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The children of pregnant women who consumed more apples
and fish had significantly lower rates of asthma and
eczema at age five than the children of mothers who
had consumed less, according to a new study conducted
at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and presented
at the American Thoracic Society's 2007 International
Conference.
Using antibiotics in the first year of life may significantly
increase a child's risk of contracting asthma by age
7, according to a study conducted by researchers at
University of Manitoba and McGill University in Montreal
and published in "CHEST," the journal of
the American College of Chest Physicians.
Until recently, people who experienced respiratory
problems from household use of spray cleaners had no
facts to back up their claims of shortness of breath
or wheezing. That has changed.
Outbreaks of asthma and allergies have increased considerably
since the early 1980s. Asthma statistics outline a
jump of 74% for children between the ages of 5-14 years
and 160% for children under four years old, according
to the National Institutes of Health. Additionally,
one of every four children in the U.S. also suffers
from some type of allergy. With annual costs in the
billions, researchers offer a glimpse of hope for a
natural cure.
Dr. David Dahlman, D.C., medical director of the Hyde
Park Holistic Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, has developed
a comprehensive program to eliminate or greatly reduce
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In a lengthy report
available as a free download on his website, www.drdahlman.com,
he expands on the negative role that drugs and diet
play in gastrointestinal health, how and why IBS develops,
how it is at least partially to blame for a host of
other symptoms including asthma and food allergies,
and what can be done about it all.
A review of scientific data by British and American
researchers found that reducing salt intake might reduce
the severity of asthma and breathing problems.
Children who eat whole grains and fish are far less
likely to develop asthma and wheezing than children
who do not consume adequate amounts of those foods,
according to new Dutch research published in the journal
Thorax.
Children whose mothers had a low intake of vitamin
E during pregnancy are more likely to develop wheezing
and asthma by age five.
The prevalence of childhood asthma and wheeze rises
around 2 to 3 per cent for every indoor swimming pool
per 100,000 of the population across Europe, indicates
research published ahead of print in Occupational and
Environmental Medicine.
Asthma patients who don't respond to steroid treatment
suffer repeated asthma attacks, and are at greater
risk of dying from the condition. Researchers from
King's College London have found that vitamin D3 could
substantially improve the responsiveness of these patients
to steroid treatment, offering them hope of an improvement
in their condition. Their results are published today
in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
The use of centrally installed ultraviolet (UV) irradiation
units in the homes of asthmatic children who are sensitized
to mold can improve their symptoms, according to a
new report.
The medical journal The Lancet is appealing to the
medical community to stop using the term "asthma" as
it misleads people to believe it is a disease rather
than a group of symptoms with various origins and characteristics.
People suffering from exercise-induced asthma were
able to reduce their symptoms below the threshold used
to diagnose the disease by eating a diet supplemented
with fish oil, according to new research findings from
Indiana University reported in the January issue of
the journal Chest.
Three common asthma inhalers containing the drugs
salmeterol or formoterol may be causing four out of
five U.S. asthma-related deaths per year and should
be taken off the market, researchers from Cornell and
Stanford universities have concluded after a search
of medical literature.
Children who attend school near large-scale livestock
farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs) may be at a higher risk for asthma, according
to a new study by University of Iowa researchers.
As the nation’s collective waistline has swelled
in recent decades, rates of asthma diagnoses also have
accelerated. Indeed, much research has affirmed a link
between the two conditions.
Physicians who participated in a pharmaceutical-sponsored
clinical trial involving asthma medications maintained
adherence to treatment guidelines but were more likely
to prescribe the sponsor’s drugs, according to
a study in the June 21 issue of JAMA.
Women with high levels of an inflammatory protein
produced by fat tissue are at significantly increased
risk of asthma, finds research in published ahead of
print in Thorax. The findings are based on almost 6,000
adults taking part in the Third National Health and
Nutrition Examination Study, which assessed the health
and nutrition of US citizens.
A study published in the journal Nature Medicine has
found that asthma sufferers have low levels of an immune
system protein that acts as the lungs' first defense
against the cold viruses that can cause severe asthma
attacks.
Elderly patients taking anti-asthmatic medications
to treat their asthma or lung disease may be more likely
to develop cataracts, a new study finds.
Adding to the ongoing controversy over a popular class
of asthma inhaler medications, a new data review suggests
the drugs may be dangerous.
Researchers in Europe have found that childhood asthma
could be associated with exposure to chemicals in swimming
pools.
A study by American and Australian researchers has
found that a protein previously linked to type 2 diabetes
and atherosclerosis -- called aP2 -- may also be key
to the development of asthma.
Childhood asthma is fast becoming an epidemic in the
United States. According to the Environmental Protection
Agency, close to one in 13 schoolchildren have asthma,
with the numbers of new diagnoses rising sharply since
1980. Close to 4.2 million children had asthma attacks
in the last year. For parents, it can be a heartbreaking
condition; one that means their child will have to
endure sleepless nights and may not get the opportunity
to participate in some of the great milestones of childhood,
like summer camp, sleepovers and Little League.
It happens to everyone, sometimes multiple times a
year. That's why it's called the common cold, right?
But while we're all familiar with the common cold,
we may only know of one or two ways to fight it, which
usually involve some sort of over-the-counter medication,
or the folk remedy, a bowl of chicken soup. But there
are much better ways to prevent and treat the common
cold, using traditional non-drug remedies and good
solid nutrition.
The link between asthma and cows' milk is familiar
to many young asthma sufferers and their parents. I
first became aware of the connection through my cousin's
experiences with his four-year-old son. Since infancy,
my cousin's son has experienced severe asthma attacks
and has been hospitalized twice for asthma-related
pneumonia. When his asthma attacks become more frequent
or more severe, my cousin and his wife respond by temporarily
eliminating milk and milk products from his diet, and
it usually works. I always assumed that milk worsened
his asthma by stimulating mucus production in his lungs.
However, studies suggest that, either along with or
instead of creating excess mucus, milk may worsen asthma
due to an undiagnosed milk allergy.
Those of you who are familiar with the work of the
late Dr B. may own his book called "The Water
Cure," or "Water for health, for Healing,
for Life: You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty." He's
also the author of "Your Body's Many Cries for
Water." Essentially, Dr. B is the foremost authority
on the relationship between the consumption of water
and states of health or disease in the human body.
Mike: I'd like you to elaborate a little more on asthma,
and the idea that the body is managing its water supply
deliberately in a way that produces symptoms that are
called asthma...
New research shows that ingredients found in asthma
inhalers actually worsen the condition in asthmatics,
creating a cycle of dependence on the inhaler. Asthma
inhalers are largely unnecessary in the first place,
since nearly every case of asthma can be reversed through
dietary changes alone. |
