ASTHMA

It is an episodic chronic respiratory disorder in which there is airflow obstruction causing difficulty in breathing.

Causes:

•          Hereditary.

•          History of allergy – skin allergy, asthmatic etc.

•          Mostly inhaled allergens cause asthma.

•          Allergens can be:

–          Environment - smoke, dust & pollution and petrol fumes.

–          Pollen and molds from grass, flowers and trees.

–          Strong perfumes

–          Paints & varnishes

–          Tobacco smoke

–          Animal dander

–          House dust mite

–          Chemical fumes

•          Food, which can cause allergy are:

–          Sour food

–          Citrus fruits

–          Cold food & drinks

–          Artificially colored & flavored foods

–          Fish

–          Beer, wine

–          Vinegar

–          Grapes

–          Canned vegetables

•          Infection of lungs, bacterial or viral.

•          Emotional stress

•          Over strenuous exercise

•          Inhalation of old air

•          Climatic changes

•          Allergy to certain drugs.

•          Chain smoking.

Sign and symptoms:

•          Initially feeling of distress and restlessness with painless tightness in the chest.

•          There may be cough, sometimes with phlegm.

•          A wheezing / whistling sound when breathing.

•          Mild to moderate shortness of breath.

•          Shortness and rapid breathing followed with a feeling of Anxiety, sweating and inability to lie down on the back.

•          Usually the sufferer finds comfort in sitting bent forwards and near the windows.

Dietary management:

•          Try to recognize and avoid the factors that trigger the asthmatic attacks.

•          Keep a diary and try to trace a pattern or relation between your allergic reaction and the allergen.

•          Families with history of allergy should avoid artificial food, eggs, cocoa, juices and wheat preparation to infants till the age of six months. Only breast feed infants for the first six months to strengthen the immune system.

•          For infants born in vegetarian family, vegetarian food is preferred.

•          Avoid food and drinks known to cause allergy - cow milk, vinegar, lemon juice, grapes, instant tea, corn syrup, fruit toppings, cold food and drinks, canned food, food additives, beer and wine.

•          Eat balanced nutritious diet.

•          Eat fresh unprocessed food.

•          Consume Bitter gourd (Karela) cooked or juice, it strengthens the immunity.

•          Every morning, drink boiled mixture of – ½ cup water, little ginger, 2-3 leaves of sweet basil (tulsi) and mint leaves, or you can eat the raw leaves, this will boost up you immunity.

•          Boil a mixture of Bishops weed (Ajwain), tea leaves and water and inhale the steam, helps to decongest.

•          Consume garlic and onions, will be beneficial, but avoid them if you are on homeopathic medicine.

•          Consume lots of Vitamin B complex:

–          Liver, kidney, pancreas, yeast (Brewer's yeast), lean meat especially pork, fish, dairy products, poultry, egg, shrimps, crabs and lobsters,.

–          Milk and milk products, green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grain cereals.

–          Carrots, bananas, avocado, raspberries, artichoke, cauliflower, soy flour, barley, cereals, pasta, whole grains, wheat barn like rice and wheat germ, dried beans, peas and soybeans.

•          Increase intake of magnesium in your diet:

–          Sea food, nuts, green leafy vegetables.

–          Peas, lotus stem, pulses, whole grains, fruits.

Note:

•          Avoid smoke, pollution, and dust as far as possible.

•          Try to reduce stress, anxiety and tension, practice yoga will help to relax and relive stress.

•          Yoga will also help by breathing exercise. Breathing exercise will help better utilization of available lung space

                                                                     

                                                                   .BRONCHITIS

Inflammation of the large air passages which carry air from the windpipe to lungs is known as bronchitis.

Causes:

•          Smoking is the main cause.

•          Allergy like – such as air pollutant.

•          Infection – viral or bacterial.

•          Occupation – coal miners, grain handlers, metal molders and people working with dust.

•          Pre existing disease as pneumonia, emphysema etc.

Sign and symptoms:

•          Cold with nasal discharge.

•          Cough with yellow greenish sputum.

•          Breathlessness.

•          Chest pains.

•          Fever with headaches and loss of appetite.

•          These entire symptoms can increase in severe condition.

Dietary management:

•          Avoid dairy products like milk, butter, cheese because these will increase mucus secretion in the respiratory system.

•          Avoid hot spicy and highly seasoned food.

•          Avoid cold food, cold drinks, ice, ice-creams and aerated drinks.

•          Drink luke warm water.

•          Boil a mixture of Bishops weed (Ajwain), tea leaves and water and inhale the steam, helps to decongest. Do this at least 2-3 times a day.

•          Gargle with warm water, a pinch of salt and turmeric to sooth your throat.

•          Have only fruits for 4-5 days later can have raw salads, vegetables and sweet fruits for next 5-6 days.

•          Have hot vegetable soups.

•          Have bland and boiled food.

•          Include turmeric, garlic, ginger and onions in your diet but avoid if you are on homeopathic medication.

•          Consume lots of vitamin C: foods of animal origin are poor in vitamin C.

–          Fresh citrus fruits, green vegetables.

•          Increase consumption of vitamin B:

–          Milk and milk products, eggs, shrimps, crabs and lobsters.

–          Lean meat especially pork, fish, dairy products, poultry, egg yolk, Liver, kidney, pancreas, yeast (Brewer's yeast).

–          Carrots, bananas, avocado, raspberries, artichoke, cauliflower, soy flour, barley, cereals pasta, whole grains, barn like unpolished rice and wheat germ, dried beans, peas and soybeans.

–          Green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grain.

•          Consume lots of vitamin A; it maintains the integrity of the respiratory mucosa: Liver oils of fish like cod, shark, and halibut are richest source of vitamin A.

