Natural Solutions For Childhood Asthma

There is nothing more frightening to a parent than having a child with asthma. During an attack, the child is struggling for air and is in great distress, turning blue and in extreme danger. Next is the mad rush to the emergency room, also traumatic to parent and child, with bright lights, strange sounds, needles, IV's, nebulizers, x-rays and exposure to hospital germs all in one dizzying period of time under maximum stress.
Afterwards, there are medications to take, inhalers, pills and even possible needle sticks, and the over all feeling of insecurity, fear and high anxiety experienced by the whole household. Afraid to go outside, afraid to stay inside, afraid of new places and new exposures, new foods because one never knows just when the next attack will occur.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were some easy natural way out of this maze of terror and physical disability and danger? Well maybe there is. It turns out that Vitamin D deficiency may be an underlying cause of asthma!

Below are three short articles on how to prevent and even treat asthma.

The first is on Vitamin D and can be adopted right away.

The second is on homeopathic remedies that may help in various ways. That will require a little study, but homeopathic medicines are readily available in health food stores and some super markets and are very child friendly.

The third is acupressure, the original form of Chinese medicine that later became acupuncture. Acupressure just utilizes mild massage of key points on the body that are like 're-set' buttons. Learn where they are and how to use them. They really work. Best of all a child can learn to do the massage themselves whenever they need to in order to ward off asthma symptoms.

Enjoy. Learn. Heal. Share.

Vitamin D Prevents Asthma

Researchers have discovered that African American children with asthma in metropolitan Washington, DC, are significantly more likely to have low levels of vitamin D than healthy children.

This study supports recent research that suggests vitamin D plays a greater role in the body than just keeping bones healthy. Vitamin D deficiency has been recently linked to a variety of non-bone related diseases including depression, autoimmune disorders, and now asthma.

The research team found that 86 percent of the children in the study with asthma had insufficient levels of vitamin D, while only 19 percent of non-asthmatics had these low levels.

Only 5 to 37 percent of American infants meet the standard for vitamin D set by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Although breast milk is the perfect food in every other way, it's often low in vitamin D. Since humans originated in equatorial areas with year-round sunshine, babies in the distant past wouldn't have needed to get vitamin D from breast milk. Many mothers also are vitamin D-deficient. Based on these facts, researchers now recommend that most babies should take a daily vitamin D supplement, reports USA Today.

