asthma.....options please

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Training and Health
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i have always had athletic asthma- if i work too hard (cardiovascularly speaking) ..nevermind …
you all know what asthma is: so, are there any herbs or an all natural medicine that i can take.
my test for my next belt is in 1 week- so any answers by then would be appreciated.

the reason i don’t want to use my inhaler is because i’m “militantly” vegetarian- and epinephrine(the active ingredient) is derived from
animals.

i was vegan for about 3 years- i noticed a direct correlation between dairy products and my asthma- no dairy, no asthma. but, other things were lacking in my diet- so i went back (not happily) to dairy products. blah blah bla

2

i KNOW YOUR PAIN.. i AM TO ASTHMATIC…cOLD WEATHER WISE AND ATHLETIC BUT YOU HAVE TO PUSH PASS IT.. i USE STOMACH BREATHING AND MODERN MEDICAL TREATMENT.. i ALSO USED SOMETHING CALLED CORACCIDILE TAIL SOUP FRON CHINA TOWN IT HAS WORKED A LIL .. BUT YOU JUST GO TO INCREASE YOUR CARDIO WORK OUT GRADUALLY.. i CAN NOW RUN TWO MILES PLUS A DAY.. YOU JUST GOT KEEP YOUR NOSE TO THE GRIND STONE

VICTOR :cool:

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check this site out

Here is some info on how to control your asthma with out drugs.

http://www.usyoga.org/Yogasthma/yogasthma_home.htm

hope it helps

Brian Monnier
San Francisco, CA

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I’m asthmatic as well

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=“-1”>quote:</font><HR>the reason i don’t want to use my inhaler is because i’m “militantly” vegetarian-[/quote]

I’m quite the opposite myself. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=“-1”>quote:</font><HR>and epinephrine(the active ingredient) is derived from
animals.[/quote]

Well obviously. Epinephrine is a form of adrenal hormone. I don’t know if this can be artificially synthesised or not.

I don’t know much about holistic medicines, but here’s some suggestion from a more ‘sci-med’ (for lack of a better term) POV:

Your asthma treatment should consist of both a “preventer” and “reliever” inhalers. Many of which are merely composed of lab produced chemical compounds. For example, the reliever I use is beclomethasone and my reliever is a chemical known as salbutamol. Both of which, are artificially synthesised.

Beclomethasone dipropionate (9-chloro-11b,17,21-trihydroxy-16b-methylpregna-1,4-diene-3,20-doine17,21-dipropionate) is an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid (that means it’s an inhaled steroid, not to be confused with anebolic steroids though). Beclomethasone should be stored between 15-30’C.

Gargle or have a drink after using beclomethasone, because it can leave you with a dry mouth and/or give you thrush. Beclomethasone also bloats you, so it makes you a bit chubby. But hey, better that than suffocation I suppose… (and you can imagine yourself as Sammo Hung in training, hehehehheh)

Salbutamol B.P. (1-(4-hydroxy-3-hydroxymethylphenyl)-2-(tert-butylamino)ethanol) is a white, odourless crystalline powder. It’s soluble in 70 parts water and in 25 parts ethanol (95%) and is slightly soluble in ether. Salbutamol is a reliever and works by dilating the bronchioles yada yada yada… store it below 25’C. Oh, consult your doctor if your pregnant, because salbutamol also affects your uterine muscles and has been known to cross the placental barrier. Natch.

If you’re concerned about an inhaler’s <u>propellant</u> containing animal extracts, then you might want to use one of those capsule thingies. I think they’re called Turbohalers – where you place the capsule containing the actual medicine (be it beclomethasone or salbutamol), turn the top once to “break” the seal and simply suck in the chemical through the power of your own breath. The only disadvantage of this system is that it’s rather inaffective if you’re having a strong asthma attack and lung power just isn’t an option. Another option would be to use an air pump, such as a nebuliser.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=“-1”>quote:</font><HR>i was vegan for about 3 years- i noticed a direct correlation between dairy products and my asthma- no dairy, no asthma. but, other things were lacking in my diet- so i went back (not happily) to dairy products. blah blah bla [/quote]

Asthma has a whole host of triggers, and attacks can be triggered in different people in different ways. Triggers include a range of foods, chemicals, pollutants, dust, laughter, exercise, climate etc., but not all triggers affect all asthmatics. Remember, there are many different variations of asthma as well, including variations in severity.

“Wit is educated insolence.” - Aristotle (284-322 BC)

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Yeah, an epinephrine inhaler sounds a bit extreme, and I’ve certainly never heard of it before. A Beta-receptor stimulator such as salbutamol is far more usual.

“Weapons are the embodiments of fear,
the wise use them only when they have no choice”
Lao Tzu

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if dairy is related to your asthma, get rid of it

My best friend has asthma that is partially related to her consumption of dairy. Dairy also contributes to her being frequently sick–congestion that always leads to bronchitis.

I say try to get rid of the dairy if possible. While I am not vegan, so I don’t know how hard it is to get all the nutrients in–there are ways to adjust the diet so that you get some of the same nutrients.
What is there in dairy products that can’t be found elsewhere? Just asking–I don’t know

7

Dairy

Dairy products are a major source of calcium.
I’m not sure which other foods contain calcium, but most hard core vegetarians I know take tonnes of pills as an artificial source of calcium, iron etc.

“Wit is educated insolence.” - Aristotle (284-322 BC)

8

good idea to avoid dairy if you’ve noticed an association with asthma, not uncommon.

if your asthma is mild,try focusing on breathing OUT slowly (but not so slow you feel deprived of air),then breath in again relaxed and focus on physically relaxing the body.this helped me with asthma when i was younger, but everyone is different.worth getting some opinions from natural medicine people as well as Doc.s, cos herbs can help

calcium sources incl.
almonds, green leafy vege.s, molasses, soybeans

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thank-you’s

thank you all for your reply’s- they are all appreciated and being used as much as is feasable(spelled correctly?).

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I’ve got athletic asthma too and I’ve always found it was a great excuse for getting out of doing exercise :wink:

Seriously though, I use the standard preventer/reliever treatment and that works fine (but I am not a Vegan).

Have you tried alternative therapies like Qigong healing, acupuncture, herbal medicine, or Reiki?

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my reply

No. It’s not possible at this moment. Though, with any luck, I may be taught all of the above, at some point. I’m very interested at all of the above, that you mentioned.

12

try Chiropractic management of asthma…

there’s alot of papers supporting this now…

Which Shaolin is authentic. North or South.
As Sifu would say…there is no permanence and there should not be any discrimination.
The point is therefore, who cares.
The more Shaolin there are, the better. Amitabha.

13

Even though I’m limited by my asthma sometimes kung fu has helped improve my breathing and resistance.All I used to do at first was hold a horse stance and try to breath properly,I still do.After a while though when I was in school I jogged like for the first time after a long time and I managed to do a whole mile!I did two miles last week but I walked every other lap after the first mile.Has anyone had any simlar experince?

A friend from kfo gave me the directions of a good internal doctor but I haven’t been able to go there.He told me this doctor pracices chi kung and is very good.Maybe in the future I’ll go.

“Always be ready”