MENSTRUATION RELATED ASTHMA

MENSTRUATION RELATED ASTHMA
Premenstrual worsening of asthma has been reported in as many as 30% to 40% of women in some studies, whereas worsening of pulmonary functions has been reported even in women not aware of worsening symptoms.The pathophysiology is uncertain because estrogen replacement in postmenopausal women has been shown to worsen asthma, whereas estradiol and progesterone administration have been variably reported to improve or have no effect on asthma in women with premenstrual asthma.Studies would indicate that, in general, bronchial responsiveness and symptoms improve in asthmatics during pregnancy.The clinical significance of menstruationrelated asthma is still unclear because some studies have reported that up to 50% of emergency department visits by women were premenstrual, whereas others have reported no association with menstrual

FOODS, DRUGS, AND ADDITIVES
Documentation in the literature of food allergens as triggers for asthma is not available.  However, additives, specifically sulfites used as preservatives, can trigger life-threatening asthma exacerbations. Beer, wine, dried fruit, and open salad bars in particular have high concentrations of metabisulfites.  Severe oral corticosteroid-dependent patients should be warned about ingesting foods processed with sulfites. Another additive producing bronchospasm is benzalkonium chloride, which is found as a preservative in some nebulizer solutions of antiasthmatic drugs. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can precipitate an attack in up to20%of adults with asthma.  The mechanism
is related to cyclooxygenase inhibition, and 5-lipoxygenase inhibition can prevent the symptoms.  The prevalence increases with age. The greatest frequency occurs in severe corticosteroid-dependent asthmatics in their fourth and fifth decades who also have perennial rhinitis and nasal polyposis (presence of several polyps).  Other drugs that do not precipitate bronchospasm but which prevent its reversal are the β-blocking agents 

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FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO ASTHMA SEVERITY

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO ASTHMA SEVERITY

VIRAL INFECTIONS
Viral infections are primarily responsible for exacerbations of
asthma.  Viral upper respiratory tract infections are a major precipitant of acute asthma in children, being involved in up to 20% to 40% of acute episodes.Infants are particularly susceptible to airways obstruction and wheezing with viral infections because of their small airways. The most common cause of exacerbations in both children and adults is the common rhinovirus.Other viruses isolated include respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza virus, coronavirus, and influenza viruses.
The inflammatory response to viral infection is thought to be associated directly with the increasing BHR. Certain viruses (RSV and parainfluenza virus) are capable of inducing specific IgE antibodies, and rhinovirus can activate eosinophils directly in asthmatics. The increase in asthma symptoms and BHR that occurs may last for days or weeks following resolution of the symptoms of the viral infection. The NAEPP recommends annual influenza vaccinations for patients with asthma.
 

ENVIRONMENTAL AND OCCUPATIONAL FACTORS
Agents and events and the mechanisms that are known to trigger asthma are listed in Table  The general mechanisms are unknown but presumably are the result of epithelial damage and inflammation
in the airway mucosa. Ozone and sulfur dioxide, common components of air pollution, have been used to induceBHRin animals. Exposure to 0.2 ppm ozone for 2 to 3 hours can induce bronchoconstriction and increase BHR in asthmatics. Sulfur dioxide in the ambient atmosphere is highly irritating. It presumably induces bronchoconstriction through mast cell or irritant-receptor involvement. Asthma produced by repeated prolonged exposure to industrial inhalants is a significant health problem. It has been estimated that occupational asthma accounts for 2% of all asthmatic persons. Persons with occupational asthma have the typical symptoms of asthma with cough, dyspnea, and wheeze. Typically, the symptoms are related to work and improve on weekends and during vacations.In some instances, symptoms may persist even after termination of exposure.
 

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
Emotions and stress rarely can precipitate attacks of asthma but more commonly worsen an attack in progress.2 Bronchoconstriction from psychological factors appears to be mediated primarily through excess parasympathetic input. Atropine has been shown to block experimental psychogenic bronchoconstriction. It is most important to emphasize to patients and to parents of asthmatic children that asthma is not an emotional disease; however, calming influences and relaxation techniques may benefit the patient who becomes severely emotionally distraught during an asthma attack.
 

