Asthma Prevention Tips

Asthma prevention tips for avoiding asthma symptoms.
Only through understanding the cause of asthma can we
hope to cure.
You are probably familiar with what can trigger or
worsen your asthma, sinus or allergies. I have
described many of these agents below, and perhaps some
of the information will be useful to help you avoid
them in your environment. Many of these agents are
harmful to our health in other ways.

Modern medicine, as it stands at the moment, has
either stopped looking for the causes of asthma or it
has false impressions of the causes. Through dealing
with "trigger factors" we can only hope to treat the
symptoms of the problem. Only through understanding
the cause of the disease (Read the Naturally Free From
Asthma Report), can we hope to cure.



Some reported, well-known and not so well-known
triggers for asthma or bronchospasm include:

Allergens (particles that cause allergies) such as
dust mites, cockroaches, pollen, molds and animal
dander (which are tiny scales or particles that fall
off hair, feathers or skin) from any pets

Aspirin
Peanuts
Particulates (air-born pollution)
Cold air or hot stuffy environments, or sudden changes
in temperature Tobacco smoke and wood smoke
Perfume, paint, hair spray, or any strong odors or
fumes
Common cold, influenza, and other respiratory
illnesses
Food chemicals that may trigger asthma include:
Sulphites (sulphur dioxide and sodium metabisulphite)
Food colours (tartrazine) Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Alcoholic drinks (Sulfite additives have been
associated with triggering asthmatic responses. They
are present in significant levels in most wines, but
other ingredients in wine can also trigger an
asthmatic response.)
Obesity
The dramatic increase in the number of asthmatics may
be linked to an increase in levels of obesity,
scientists have said. Researchers have found that the
fatter the adult, the greater the likelihood of
asthma.
Your Occupation 2
Plastics 3
Exercise (Exercise, especially in cold air, is a
frequent asthma trigger)
Overeating, or laughing excessively
Some controversial triggers under discussion include:
Organophosphates– the widespread use of
organophosphate insecticides to address pest
infestations in lower socio-economic areas, may
contribute to the very disproportionate high rates of
asthma in disadvantaged black and minority communities
in the US.

Toluene
72% of asthma patients in a study showed adverse
reactions to perfumes; i.e., pulmonary function tests
dropping anywhere between 18% and 58% below baseline
(from "Affects of Odors in Asthma," Chang Shim, MD and
M. Henry Williams, MD, American Journal of Medicine,
January, 1986 Vol. 80)
Toluene-laced fragrance industry chemical products
have become increasingly pervasive in the last ten
years - used not only in perfumes, but also in
furniture wax, tires, plastic garbage bags, inks, hair
gel, hairspray, and kitty litter. A Danish
toxicological journal, "Ugeskr Laegar", Vol. 153, ISS
13, 1991, p. 939-40, found perfume in kitty litter to
be a cause of asthma in humans.

The only safe assumption about scented products is
that they contain numerous toxic chemicals which
constantly vaporize into the air and attach themselves
to the hair, clothing, carpets and and surroundings of
anyone who wears them. These chemicals go directly
into the bloodstream when applied to our skin and are
also absorbed into the skin from our clothing. We also
inhale the chemical fumes, which then go straight to
our brains where they can do major harm. These
chemicals are skin irritants, suffocants, eye and
respiratory tract irritants, and neurotoxins.

Household cleaning products and synthetic fragrances -
One theory for the rise in asthma cases says that it
isn't being caused by more pollutants - it's caused by
the world being too clean. According to this theory,
children raised without enough exposure to dirt, dust,
and disease may not build up a resistance to some
allergens -- causing problems later in life. My
personal belief is that it is the fragrance and other
toxic ingredients in our household cleaning products,
air fresheners, dishwasher powder etc that is
contributing to the rise.

Here are some ways to help control the worst asthma,
sinus and allergy triggers.
Dust Mites & Dust
Put your mattresses in airtight covers. Tape over the
length of the zipper. Rubber mattresses are best as
the mites cannot penetrate.
Put pillows in airtight covers. Tape over the length
of the zipper. Or wash your pillows every week.
Polyester filling is best for pillows and duvets –
avoid feathers or down.
Wash all bedding every week in water that is at least
130 degrees F. Removing the bedspread at night may
help if it is one that is not regularly washed.
Don't sleep or lie down on upholstered (stuffed)
furniture. I had always found this particularly
'lethal' myself.
Remove carpeting in the bedroom, indeed the whole
house if possible.
Clean up surface dust as often as possible. Use a damp
mop or damp cloth when you clean rather than a feather
duster that just distributes the dust throughout the
room.

