Controlling asthma and related allergies - alternative options
Abstract
Asthma is a medical condition that causes narrowing of small airways in the
lungs. Asthma is a chronic inflammation of lung passages, involving eosinophils, mast
cells, T-cells, neutrophils, macrophages. Typically, asthma patients develop wheezing
and have increased mucous production in their lungs, which causes breathlessness
and chest tightness particularly during night. The most common inhaled allergens that
trigger asthma attacks are: pollen, cockroach allergens, animal dander, mites in house
dust, fungi (molds) that grow indoors, chemicals, fumes, or airborne industrial
pollutants, smoke. In addition, inflammation in asthma can also be triggered by: viral
respiratory infections, gastrooesophageal reflux disease & other conditions. In the
year 2007 report by WHO estimates that more than 300 million people suffer from
asthma worldwide, and almost 2,50,000 deaths attributed to the disease. In the past
decade much of interest has been shown in alternative medicine and asthma was not
an exception. The authors have summed up the alternative treatment strategies,
which may atleast be used as adjunct in the treatment of asthma and related allergies.
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