Homeopathy for Asthma Of all the natural home treatments available, homeopathic medicines offer the quickest relief and are easiest for children to use, because they taste like sugar. Homeopathic medicines have no side effects, dangers, or dosage complications, nor will they interfere or interact with conventional asthma medications. Parents can feel totally confident in the safety of homeopathic medicines. Overdosing is impossible; a child could swallow an entire bottle of any homeopathic medicine and never suffer an adverse reaction. The effectiveness of homeopathy, of course, depends upon selecting the correct medicine for the symptoms. The process of choosing the right medicine for an asthma attack is simple enough, involving finding the closest match between the child's symptoms of coughing and wheezing and the description of symptoms for each medicine. A homeopathic practitioner can suggest a list of acute medicines that will be most appropriate for a particular child's symptoms. Otherwise, parents can read through the list of symptoms associated with each of the medicines described here and keep on hand those that sound most like their child's symptoms. The general rule for prescribing any acute homeopathic medicine is to repeat the dose until symptoms improve, then stop and observe. If symptoms return, begin the medicine again. For asthma and cough, if no improvement is noted within 24 hours, re-evaluate the medicine and change to an alternate prescription. If symptoms change markedly after the prescription of the first medicine, then also re-evaluate and consider a second medicine. If a respiratory infection changes form, for example from a runny nose to a deep chest cough, it is often necessary to switch medicines. Since asthma symptoms tend to recur in the same form in an individual child, parents soon become adept at choosing medicines that work best for their child. The following list separates medicines for dry and loose coughs. This is a relatively arbitrary distinction, since children may have both dry and loose cough at different times of the day. (Coughs tend to sound more congested during the night and morning when the child is lying down and mucus collects in the throat.) A tight, high-pitched, ringing cough can be clearly distinguished from a deep, rumbling, fluid-filled cough. Each of these medicines also addresses wheezing and chest tightness. All homeopathic medicines should be given in the 30c strength. The amount of medicine administered is not critical; any amount will work equally well. A typical dose is two pellets every two to three hours, more often if wheezing is severe. However, when wheezing worsens, parents will be using conventional medications, which should also relieve symptoms quickly, making more frequent repetition of homeopathics unnecessary. Dry Cough 1. Lobelia is the first medicine to think of when wheezing is accompanied by short, dry coughs. Shortness of breath is brought on by exposure to cold air and any exertion. The chest is tight and constricted. 2. Cuprum metallicum is characterized by spasms, spasmodic coughing, and spasmodic vomiting. These children feel a painful constriction of the chest. Their cough is better from drinking cold water and worse in hot weather. 3. Kali carbonicum . Children must sit up and lean forward in order to breathe more easily. Typically, they wake at 2 or 3 a.m. with a dry cough and wheezing. They must have open air when an attack occurs, but the cough is often brought on by cold weather. 4. Sambucus. Sudden spells of asthma that resemble croup in their intensity. The child awakes nearly suffocated, gasping for air until the attack passes. These sudden, dramatic attacks usually occur at night, with a hollow dry cough, which is worse lying down and worse in cold air.
Loose Cough 1. Ipecacuanha corresponds to more childhood asthma symptoms than any other medicine, including racking, rattling coughs, with rumbling in the chest, wheezing, and coughing with every breath, accompanied by nausea, gagging, or vomiting. Attacks occur in warm or damp weather, and symptoms improve in the open air. Mucus collects in the throat or chest, causing a loose gagging cough. Loud bubbling noises from congestion can be heard in the chest. 2. Antimonium tartaricum . There is a great deal of mucus in the chest, and very little is expectorated. Children seem weak and wheezy and appear sicker than those who need Ipecac, though the Ipecac children may have more rumbling chest sounds. Children must sit up to breathe. The chest rattles and the cough is loose, worse in the evening and at night.
Acupressure for Asthma Massaging specific points on a child's body during asthmatic episodes helps to relieve cough, induce relaxation, and decrease wheezing. The techniques fall into two categories: pressing on acupuncture points and massage of acupuncture channels. Both are simple, straightforward, and require no training. There are six important pressure points for the relief of asthma symptoms (see list below). With your child lying down, apply finger pressure to the points on both sides of the body, simultaneously if possible. Hold for about two minutes, or hold for ten seconds, release for ten seconds, and repeat ten times. The points may be tender. Apply pressure without causing undue pain. 1. Lung 1 opens blocked energy in the lungs; located on either side of the chest in the soft space just under the lateral head of the clavicle (collarbone). 2. CV 17 clears the lungs and disperses congestion; located in the center of the chest at the level of the nipples. 3. Pericardium 6 opens the chest; located in the center of the palmar surface of the forearm, two child-sized finger breadths above the crease of the wrist. 4. Ding chuan is a specific point to relieve asthma; located on the back, just below and lateral to the most prominent vertebra at the base of the neck (at T7). 5. Liver 3 is a calming point that brings energy down out of the chest; located on the top of the foot, in the depression at the junction of the first and second toes. 5. Stomach 40 relieves congestion; located just lateral to the shinbone at a level half the distance between the prominent bones at the knee and ankle. Tui na pediatric massage is soothing and effective for symptom relief in infants and children up to 12 years old. It involves repetitive massage, 100 strokes at a time, repeated two to three times daily. For massage of the limbs, do one side and then the other. Young children respond especially well to tui na. 1. Ring finger. Rub the palmar surface of the ring finger in a straight line in one direction only, from the second knuckle to the fingertip. 2. Chest. With thumbs together at the midpoint of the chest between the nipples (CV 17), and hands wrapped around the chest, push the thumbs out towards the nipples. 3. Back. With thumbs on the medial border of the scapulae, and hands wrapped around the back, push apart the curves of the scapulae with thumbs moving in one direction, from above to below. 4. Forearm. Use only if the child does not have a fever. Rub along the lateral edge (thumb side) of the long bone of the forearm (radius) in one direction only, from wrist to the elbow.

Resources

Jobst, K.A. "Acupuncture in Asthma and Pulmonary Disease: An Analysis of Efficacy and Safety." J Altern Complement Med 2, no. 1 (Spring 1996): 179-206.

Joos, S., et al. "Immunomodulatory Effects of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Allergic Asthma: A Randomized Controlled Study." J Altern Complement Med 6, no. 6 (Dec. 2000): 519-525.

Reilly, D., et al. "Is Evidence for Homeopathy Reproducible?" Lancet 344 ( Dec. 10, 1994 ): 1601-1606. This double-blind study of patients with severe asthma showed that, after four weeks of treatment with a homeopathic preparation of an allergen, the treatment group experienced significant relief of symptoms compared to the placebo control group.