawberry" essence or the food additives and preservatives in processed modern food. Like it or not, these additives are known to add to the ´asthma woes´. Poorly ventilated home or office space, passive smoke and obesity too alongwith stress, overuse of antibiotics in early childhood, cold weather conditions and bad inter personal relationships are now stated as symptomatic causes for asthmatic patients with hyperallergic air passages.
An Eco Friendly Attempt
India has an estimated 15-20 million asthmatic patients and about 10-15 percent, sufferers belong to the 5-11 year age group. The classified triggers for asthma include environment pollutants, molds, dust mites, certain food stuff — the ailment affects all sections of the society. Nearly 15 percent of children in Delhi suffer from asthma and 10 percent of the total population is affected due to smoking and environmental pollution. Drug majors are now changing inhaler therapy in favour of the non CFC inhalers using HFA (Hydro Fluoro Alkanes) technology.
But We Need More
In India, flaxseed popularly known as Linseed (Linum usitatissimum), an important oilseed crop grown for its oil and fiber is consumed in North Karnataka as chutney powder, karandi etc. The potential health benefits include lowering of bad cholesterol level which results in lowering cardiovascular risk, diabetes, and asthma, amongst other ailments.
Weed It Or Heed It
In recent times, the asthma menace has also triggered socio-economic interest in its protocol to protect the Kaziranga National Park and the surrounding hilly areas of Assam in the North Eastern India from the deadly clutches of the Parthenium weed. This weed poses a threat not only to the flora and fauna as it destroys the food chain; people living in the area if exposed to the plant or its pollen can suffer from dermatitis, hay fever and asthma. The Association for Socio-economic Assessment and Development, Northeast, an NGO dealing with environment related issues has recently committed itself to educating the local inhabitants on the ills of the Parthenium weed.
The silent incidences of asthma, eczema, dermatitis and hay fever is also understood to be caused by the toxins released through pollen grains from dangerous crop weeds. In Delhi, North India, 30 percent of asthma cases are caused due to pollens generated by such crop weeds, especially Parthenium. Agro-scientists believe that at least 50 percent of wasteland in the State is covered by Parthenium alone while the crop land is covered by a bare 0.5 percent. Scientists at the Weed Control Project of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) fear that this count is strong enough to multiply given the life-cycles and growth rate of such pollens, further proliferating "asthma attacks" amongst suffers in the state capital.
Asthma Here And Everywhere
How lethal is the "asthma attack" also varies with "where you live". An international research data findings point to the fact that that youngsters in affluent, developed countries had more allergy-triggered asthma symptoms than did children in poorer, less developed countries.
Results published in the September issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found "The link between atopic sensitization and asthma symptoms in children differs strongly between populations and increases with economic development," the study's authors wrote.
Part of the study also theorized on the "hygiene hypothesis" that without real challenges -- like those from bacteria and viruses -- the human immune system may begin responding to substances, such as animal waste, causing allergy and asthma symptoms. This theory still remains controversial.
The new study, however, does not specify the hygiene hypothesis and sought to assess the differences in allergic sensitization and the types of asthma experienced in different countries. The study included almost 55,000 children between the ages of 8 and 12 from 22 countries. The countries represented a wide range of living conditions from rural areas in Africa to urban areas of Europe.
The areas with the highest levels of allergy-induced asthma were Guangzhou, China (93.8 percent); Hong Kong, China (59.6 percent); and the Netherlands (58.6 percent). The areas with the lowest rates of allergic asthma were Ankara, Turkey (0 percent) and Mumbai, India (2 percent).
Despite the survey statistics, experts comment that in non-affluent countries, children may have worse nutrition and be exposed to worse pollution, and these factors more than lead to onset asthma.
Believe It Or Not
An age old "traditional cure" has recently been tested by British researchers who believe that hookworm infestations could be induced under medical supervision to reduce symptoms and prevent over-active immune responses linked to allergies and auto-immune diseases. Dr David Pritchard, from the University of Nottingham, is currently leading a team to determine if the worms can be harnessed to fight these conditions. Two small safety trials have already been completed and early preparations are in progress for a study of asthma patients.
And The Search Is On
Ayurvastra, a possible herbal cure, was recently added to India´s exports, a blessing from India´s "God´s Own Country" – Kerala, in southern India. "Ayur" is Sanskrit means health, while "vastra" means cloth, so ayurvastra together means "health cloth" in literal terms. The raw organic cotton yarn is woven with ayurvedic herbs. Different herbs are used on different batches of cloth, depending on the ailment.
The only test so far has been conducted at the government-owned Ayurveda College in Kerala which has aimed to cure patients suffering from rheumatism, allergies, hypertension and psoriasis. Patients were exposed to ayurvedic herbs for a month through clothing, bed linen and mattresses. The floors and walls of their rooms were lined with ayurvastra mats. These herbs, it is claimed, help improve skin ailments, rashes, hypertension, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes.
Inhalers, pills , powders or herbs, the cure lies within you –adapt now – the choice is definitely yours!
From Bangalore in southern India to Kaziranga in the east and westward too, asthma as a "living" ailment is definitely worth worrying than the "breathless cough" it triggers. Asthma by "prevention" and not mere medical symptomatic cure is the new health buzz. So the question here is whether the cause of the illness can be blamed only on dust, mites, pollens, and allergens alike? Yes and more.
Stressed Out – Then, Beware Of The Cough
A recent Harvard School of Public Health study collated from India and released in the recent weeks reported that domestic violence, divorce, separation, and unhappy relationships have an emotional bearing on a person already affected with asthmatic symptoms. Veterans in the medical world have now linked the trigger elements of asthma to the emotion processing centres in the brain, linking it to the physiological processes that could cause asthmatic symptoms.
