What is Asthma?

Asthma is a disorder of the respiratory system. It is very common in both children and adults. Its symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing, chest tightness, and wheezing. Asthma manifests itself in repeated episodes, usually triggered by various factors. Asthmatics are usually sensitive to things like cold air and stress. They often have various illnesses similar to the common cold. Many health care associations have focused their attention on asthma, because more than a quarter of urban children suffer from various forms of this disease.

Short History of Asthma

From a historical perspective, asthma was mentioned for the first time in Homer’s Iliad in 450 BC. In the second century AD, Galen wrote some studies about this problem but he didn’t provide solutions. His writings on this topic were based mostly on personals observation. In 1190 a treatise about asthma was written by a Jewish doctor, he described some methods of prevention and various treatments. Later in the 18th century an Italian, Bernardino Ramazzini, wrote about the relationship between dust and asthma. The first effective treatment was introduced in 1901 when bronchodilators were used for the first time. And, even though they appeared in the beginning of the century, anti–inflammatory medication was finally included in the asthmatics regime in 1960.

Asthma Symptoms

Asthma has many signs and symptoms. The most general involves chronic respiratory problems. These crises are usually triggered by the factors previously mentioned. Other triggers can cause problems depending on each individual’s weaknesses, for instance, general irritants like airborne allergens and air pollutants can bring on an attack. Acute asthma attacks can make someone turn blue in the face and even cause loss of consciousness, because for some, the pain can be severe.

Diagnostic Process 

Any doctor can give a diagnosis if he/she knows the patient’s health history and the family background. Asthma is often hereditary. It is difficult to diagnose a young child with asthma, because they don’t have a very long health record and studies may be needed to confirm the suspicion of asthma or not. Depending on the severity of the difficulty, asthma can be classified as mild intermittent, mild persistent, or the more serious forms as moderate persistent and severe persistent.

There is no cure

Asthma is yet another chronic illness for which the medical profession has no known cure. It seems that if you contract asthma, you have it for a lifetime. Because the medical profession has not developed a cure, doctors concentrate on providing ways to prevent attacks and reduce the severity and duration of attacks. Many people, particularly in urban areas, are effected by asthma every day and science still struggles to come up with a solution.

Editors note: In my opinion, when the medical profession tells us there is no cure, it is saying that there is no known cure. If you want to search for a cure, relief, or other solution for yourself, you probably need to search outside the modern medical paradigm (frame-of-reference). It looks like Asthma may be one of these situations. Explore the alternative practitioners in our product & services page. You may find relief, which medical doctors cannot provide.