(PRLEAP.COM) A natural asthma cure could mean the end of a multi-million dollar business. With Ventolin tablets and inhalers selling in such high numbers, a drug-free alternative would definitely prove to alter conditions in the asthma treatment industry.

These methods include a drastic change in one’s diet from what is coined as a Mucus/disease forming diet in the Naturopathy Fraternity to a body healing one. This discipline is also being used in the “Breath Retaining Program For Asthmatics” developed by the Russian, Dr. Buteyko and within a few weeks of adhering to this advice, many a chronic asthmatic have been able to give up the use of synthetic drugs.

When told, the tips on his website might be seen as a milestone in natural treatment modalities, Aje offers a warm, yet modest smile saying: “Several people everyday are becoming more aware that nature has provided us with the means to treating ourselves. If a change in dietetic habits and common-sense factors might be all that’s needed to combat a disorder, then there is no need to waste money on chemicals, which inevitably cause more havoc and side-effects.”

Perhaps more people should be informed of this, Aje says, and it remains one of his many missions to inform patients of asthma treatments with a natural approach via his website for the increased healing of the affected.

So the next time one is told there is no cure for asthma, it may be safe to re-visit that remark with emphasis on the drugless methods which according to Aje do work.

Hormone fluctuations may explain why women have higher asthma rates than men, according to new report.
 
Hormone fluctuations may explain why women have higher asthma rates than men, according to new report.

“Women between the ages of 20-50 years are more than three times as likely as men to be hospitalized with asthma despite comparable spirometry.”

“Studies have demonstrated a relationship between asthma and the menstrual cycle, with 46 percent of women’s hospital admissions perimenstrual, and up to 40 percent of women having premenstrual asthma symptoms,” Dr. Nancy K. Ostrom, of the University of California and the Allergy & Asthma Medical Group and Research Center in San Diego, said in a prepared statement.
 
“As many as 8 percent of pregnant women have asthma. Women with asthma who are pregnant or are planning a pregnancy face unique concerns about controlling their asthma symptoms and regarding the safety of medications,” Ostrom said.

She added that smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are other factors that may contribute to differences in asthma rates between women and men.

Dr. Joan Gluck of the Florida Center for Allergy and Asthma Care also discussed the link between hormones and asthma in women.

“When we look at the reproductive phases of a woman’s life cycle, we find in children under age 12, asthma is more common in boys than in girls. Around puberty the ratio changes, with asthma becoming more common in girls than in boys,” Gluck said in a prepared statement.

“Women with asthma experience more symptoms during their premenstrual and menstrual weeks with peak symptoms two to three days before menses. Many are not aware of this pattern, and keeping a diary of their symptoms is very helpful,” said Gluck, who added that most premenstrual asthma patients respond to standard therapy.

She also noted that oral contraceptives have been shown to have a beneficial impact on asthma.

“Nonasthmatic women on oral contraceptives have a higher total lung capacity. Airways are more stable in women with asthma who take oral contraceptives, and several small studies have shown their asthma does improve,” Gluck said.

Here’s one more argument for avoiding antibiotics in young children unless they’re truly needed.

   A new study has found that infants younger than 12 months who have had antibiotics may be more likely to develop asthma when they get older. 

   Researchers at the University of British Columbia looked at seven studies that compared kids who hadn’t had antibiotics before age 1 to those who had. In some of those studies, kids who had been given antibiotics were nearly three times more likely to develop asthma than those who hadn’t. 

   In other studies, the odds were about the same for each group.
   The analysis was published in the March issue of CHEST, the professional journal of the American College of Chest Physicians. 

   Parents shouldn’t panic if their kids have been treated with antibiotics as babies, said Holly Molberg, a pediatrician at Southwest Children’s Clinic in West Jordan. 

   ”I wouldn’t be too alarmed,” she said. “They found an association. We don’t know if it’s cause and effect.”
   Researchers acknowledged that they don’t know exactly what the relationship is, only that treatment with at least one antibiotic as an infant appears to be associated with the development of childhood asthma.
   The association may point to some common factor among kids who had the antibiotics, said Dave Folland, a pediatrician at Mountain View Pediatrics in Sandy. 

   ”It may be that children who eventually get asthma tend to get more bacterial infections and therefore are more likely to get antibiotics,” he said.
   The most important thing for parents to remember is that antibiotics are effective only against bacterial infections - such as a urinary tract infection or strep throat - and not the common cold.
   ”With a true or serious bacterial infection, especially in the first year of life,
antibiotics can be lifesaving and can save a child a lot of pain and complications,” he said. “Out of desire to have their child well, some parents hope for something to make them better, including antibiotics.”

A study published by Harvard Medical School researchers last week may bring doctors one step closer to finding a cure for asthma.

“As an asthmatic, it’s frustrating to always be trying to treat the symptoms of the disease,” says Talya J. Brettler ’08. “I’m excited about the prospect of a cure.”
 

Although studies are conducted constantly, the main contributor missing is hyperventilation. Asthma will not be cured until hyperventilation is addressed and the Buteyko method is the only treatment, conventional or otherwise, that targets the issue.