It is common sense that asthma and air pollution are related. I don’t know if air pollution causes asthma or not but it is definitely a trigger for an asthma attack.
Asthma is chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes in the lungs and can be triggered by anything that affects the air that is breathed in, like particles in the air and temperature changes. Attacks can also be triggered by anxiety. When someone becomes anxious they take short rapid breaths. For an asthmatic person who already has restricted breathing capacity, this is a problem.
Wikipedia talked about doctors using corticosteroids to treat asthma. The side effects seem to be almost as bad as the asthma itself. Anxiety, depression, osteoporosis, hypothyroidism, and diabetes. It seems to me that, except in extreme cases, people would probably want to avoid the corticosteroids if at all possible.
I even heard once of a treatment where doctors will go in and surgically remove some of the mucus membrane inside the bronchial tubes to give the sufferer better air flow capacity. The mucus is there to trap viruses and bacteria in the air to help prevent infections, or in the case of the lungs, to prevent respiratory infections and pneumonia. Granted, too much mucus may be at least part of the problem for people with asthma, but to cut it out can create scarring in the membranes that can cause other problems.
What needs to be done for asthma sufferers is to find out why they are so responsive to the asthma triggers. Is it too much exposure to air pollution at a young age? Maybe they grew up with smoking parents. Maybe they have lived near industrial farms that spray pesticides or fertilizers into the air? Was it an illness that affected their lungs? Maybe it is related to their diet?
Once a cause is known then it might be possible to create a course of detoxification to clean up the problem or at least put in place more specific preventatives to reduce the chances of an asthma attack and reduce their exposure to potentially harmful drugs.
Please keep in mind that I am not a doctor and do not diagnose conditions nor prescribe particular courses of action for any condition that you may have. If you think you have asthma then you should see a doctor and, if you choose, let them know that you want to pursue non-drug means of handling it.
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Wayne Woodworth