SINUSITIS AND RHINITIS
Disorders of the upper respiratory tract, particularly sinusitis and rhinitis, have been linked with asthma formany years. Asmany as40% to 50% of asthmatics have abnormal sinus radiographs. However, chronic sinusitis may just represent a nonbacterial coexisting condition  with allergic asthmatics because the histologic changes in the paranasal sinuses are similar to those seen in the lung and nose. Some studies have shown that asthma symptoms improve with treatment of sinusitis. The mechanism by which sinusitis aggravates asthma is unknown. The treatment of allergic rhinitis with inhaled corticosteroids and cromolyn but not antihistamines will reduce BHR in asthmatic patients. It has been postulated that transport of mucus chemotactic factors and inflammatory mediators from nasal passages duringallergic rhinitis into the lung may accentuate BHR.
 

GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX
Gastroesophageal reflux has been associated with asthma for many years. Nocturnal asthma may be associated with nighttime reflux. Reflux of acidic gastric contents into the esophagus is thought to initiate a vagally mediated reflex bronchoconstriction. Also of concern is that most medications that decrease airways smooth muscle tone have a relaxant effect on gastroesophageal sphincter tone as well. The therapeutic approach most commonly taken for patients with gastroesophageal reflux and asthma is to initiate standard antireflux therapy and observe the asthma symptoms.

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picture asthma

 

Representative illustration of the pathology found in the asthmatic
bronchus compared with a normal bronchus (upper right). Each section
demonstrates how the lumen is narrowed. Hypertrophy of the basement membrane,
mucus plugging, smooth muscle hypertrophy, and constriction contribute
(lower section). Inflammatory cells infiltrate, producing submucosal edema, and
epithelial desquamation fills the airway lumen with cellular debris and exposes
the airway smooth muscle to other mediators (upper left).

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asthma

Asthma has been known since antiquity, yet it is a disease that still defies precise definition. The word asthma is of Greek origin and means “panting.” More than 2000 years ago, Hippocrates used the word asthma to describe episodic shortness of breath; however, the first detailed  clinical description of the asthmatic patient was made by Aretaeus in the second century.1 An expert panel of the National Institutes of Health, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP), has provided the following working definition of asthma2:
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role, in particular, mast cells, eosinophils, T-lymphocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, and epithelial cells. In susceptible individuals, this inflammation causes recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing, particularly at night or in the early morning.
These episodes are usually associated with widespread but variable airflow obstruction that is often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment. The inflammation also causes an associated increase in the existing bronchial hyperresponsiveness to a variety of stimuli.This definition encompasses the important heterogeneity of the clinical presentation of asthma by describing the scientific and clinically accepted characteristics of asthma.

