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Asthma is a condition, often of allergic origin, marked by continuous or labored breathing accompanied by wheezing, by a sense of constriction in the chest, and often by attacks of coughing or gasping. The word "asthma" is derived from the Greek word "Panos," which means panting. Physicians in ancient Greece used the word "asthma" to describe this condition of breathlessness or gasping. They believed that asthma was derived from internal imbalances, which could be restored by healthy diet, plant and animal remedies, or lifestyle changes. Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes or airways that causes swelling and narrowing (constriction) of the airways results in difficulty in breathing. The bronchial narrowing is usually either totally or at least partially reversible with treatments.
 Asthma is a disease of the respiratory system. Your respiratory system is made up of your nose and mouth, your windpipe (trachea), your lungs, and a bunch of air tubes (or airways) that connect your nose and mouth with your lungs (these tubes are called bronchi and bronchioles). People who have asthma sometimes experience symptoms where they have trouble breathing. When people who have asthma have this trouble breathing, we call it an asthma attack.
Bronchial tubes that are chronically inflamed may become overly sensitive to allergens (specific triggers) or irritants (non-specific triggers). The airways may become "twitchy" and remain in a state of heightened sensitivity. This is called "bronchial hyper-reactivity" (BHR) and is commonly referred to as an asthma attack. It is likely that there is a spectrum of bronchial hyper-reactivity in all individuals. However, it is clear that asthmatics and allergic individuals (without apparent asthma) have a higher degree of bronchial hyperreactivity than non-asthmatic and non-allergic people. Among asthmatics, some may have mild bronchial hyper reactivity and no symptoms while others may have severe bronchial hyper-reactivity and chronic  symptoms. In sensitive individuals, the bronchial tubes are more likely to swell and constrict when exposed to triggers such as allergens (like those produced by dust mites), tobacco smoke, or exercise.
Concerning second-hand smoke, It is difficult to diagnose asthma in children under the age of five. Some children diagnosed with child asthma or pediatric asthma at age three may have suffered from a transient wheeze rather than allergic asthma, which may disappear as they grew older. Additionally, studies show that children whose mothers smoked during their pregnancies had worse lung function and demonstrated more symptoms of asthma than those with non-smoking mothers.
Exercise induced asthma may be at work if you experience breathing difficulty within 5-20 minutes after exercise. Symptoms of excercise induced asthma (EIA) may include wheezing, chest tightness, coughing and chest pain. Other symptoms include prolonged shortness of breath, often beginning 5-10 minutes after brief exercise. Patients with EIA have airways that are overly sensitive to sudden changes in temperature and humidity, especially when breathing colder, drier air. During heightened activity, people tend to breathe through their mouths, allowing cold, drier air to reach the lower airways without passing through the warming, humidifying effect of the nose. With mouth breathing, also common in patients with colds, sinusitis and allergic rhinitis (common hay fever), air is moistened to only 60-70% relative humidity, while nose-breathing warms and saturates air to about 80 to 90% humidity before it reaches the lungs.
In addition to mouth-breathing, air pollutants, high pollen counts, and viral respiratory tract infections can also increase the severity of wheezing with exercise.
Asthma affects people differently. Each individual is unique in their degree of reactivity to environmental triggers. This naturally influences the type and dose of medication prescribed, which may vary from one individual to another.
Chinese healers understood that "xiao-chiran," or wheezy breathing, was a sign of imbalance in the life force they called Qi. They restored Qi by means of herbs, acupuncture, massage, diet, and exercise.
Hindu philosophers connected the soul and breath as part of the mind, body, and spirit connection. Yoga uses control of breathing to enhance meditation. Indian physicians taught these breathing techniques to help manage asthma.
We here at e-Heathy-Homes.com believe the use of our safe, easy to use dust mite control products to treat your home or office environment is an important step toward relieving your asthma and allergy problems without the having to use large doses of various allergy and asthma treatments and medications.
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