Don't use aerosols or spray cleaners if they can be
avoided. Don't clean or vacuum the room when someone
with asthma or allergies is present.
Children's stuffed toys are rich environments for dust
mite populations. Limit the number of toys and clean
them regularly - I also read that freezing them every
couple of weeks keeps the mite populations down.
Window coverings attract dust. Use window shades or
curtains made of plastic or other washable material
for easy cleaning.
Remove stuffed furniture and stuffed animals (unless
the animals can be washed), and anything under the
bed. Vacuum under the bed.
Closets need extra care. They should hold only needed
clothing. Putting clothes in a plastic garment bag may
help. (Do not use the plastic bag that covers dry
cleaning).
Particularly clean on top of closets where dust
collects. (Creepy fact of the week - most of that dust
is our own dead skin!)
Dust mites like moisture and high humidity. Cutting
down the humidity in your home can cut down the number
of mites. A dehumidifier may help. Adequate
ventilation is now considered to be extremely
important.
Use a High Efficiency Particulate Arresting (HEPA)
vacuum cleaner or one with a power head, which picks
up three to six times as much dust as one without
power brushes. A dirt-finder vacuum (which has a light
that turns from red to green when the carpet is clean)
is even better.

Cockroaches
Cockroaches are one of the most common and allergenic
of indoor pests. Recent studies have found a strong
association between the presence of cockroaches and
increases in the severity of asthma symptoms in
individuals who are sensitive to cockroach allergens.
These pests are common even in the cleanest of crowded
urban areas and older dwellings. They are found in all
types of neighborhoods.

The proteins found in cockroach saliva are
particularly allergenic but the cockroach allergen
also comes from dead roaches and roach droppings. It
collects in house dust and may persist in the home for
some months even after the cockroaches are eradicated.


It is thought that the reason some people are
supposedly allergic to chocolate is by virtue of
included cockroach protein. Apparently, when the dried
cacao beans are gathered up, they are typically
covered in cockroaches and some beasties and droppings
come along for the ride. ‘Cockroach chocolate’!!!

Preventative strategies include: Limit the spread of
food around the house and especially keep food out of
bedrooms.
Keep food and garbage in closed containers. Never
leave food out in the kitchen.
Mop the kitchen floor and wash countertops at least
once a week.
Eliminate water sources that attract these pests, such
as leaky faucets and drain pipes.
Plug up crevices around the house through which
cockroaches can enter.
Use bait stations and other environmentally safe
pesticides to reduce cockroach infestation.


Mouse urine and faeces could be an important cause of
childhood asthma in inner cities, says an American
team.
"Although cockroach allergen is the most important
factor in terms of asthma severity, we have found that
mouse allergen is much more important than dust mites
or allergies to cats or dogs," says Robert Wood of
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, who led the
research.
The team took samples from the homes of over 600
asthmatic children in eight US cities. Traces of mouse
urine or faeces were found in at least one room in 95
per cent of the homes. Tests showed nearly one in five
of the children was allergic to the mouse traces and
these children tended to have more severe asthma.
"We were surprised. This is not an allergen that has
been looked at carefully," said Robert Wood.
Martyn Partridge of the British National Asthma
Campaign agrees: "To date, we haven't thought that
mice are a problem as a trigger for asthma."
Wood's team analysed dust samples from the homes of
608 children. The percentage of homes with mouse
allergen in each of the eight cities varied from 74
per cent in Cleveland to 100 per cent in Baltimore.
Like cockroaches, mice are more common in inner cities
and research suggests asthma is twice as common here.
Woods thinks mouse allergen is unlikely to be a
significant cause of asthma in suburban or rural
areas.
He believes doctors should now start routinely testing
asthmatic children for mouse allergy. A positive test
would mean a mouse eradication programme could be
implemented in the child's home.
Ideally, says Woods, general mouse eradication
programmes should be carried out: "Most of our asthma
patients lived in flats. Even if you keep your own
area clean, mice will still get in from other homes."
More at: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
(vol 106, p1070)



Indoor Mold
When humidity is high, molds can be a problem in
bathrooms, kitchens, and basements. Make sure these
areas have good air circulation and are cleaned often.
The basement in particular may need a dehumidifier.
And remember, the water in the dehumidifier must be
emptied and the container cleaned often to prevent
forming mildew.