To add to the doctor´s dilemma, modern lifestyle has but aggravated the cause and symptom of asthma. The battle to cull this disorder goes on along with and beyond complimentary, companion or adjunct asthma therapies. The need is to control modern lifestyle pressures such as long working hours, inconsistent eating habits and working in shifts that has but precipitated attacks amongst asthma sufferers. How you choose to live your life also adds to whether the ailment is chronic or acute.
Have you ever questioned the "vanilla" or "strawberry" essence or the food additives and preservatives in processed modern food. Like it or not, these additives are known to add to the ´asthma woes´. Poorly ventilated home or office space, passive smoke and obesity too alongwith stress, overuse of antibiotics in early childhood, cold weather conditions and bad inter personal relationships are now stated as symptomatic causes for asthmatic patients with hyperallergic air passages.
An Eco Friendly Attempt
India has an estimated 15-20 million asthmatic patients and about 10-15 percent, sufferers belong to the 5-11 year age group. The classified triggers for asthma include environment pollutants, molds, dust mites, certain food stuff — the ailment affects all sections of the society. Nearly 15 percent of children in Delhi suffer from asthma and 10 percent of the total population is affected due to smoking and environmental pollution. Drug majors are now changing inhaler therapy in favour of the non CFC inhalers using HFA (Hydro Fluoro Alkanes) technology.
But We Need More
In India, flaxseed popularly known as Linseed (Linum usitatissimum), an important oilseed crop grown for its oil and fiber is consumed in North Karnataka as chutney powder, karandi etc. The potential health benefits include lowering of bad cholesterol level which results in lowering cardiovascular risk, diabetes, and asthma, amongst other ailments.
Weed It Or Heed It
In recent times, the asthma menace has also triggered socio-economic interest in its protocol to protect the Kaziranga National Park and the surrounding hilly areas of Assam in the North Eastern India from the deadly clutches of the Parthenium weed. This weed poses a threat not only to the flora and fauna as it destroys the food chain; people living in the area if exposed to the plant or its pollen can suffer from dermatitis, hay fever and asthma. The Association for Socio-economic Assessment and Development, Northeast, an NGO dealing with environment related issues has recently committed itself to educating the local inhabitants on the ills of the Parthenium weed.
The silent incidences of asthma, eczema, dermatitis and hay fever is also understood to be caused by the toxins released through pollen grains from dangerous crop weeds. In Delhi, North India, 30 percent of asthma cases are caused due to pollens generated by such crop weeds, especially Parthenium. Agro-scientists believe that at least 50 percent of wasteland in the State is covered by Parthenium alone while the crop land is covered by a bare 0.5 percent. Scientists at the Weed Control Project of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) fear that this count is strong enough to multiply given the life-cycles and growth rate of such pollens, further proliferating "asthma attacks" amongst suffers in the state capital.
Asthma Here And Everywhere
How lethal is the "asthma attack" also varies with "where you live". An international research data findings point to the fact that that youngsters in affluent, developed countries had more allergy-triggered asthma symptoms than did children in poorer, less developed countries.
Results published in the September issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found "The link between atopic sensitization and asthma symptoms in children differs strongly between populations and increases with economic development," the study's authors wrote.
Part of the study also theorized on the "hygiene hypothesis" that without real challenges -- like those from bacteria and viruses -- the human immune system may begin responding to substances, such as animal waste, causing allergy and asthma symptoms. This theory still remains controversial.
The new study, however, does not specify the hygiene hypothesis and sought to assess the differences in allergic sensitization and the types of asthma experienced in different countries. The study included almost 55,000 children between the ages of 8 and 12 from 22 countries. The countries represented a wide range of living conditions from rural areas in Africa to urban areas of Europe.
The areas with the highest levels of allergy-induced asthma were Guangzhou, China (93.8 percent); Hong Kong, China (59.6 percent); and the Netherlands (58.6 percent). The areas with the lowest rates of allergic asthma were Ankara, Turkey (0 percent) and Mumbai, India (2 percent).
Despite the survey statistics, experts comment that in non-affluent countries, children may have worse nutrition and be exposed to worse pollution, and these factors more than lead to onset asthma.
Believe It Or Not
An age old "traditional cure" has recently been tested by British researchers who believe that hookworm infestations could be induced under medical supervision to reduce symptoms and prevent over-active immune responses linked to allergies and auto-immune diseases. Dr David Pritchard, from the University of Nottingham, is currently leading a team to determine if the worms can be harnessed to fight these conditions. Two small safety trials have already been completed and early preparations are in progress for a study of asthma patients.
And The Search Is On
Ayurvastra, a possible herbal cure, was recently added to India´s exports, a blessing from India´s "God´s Own Country" – Kerala, in southern India. "Ayur" is Sanskrit means health, while "vastra" means cloth, so ayurvastra together means "health cloth" in literal terms. The raw organic cotton yarn is woven with ayurvedic herbs. Different herbs are used on different batches of cloth, depending on the ailment.
The only test so far has been conducted at the government-owned Ayurveda College in Kerala which has aimed to cure patients suffering from rheumatism, allergies, hypertension and psoriasis. Patients were exposed to ayurvedic herbs for a month through clothing, bed linen and mattresses. The floors and walls of their rooms were lined with ayurvastra mats. These herbs, it is claimed, help improve skin ailments, rashes, hypertension, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes.
Inhalers, pills , powders or herbs, the cure lies within you –adapt now – the choice is definitely yours!
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