EPIDEMIOLOGY

An estimated 14 to 15 million persons in the United States have asthma (about 5% of the population).Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children in the United States, with approximately 5 million children affected. Over the past two decades in the United States, the prevalence of asthma has increased by 75%, whereas the rate in children younger than age 5 has increased 160%.In the United States, as in other Western industrialized countries,the prevalence of asthma has reached epidemic proportions. Asthma accounts for 1.6% of all ambulatory care visits (13.7 million) and results in more than 470,000 hospitalizations and 2 million emergency department visits per year.3 Asthma is the third leading cause of preventable hospitalization in the United States, and hospitalizations for asthma among children 0 to 17 years of age have increased 4.5% per year, whereas total hospitalizations for all causes in children actually decreased. Children have the highest prevalence of asthma, at 68.6 per 1000 population younger than 18 years of age.
Asthma accounts for more than 10 million missed school days per year. The prevalence of disabling asthma in children has increased 232% over the past 20 years compared with a 113% increase from all other chronic conditions in childhood. In young children (0 to 10 years of age), the risk of asthma is greater in boys than in girls, becomes about equal during puberty, and then is greater in women than in men.3Ethnic minorities continue to share the burden of asthma disproportionately.
African-Americans and Hispanics have a higher prevalence than whites, but this appears to be a result of urbanization and not race or socioeconomic status. African-Americans are three times as likely to be hospitalized and approximately 2.5 times more likely to die from asthma.3 In addition, African-Americans and Puerto Ricans living in inner cities are four times more likely to experience emergency department visits than whites. These patterns are likely a result of poor access to care.
The estimated cost of asthma in the United States in 1998 was $12.6 billion.The average societal burden of asthma (including both direct and indirect medical expenditures) in the United States averages $640 per patient per year, with direct medical expenditures accounting for 40% to 50% of total costs.  Emergency care of acute asthma exacerbations makes up the largest portion of direct medical costs. In 1997, an estimated cost of $1 billion dollars per year in lost productivity accrued from parents staying home to care for their children.
The natural history of asthma is still not well defined. Although asthma can occur at any time, it is principally a pediatric disease, with most patients being diagnosed by 5 years of age and up to 50% of children having symptoms by 2 years of age. Between 30% and 70% of children with asthma will improve markedly or become symptom-free by early adulthood; chronic disease persists in about 30% to 40% of patients, and generally 20% or less develop severe chronic disease. Atopic status is the strongest indicator of a poor prognosis, although initial severity also predicts severity as an adult.Diminished lung growth may occur in children with uncontrolled severeasthma. Lowlung function and increased bronchial hyperresponsiveness
are independent risk factors for low lung function in early
adulthood.In adults, most longitudinal studies have suggested a more rapid
rate of decline in lung function in asthmatics than in normal volunteers,
primarily reflected in forced expiratory volume in 1 second  (FEV1). However, the annual decline in FEV1 is less than in smokers or in patients with a diagnosis of emphysema. In general, asthmatics with less frequent attacks and normal lung function on initial assessment have higher remission rates, whereas smokers have the lowest remission and highest relapse rates.  The level of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) tends to predict the rate of decline in FEV1, with a greater decline with high levels of BHR. Thus airways obstruction in asthma not only may become irreversible but also may worsen over time owing to airway remodeling (see below).Although both the prevalence and the morbidity from asthma are increasing, the death rate from asthma in the United States appears to have reached a plateau of about 5000 deaths per year and may be on the decline.3 Despite the relatively low number of asthma deaths,80% to 90% are preventable.2 Most deaths from asthma occur outside the hospital, and death is rare after hospitalization. The most common cause of death from asthma is inadequate assessment of the severity of airways obstruction by the patient or physician and inadequate therapy. the most common cause of death in hospitalized patients is also inadequate or inappropriate therapy. Thus the key to preventio of death from asthma, as advocated by the NAEPP, is education.

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Traditional Cough Medicine

If you want to mix their own traditional cough medicine, combine the ingredients needed to become a useful medicinal herb as a cough suppressant, reduction of bronchial secretions, or respiratory stimulants and driving out phlegm. no different from herb-counter cough medicines in pharmacies or drug stores.
The following types of herbs that can be tried.
Remedy 1:
8 grams kencur, 2 pieces of betel leaf, 2 grams of the fruit of fennel, sage leaves 2 grams, 0.05 grams of fruit cubeb, 0.05 grams of cardamom. All material is boiled with 135 ml of water and taken twice a day for two weeks.
Remedy 2:
1 clove garlic, 1 tablespoon ginger juice, water, turmeric, lemon juice, honey and 3 tablespoons of boiled water. Potions steamed, then drunk three or four times a day or two teaspoons.
Remedy 3:
3 pieces of cardamom, 15 points cubeb, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon fennel, pulosari 1 finger, 2 finger rhizome kencur, washed, finely ground, crushed with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and eucalyptus oil 1 teaspoon, to grease chest and neck.
Remedy 4:
4 pieces cubeb, 1 finger cinnamon bark, washed and cut if necessary, boil with 4 cups of clean water to eat so that only a half; after cold filtered and drunk with pure honey as needed (three times a day).