The smell of ‘damp’ can be a powerful trigger for an
asthmatic.

Molds may form on foam pillows when you perspire. To
prevent mold, put the pillow in an airtight cover and
tape the cover shut. Wash the pillow every week, and
make sure to change it every year.

Molds also form in house plants, so check them often.
You may have to keep all plants outdoors.

Particulates
Stay indoors, close the windows and turn on the
air-conditioning, or cover bedroom air vents with
several layers of cheesecloth to lower the number of
large-size allergen particles coming into the bedroom.

"Dirty Delhi air makes you breathless"
For the first time there is conclusive evidence that
Delhi's polluted air is responsible for over 40 per
cent of the emergency hospital admissions of patients
with breathing and heart problems.

A recent study conducted over a two-year period at the
emergency room of the All-India Institute of Medical
Sciences has shown that a distinct correlation exists
between air pollution and emergency room admissions of
asthma, bronchitis and heart patients. The study,
conducted by professor of medicine J.N. Pande, has
been supported by the department of science and
technology."

Read here for more information.
Here is a newspaper article about the typical impact
these substances can have.

“Particulates, microscopic bits of soot and dust,
burrow deep in the lungs, swelling airways and
constricting already narrow breathing passages. Ozone
sets off similar attacks.

On days with average particulate pollution in 1999,
Valley asthma deaths jumped 10 percent compared to
clear days, according to an Arizona Department of
Health Services study. Asthma attacks increased 9
percent.

On the worst pollution day that year, when
particulates inched toward unsafe levels, asthma
deaths jumped 40 percent and asthma attacks increased
36 percent.”

The Arizona Republic
Feb. 28, 2001

1Covering bedding cuts kids' need for asthma drugs
Encasing mattresses and pillows in special covers may
help asthmatic children cut down on their use of
powerful anti-inflammatory drugs, new study findings
from Denmark suggest.
After 1 year, about 73% of youngsters given the
polyurethane covers cut their dose of inhaled steroids
by at least half, compared with 24% of children given
cotton covers, according to the report published in
the January issue of the Journal of Allergy and
Clinical Immunology.

Such polyurethane covers have long been recommended as
a way to cut down dust-mite allergen, the most common
cause of allergic asthma, although how effective they
are has been unclear. The proteins associated with
dust mites, the ubiquitous microscopic creatures that
live in and on many household surfaces, can collect in
pillows and mattresses.

In the current study, Dr. Susanne Halken of the
Sonderborg Hospital and colleagues had 26 asthmatic
children aged 5 to 15 use pillows and mattresses
completely encased in semi-permeable polyurethane. A
second group of 21 children were given mattress and
pillow covers made of good quality cotton.

All of the children has asthma, were allergic to dust
mites and had never used such covers before.
Youngsters allergic to cats or pollen were excluded
from the study.

Before and during the study, the researchers tapered
the children's inhaled steroids to the lowest
effective dose. Corticosteroids are medications used
to treat inflammatory conditions such as asthma and
chronic lung disease. They are usually used in
combination with bronchodilators, which are drugs that
widen the airways and make it easier to breathe.

"We found a significant effect of the coated
polyurethane mattress and pillow encasings on the need
for inhaled steroids," the researchers report.

They found that the dose of inhaled steroids was cut
by about 50% in those children without causing their
symptoms to get worse or requiring an increase in
other medications.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children,
and for reasons that are unknown, the number of asthma
cases has been on the rise in the US and other
developed countries.

SOURCE: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
2003;111:169-176

2Occupational Asthma
Occupational asthma is a respiratory disorder directly
related to inhaling fumes, gases, vapors or dust while
"on the job." Due to this exposure, asthma may develop
for the first time in a previously healthy worker, or
pre-existing asthma may be aggravated.
Occupational asthma has become the most prevalent
work-related lung disease in developed countries.

Causes
Occupational asthma may be caused by direct irritants,
allergic triggers or pharmacologic factors. Irritants
that provoke occupational asthma include exposure to
hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide or ammonia found in
the petroleum or chemical industries. These asthmatic
episodes frequently occur immediately after exposure
to the substance, and allergic sensitization is not
involved. Workers who already have asthma or some
other respiratory disorder are particularly affected
by this type of exposure.

Allergic factors play a role in many cases of
occupational asthma. This type of asthma frequently
requires long term exposure to a work-related
substance before allergic sensitization occurs.

