Bronchial Asthma Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and Natural Remedies

If you have been experiencing breathlessness, coughing, and wheezing (whistling sound coming from chest) recently, you might have caught bronchial asthma. You need to pay early attention to treat bronchial asthma because the prolonged state of asthma can harm your lungs in a big way. So, read on to know what is bronchial asthma, how do you get bronchial asthma or the bronchial asthma causes, how to recognize bronchial asthma- the symptoms for asthma and effective treatment for asthma including natural asthma remedies.

What is Bronchial Asthma?

Bronchial asthma is the common asthma which is an inflammatory disease of airways that causes periodic attacks of coughing, wheezing (whistling sound from chest), breathlessness, and even chest congestion. Due to the inflammation of airways, a person feels difficulty in breathing and chest tightness or chest congestion. Some people feel these conditions at night which is called nocturnal asthma or in the early morning hours. Some other people feel these symptoms of asthma when they exercise. This is called exercise-induced asthma. The inflammation, caused by many factors, make the airway hyper-responsive.

Bronchial Asthma Symptoms

The following signs and symptoms of bronchial asthma can help one identify the disease

• Shortness of breath or breathlessness even when talking, laughing or walking a little.
  
• Tightness of chest
  
• Wheezing (whistling sound from chest, mostly when you lie down)
  
• Coughing and sometimes excessive cough which keeps one awake at night
  

How Do You Get Asthma? - Bronchial Asthma Causes

Asthma is primarily associated with allergy but allergy is not the only way you get asthma. Allergies are also associated with genetic inheritance and so does asthma. Mast cells, eosinophils, and T lymphocytes in human body are responsible for causing bronchial asthma. Mast cells (the allergy causing cells) release chemicals called histamine which in turn is responsible for nasal stuffiness and constriction of airways. Eosinophils and T lymphocytes are a type of white blood cells that are associated with allergic diseases and inflammation. Thus, the causes of bronchial asthma can be listed as under.

• Allergies
• Genetic factors
• Increased numbers of Eosinophils

There are certain asthma triggers too apart from bronchial asthma causes. These triggers lead to attacks of coughing, breathlessness and wheezing! Such asthma triggers may include:

• Tobacco smoke
  
• Infections like colds, flu, pneumonia
  
• Allergens like food, pollen, mold, dust mites, and pet dander (skin flakes)
  
• Exercise
  
• Air pollution, toxins
  
• Extreme changes in temperature
  
• Certain drugs like aspirin, NSAID, and beta-blockers
  
• Food additives like MSG flavor enhancers
  
• Emotional stress and anxiety
  
• Hyper activities like singing, laughing, or crying
  
• Perfumes or sprays
  
• Acid reflux
  

Bronchial Asthma Treatment

Bronchial asthma can be placed under the category of chronic diseases. As such, a person suffering from bronchial asthma should always be under constant medical supervision. Depending upon the causing factors, bronchial asthma may or may not be curable in a complete manner. However, avoiding the asthma triggers, external causes like allergies and proper treatment can let its patient lead a fairly normal life. Basically, two types of drugs are given for bronchial asthma treatment.

• Fast Relief Medicines or the relievers to ease the acute respiratory complexities.
  
• Control Medicines or the preventers to resist recurrence of asthma in its intensified form.
  

Apart from the above two drugs, two hormones are also used to treat bronchial asthma. These are adrenalin and hydrocortisone hormones. Adrenaline is used for acute bronchial asthma where emergency arises. The adrenaline hormone is injected into the patient’s bloodstream in cases of emergency to activate the reflex of body. As adrenaline quickens pulse rate, provides a drive for rapid heart action and arouses our health system to fight with emergencies, it helps a lot in containing the heightened attacks of asthma. The other hormone is used in form of hydrocortisone medicines ( steroid form) that are given for longer periods as the long-term consumption of these drugs assist in reducing the intensity of pain and suffering for an asthma patient. Therapeutic exercises as well as breathing exercises are also used to treat asthmatic conditions.

One of the very different asthma treatment technique involves gradually and carefully exposing the bronchial asthma patient to the allergens to build up resistance against them (somewhat like vaccination concept). However, this has to be done under strict supervision of physician as this involves great risks too.

Bronchodilator- Asthma Inhaler Medication

The description of asthma treatment can't get completed without talking about bronchodilator which is an asthma medication used to relax the muscles and enlarge the size of the airways of lungs. These asthma medications are inhaled through mouth with the help of asthma inhalers. They are also available in oral forms but inhaled forms are preferred over the oral ones. Bronchodilators are available as Short-Acting Beta Agonists (SABA) and Long-Acting Beta Agonists (LABA). SABAs are prescribed as a quick relief medication, while LABAs are the controller medication. Bronchodilator remedy is used at the preliminary stage of asthma treatment. When there is critical asthma attack, steroid form of medicines are used by the doctors.

Natural Asthma Remedies

Lifestyle management is very crucial for asthma patients. There are two aspects for this- avoiding the asthma triggers and adopting such ways that increase resistance to allergy-causing factors. Here are certain diet remedies for asthma as well as other natural home remedies for bronchial asthma.

• Take diet rich in B6, B12 and B5 vitamins as well as Vitamin C and folic acid. This helps in building immune system.
• Have foods rich in antioxidants to boost immune system.
• Seam some ginger tea. Add four minced garlic cloves in the tea while it is steaming. Drink this after it cools down a little.
• When experiencing asthma attack, get someone to rub mustard oil mixed with camphor on your back. This makes breathing easier.
• Take one cup of water and add half teaspoon of licorice and ginger juice to it. Drink to get relief from asthma symptoms.
• Avoid stress.
• Drink plenty of water. If you can't decide on water intake amount, read this- how much water should you drink in a day
• Clean home regularly to keep dust at minimal levels.
• Avoid pets with fur or feather.
• When its cold, cover your face with mask or cloth.
• Do regular exercises. If you have exercise-induced asthma, consult your doctor to know about what exercises can you do.
• Control heartburn and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) to keep bronchial asthma under control.