–          Animal sources: egg, milk and milk products, meat, fish, kidney and liver.

–          Yellow orange colored fruits and vegetables, dark green leafy vegetables.

•          Have ginger powder or fresh ginger juice in honey before retiring to bed.

•          Every morning, drink boiled mixture of – ½ cup water, little ginger, 2-3 leaves of sweet basil (tulsi) and mint leaves, or you can eat the raw leaves, this will boost up you immunity.

Note:

•          Avoid smoking.

•          Take rest at home and keep your self warm.

•          Change occupation if possible in case of miners, etc. or take precautions to prevent the particles being inhaled.

•          Practice yoga, will help by breathing exercise.

•          Treat the cause

                                                 .COMMON COLD / CORYZA

This is the most common and most frequent viral infection affecting all age groups and is highly contagious.

Causes:

•          Viral infection.

•          Person to person

•          Inhalation of droplets from infected people through cough and sneeze.

•          Cold weather and changing weather favors.

•          Low resistance due to fatigue, exhaustion, loss of sleep, stress, depression.

•          Unhygienic family practices.

Sign and symptoms:

•          Sense of uneasiness.

•          Burning sensation in nose with sneezing, nose block and clear nasal discharge.

•          Headache.

•          Burning and watering of eyes may be present.

•          With or without fever.

•          In later stage will develop hoarseness, sore throat, dry cough and yellow cloudy discharge.

•          Loss of appetite.

•          Lack of energy.

•          Muscle pain and fever may accompany.

Dietary management:

•          In case of profuse water nasal discharge fluid intake should be increased.

•          Drink plenty of water, can add a pinch of turmeric and ginger powder to it.

•          You can consume juices especially of citrus fruits as they have high vitamin C content – lemon, orange, sweet lime, pineapple etc.

•          Consume hot soups, especially chicken soup.

•          Take raw fruits and vegetables. Apple is good for cold, should consume at least one apple a day.

•          Include garlic, ginger and onions in your food.

•          Increase intake of vitamin A in your diet – all yellow fruits and vegetables contain Vitamin A. Meat, fish, kidney and liver, liver oils of fish like cod, shark, and halibut are richest source of vitamin A. If you are a vegetarian you can have fish liver oil supplements but because over dose can be toxic.

•          Boil a mixture of Bishops weed (Ajwain), tea leaves and water and inhale the steam, helps to decongest the nose block due to cold. Should do at least three times a day.

•          Drink boiled mixture of – ½ cup water, little ginger, 2-3 leaves of sweet basil (tulsi) and mint leaves, or you can eat the raw leaves, this will boost up you immunity and control your cough and cold.

•          Gargle with warm water, a pinch of salt and turmeric to sooth your throat.

•          Avoid milk and milk products – cottage cheese.

•          Avoid spicy food, eggs, sweets and cold refrigerated drinks.

•          Avoid cold drinks, cold water, ice creams and aerated drinks.

•          Avoid all food with preservatives and additives.

Note:

•          Avoid contact with infected people.

•          Go out for a walk in fresh air.

•          Do not self medicate.

COUGH

It is a violent exhalation to an irritant stimulus.

Causes:

•          Mechanical irritations- inhalation of dust, irritants, pungent fumes.

•          In smokers.

•          Foreign body in larynx.

•          Postnasal drip.

•          Compression of air passage.

•          Acute / chronic upper and lower respiratory tract infections.

•          Reflex irritation of vagus nerve by wax in the middle ear, distention of stomach, supradiaphragmatic abscess or liver abscess.

•          Thermal stimulus – inhalation of cold air.

•          Bovine cough due to laryngeal paralysis in aortic aneurysm.

•          Psychogenic cough.

•          Habitual.

Sign and symptoms:

•          Dry cough in early stages of respiratory tract infections, asthma, tropical eosinophilia.

•          Wet or productive cough in bronchiectasis, lung abscess etc.

•          Paroxysmal in whooping cough, bronchial asthma.

•          Nocturnal cough in asthma, pulmonary oedema, postnasal drip in chronic sinusitis, reflux oesophagitis.

•          Croupy cough, it is harsh, hoarse cough in laryngeal infection.

•          Hacking cough which is short, dry, and irritable e.g. in smokers cough.

•          Toneless, whispering, aphonic cough in destructive lesion of vocal cords.

•          Exertional cough in early LV failure and mitral stenosis.

•          Cough related to meals suggests hiatus hernia, esophageal diverticulum, or tracheo-oesophageal fistula.

Complications of cough:

•          Syncope.

•          Rib fracture.

•          Spontaneous pneumothorax.

•          Hernia at weak hernial sites.

Dietary management:

•          Treat the cause.

•          Have one spoon of mixture of honey and ginger powder before retiring to bed.

•          Avoid food / environmental factors to which you are allergic.

•          Consume hot soups.

•          Take raw fruits and vegetables. Apple is good for cough, should consume at least one apple a day.

•          Include garlic, ginger and onions in your food.

•          Drink boiled mixture of – ½ cup water, little ginger, 2-3 leaves of sweet basil (tulsi) and mint leaves, or you can eat the raw leaves, this will boost up you immunity.

•          Gargle with warm water, a pinch of salt and turmeric to sooth your throat.

•          Avoid milk and milk products – cottage cheese.

•          Avoid spicy food, oily food, eggs, sweets and cold refrigerated drinks.

•          Avoid cold drinks, cold water, ice creams and aerated drinks.

•          Avoid all food with preservatives and additives.

•          Stop smoking and ingestion of alcohol.

•          In case of severe pain in throat due to cough- eat soft bland food, semi solid food, soups, and boiled vegetables and fruit juices.

Note:

•          Do not self medicate.