For dry coughs:
Lemon
Take 1 piece of orange juice a lot of water, wring it out and add 2 tablespoons of honey. Stir and drink twice a day (morning and evening).
Brimbing wuluh
Take 10 Blimbing wuluh fruit, wash and then finely ground. Add 1 cup cooking water and a little salt a little. Having squeezed and filtered, drink twice a day (morning and evening).
Kencur
Take 1 finger rhizome kencur (do not removed the skin). Rinse and finely chewed directly with a little salt. Swallow and gelontor by drinking warm water. Do twice a day.
Sage leaves
Take 1 handful sage leaves along the stems and leaves 1 handful acid. Boil 3 cups water to be 2 cups. Let stand until cool, strain and drink twice daily.
As an expectorant:
Cardamom
Pour boiling 5 grams of fruit powder with a cup of boiling water fennel. After chilling filtered, add 1 teaspoon of honey. Toss well, drink well. Taken twice a day until healed.
Aloe vera
Take 1 stick prickly aloe vera leaves removed. Rinse and grated, squeezed, and then mixed with 6 tablespoons of honey. Drink several times.
As a laxative sputum:
Ginger
Take 1 / 2 segment ginger and mash until smooth. Add 2 cups water and boil until half an hour. Drink decoction 2-3 times daily.
For shortness of breath:
Make sure water buffalo
Take a handful of herbs patikan buffalo. Add water and pulverized. Squeeze into 1 / 2 cup and drink.
Fennel
Take 10 drops of fennel oil. Pour boiling water with 1 tablespoon hot water. Drink while warm. Do it three times a day until healed.
To cough more than 100 days and dry:
Lote upas
Take 30 grams of tuber lote upas still fresh, washed and shredded. Add 2 tablespoons of cooking water. Strain and add 1 tablespoon of honey. Stir and then drink three times a day.

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treatments for asthma

Asthma is a disease that is sometimes annoying for the sufferer. I have to deal with recommendations for asthma sufferers it is a traditional medicine that munkin you can try for yourself:

1. Prepare as much as 2 pieces of radish juice and then boiled with water is mixed to taste, wait until boiling and then drain into a glass waiting for it to cool and then mixed with native honey mix well. drink 3 times a day.
2. Prepare 2 segment of white ginger and eggplant cooked (can fry / boil) to use as side dishes for food.
3. Prepare ginger 3 sections and then clean it in the juice runs out and then mixed with boiled water until boiling and then input into the glass let sit for 18 hours and then mixed with honey drink every morning.

good luck...

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Asthma

Asthma is one of the respiratory disease that is often experienced by all people both men and women.Originally the word asthma comes from the greek is "asthma" means difficult to breathe.Many cases of asthma in people who have not received good treatment due to medical expenses. Routine treatment should not be interrupted, social disruption.Asthma is a disease that is caused due to allergies or heredity.The cause of asthma is most often due to factors such as allergies allergy: house dust, animal dander, cigarette smoke, smoke, mosquito coils, cold weather, too tired, too many thoughts, stress and others.This disease has the potential to disrupt the growth and development. This disease if not handled properly, can attack every organ and function of growth without exception. for it is recommended to asthma sufferers to eat a lot and contains protein, vitamin is needed by our bodies.Symptoms commonly experienced by people with asthma are coughing up phlegm and wheezing and shortness of breath caused by narrowing of the respiratory tract.Treatment of asthma. actual asthma can not be cured but it can relieve asthma symptoms, like shortness of breath when people with asthma are shortness of breath immediately give relief medication in the form of shortness of breath or swallow inhaler. prevent yourself from allergies that can cause allergic asthma disease relapses, mild exercise to provide endurance, swim because it can expand pernapasa channel. eat foods that are nutritious and good for the body.

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