Examples of this allergic-type of occupational asthma
include exposure to the enzymes of the bacteria
bacillus subtilis in the washing powder industry, and
exposure to castor beans, green coffee beans and
papain in the food processing industry. Other allergic
forms of occupational asthma can occur in workers in
the plastic,. rubber or resin industries following
exposure to small chemical molecules in the air.

Furthermore, veterinarians, fishermen and animal
handlers in laboratories can develop allergic
reactions to animal proteins. Health care workers can
develop asthma from aerosolized proteins from latex
gloves or from the mixing of powdered medications.

Pharmacologic factors include the inhalation of dust
or liquid. These substances do not lead to allergic
sensitization, but instead directly lead to the
release of naturally occurring substances such as
histamine within the lung, which then in turn lead to
asthma.

Prevention
Once the cause is identified, exposure levels should
be reduced (a worker could be moved to another job
within the plant, for example).

Work areas should be closely monitored so that
exposure to asthma-causing substances is kept at the
lowest possible levels.

Common Agents That Cause Occupational Asthma - Agent
Workers At Risk
Acylate
Adhesives handlers
Amines
Anhydrides
Animal-derived allergens
Animal handlers
Bakers, millers
Cabinetmakers
Carpenters
Carpet makers
Cereals
Chloramine-T
Detergent users, pharmaceutical
workers, bakers
Drugs
Dyes
Electronics workers
Enzymes
Epoxy resins
Fluxes
Forest workers
Formaldehyde
Glutaradehyde
Gums
Hairdressers
Health professionals
Hospital staff
Insulation installers
Isocyanates
Janitors, cleaning staff
Latex
Manufacturers of plastics, rubber & foam
Metals
Persulfate
Pharmaceutical workers
Refiners
Seafood
Seafood processors
Shellac and lacquer handlers
Solderers
Spray painters
Textile workers
Users of plastics
Wood dusts

3Indoor plastics linked to respiratory problems in
kids
Inexpensive, easy-to-clean plastic materials used to
cover walls and floors may put young children at
increased risk of developing respiratory tract
problems, results of a recent study suggest.

Researchers found that children who lived in homes in
which the walls were covered with plastic materials
were more likely to suffer from problems of the lower
respiratory tract such as persistent wheezing, a
prolonged cough and phlegm.

These children were also more likely to be diagnosed
with asthma or pneumonia, the report indicates.
However, the study could not conclusively prove that
the wall coverings were the cause of the respiratory
ailments. It is possible that parents installed such
coverings because the children had respiratory
problems.

"Emissions from plastic materials indoors may have
adverse effects on the lower respiratory tracts of
small children," write Dr. Jouni Jaakkola and
colleagues in the May issue of the American Journal of
Public Health, the Journal of the American Public
Health Association. Such materials can emit chemicals,
such as plasticizer agents used in the production of
polyvinyl chloride.

"These chemicals may cause airway inflammation and
thus increase the risk of bronchial obstruction,
asthma, and perhaps susceptibility to respiratory
infections," the authors add.

Jaakkola, of the Nordic School of Public Health in
Goteborg, and colleagues at the University of
Helsinki, Sweden, and Oxford University in the UK
surveyed the parents of more than 2,500 Finnish
children aged 1 to 7 years. The investigators found
that plastic wall materials were present in less than
3% of homes and that about 2% of all the children had
asthma. The researchers did not actually measure the
amounts of chemicals in the homes of the children.

"Given the vast number of chemicals present in
plastics and other building materials, it is not
feasible to measure all of the relevant compounds in
indoor air," Jaakkola's team notes.

Their findings "provide additional evidence that
indoor plastic materials may emit chemicals that have
adverse effects on the lower respiratory tracts of
small children," according to the report. The results
"warrant further attention to the types of plastic
materials used in interior decoration.

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health
2000;90:797-799.

4Swiffer cloths pick up dust, dust mites, pet dander,
and other particulates commonly found in the home very
effectively. A study showed that they reduced 97% of
cat and dog allergens.

There are now online stores that specifically support
asthma, sinus and allergy sufferers. For further
reading and to obtain products that can help in the
home environment such as HEPA air purifiers, HEPA
vacuum cleaners, dust mite encasings, hypoallergenic
bedding and dehumidifiers, visit Allergy Resources
International which has listings for every country.

There is now a test available to measure the number of
dust mites in your house dust. Just send an email to:
allergy.labs@....



=====
Love All & Serve All

Saravanan (Velu)
Healer
Centre of Integrated Medicine
Healing With Tender Loving Care.



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