Asthma

Most people affected would breath abnormally. In their cases their lung would be in a rigid, inelastic state due to severe encumbrances. There is need to restore lost elasticity of the lung tissues. The best way to treat asthma is to stimulate the functioning of your slack glands and re-energise your body; to permit better assimilation of food and to strengthen your lungs, digestive and circulatory systems. For this the first requirement is to reduce the encumbrances to permit practice of better breathing.

A diet which is rich in fruit and vegetables can improve the lungs and increase the ability to breathe properly. Opt for a fruit juice diet to eliminate the toxins. Take liberal quantity of fresh fruits, vegetables and sprouts. Avoid rice, sugar, curd and fried foods which produce phlegm. Whatever you eat, chew slowly and thoroughly. Eat less than your capacity. Drink a cup of warm water every 2 hrs. . Mix honey with water as possible. Total 10 glasses of water in a day. Don’t take water with meals

Ban smoking at home by anyone. Have minimum curtains, carpets, stuffed toys, open book shelves etc where dust accumulates. Avoid dry sweeping, clean by wet mopping. Avoid keeping pets at home. Avoid strong smells, and ice cold drinks.

The next importance to be given is to relaxation. Meditation and visualization would be the best means of relaxing the body. Usually the state of mind affects our breath.

After relaxation, deep breathing is the third key to better performance.

Breathing is a crucial and vital function of our body and still we take it for granted. This approach should go. The patients should do regular breathing exercise. As part of exercise, they can buy some empty balloons and should practice inflating them. Ten balloons in the morning and ten in the evening could give them sufficient exercise. They should make sure that they should never inflate the same balloon twice. Every time they should use a new one. So they should have adequate quantity of balloons with them.

The act of breathing consists of four parts.

1 Breathing out, i.e. expulsion of foul air from lungs. This is very important as, to the extent of retained air in lungs, fresh air cannot get in. Therefore the emptying should be made as thorough as possible.

2 After expulsion, there should be a brief pause for resting the lungs.

3 Then comes breathing in, the drawing of fresh, pure air from outside; and

4 Finally the retention of it in the lungs to allow blood to draw the oxygen and get rid of carbonic acid.

The above four steps are better followed by practise of pranayama and increase the time taken for each breath. The pranayama should be done practised every day either early in the morning or in the evening when the stomach is empty. About 10 to 20 rounds of pranayama should be done each time.

One deep breathing exercise suggested by some experts is as under:

Breath in to the count of four
Hold your breath to the count of four
Breath out to the count of six

In the next round breath out to the count of 7
Don’t worry how you breath in, nature would take care of it
Count your breathing out only
After seven, then breath out to the count of eight
Continue practice till you achieve the count of twenty
This would give you awareness that breathing out is more important
The more you breath out, the more you can breath in
That helps you practice deep breathing

Another exercise suggested by some other experts

Take a news paper
Read it aloud as much as possible in one breath without effort
Now count the number of words you covered in one breath
After three hours try again reading it similarly
Try whether you can overtake your previous record
Tomorrow you try again
Day after try again and see what is your record
Make sure you don’t put yourself under any strain
This would help you breath better


Take following actions:

During the attack

1 Massage on chest and back mustard oil mixed with camphor. Also inhale steam from boiling water mixed with ajwain seeds. Fast, till the attack is gone . After the attack is gone, take lemon juice with honey.

2 Or roll a fistful of ajwain seeds in cotton cloth
Heat this bundle on a tawa
Apply on chest and neck when bearably hot

3 Take a ripe banana warmed on fire after scattering small drops of
powdered black pepper on it.

In general

4 Chew a bel [vilvam] leaf with 3 pepper corn early in the morning
Take 1 cup of warm milk
Do it for 40 days

5 Mix equal quantities of the juices of ginger and anar with honey
Take 1 tbsp three times daily

6 Take 1 tsp ground ginger
Pour 1 ½ cups of hot water over it
Take 1 tsp lukewarm at bed time

7 Powder equal quantities of dried ginger, pepper and long pepper
Mix with honey
Take 1 tsp thrice daily

8 Add 1 tsp of turmeric powder in a glass of milk and boil
Drink at bed time

9 Take ¼ tsp asafoetida powder
2 tsp of honey
½ tsp of betal leaf juice
½ tsp of white onion juice
Sip three times a day

10 Clean 4 figs with warm water and soak overnight in cold water
Take this water and the figs first thing in the morning – Do it for two months

11 Mix fresh or dry amla with honey and take every morning

12 Inhale steam coming from boiling water mixied with ajwain seeds
Similarly steam water with ginger and garlic cloves

13 Inhale the smoke from the burning leaves of Dhatura

14 Take decoction of tulsi leaves with honey and ginger

15 Avoid Yoghurt, butter milk, banana, gauva, chillis, pickle, tea, coffee and fried food

16 Add little ginger juice to warm water and drink at night

17 Take some tender neem leaves and boil in water, stain and drink at night

18 Take the Oomathankai seeds, put them in fire and inhale the smoke when in problem

19 Drink fresh cabbage juice every day – half cup

20 Mix one tbsp of camphor powder in half cup coconut oil and apply on chest

21 Take equal quantities of ajwain, amla without seed, dry sundaikkai, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, dried ginger, mango kernal and rind of pomegranate. Fry them all in little ghee till become golden brown. Take, cool, powder and bottle. Put half tsp in milk and drink twice daily

22 Take equal quantities of powder of Thippili + dried ginger + black pepper thrice daily

23 Take juice from a fresh onion. Mix with it 1 tbsp ginger juice. Add 1 tsp . honey. Mix them all in 1 glass of warm water. Take it twice a day to clear mucous and reduce the frequency of asthma attack

24 Chew a small piece of dried rind of kadukkai every night. Make sure you don’t take the seeds of it. It is poisonous.