From the Greek word meaning shortness of breath; managing asthma with the help of body resources.
In the absence of other physical abnormalities, asthma could be logically regarded a muscular malfunction caused by a number of external factors such as pollen, air impurities, environmental conditions, moulds, sores, bed bugs, animal fur and many others like internal anxiety and mental stress.
Any of these circumstances or their combination, causes irritation, swelling, restriction of the muscles controlling the flow of air through the bronchi. Consequently the amount of oxygen needed by the body as a whole and necessary for its smooth function is reduced.
As a reaction to such condition, the brain sends an urgent signal to the breathing muscles to increase their functioning in order to balance the oxygen supply. An external manifestation could be sneezing, watery eyes, redness of the face and many others varying from person to person.
An asthmatic can live a normal life, provided he or she learns to control and relax the functioning of the muscles involved in the breathing the way nature intended us to do; essentially learn how to use the natural mechanism. When nature assemble the human body, thousands of years ago, has assigned to every one of its components, down to the smallest molecule, e specific purpose.
That is why we are provided with legs for walking eyes for seeing and so forth including the nose as part of the breathing which must be considered as plan “A” while the mouth which is plan “B” and is to be used when really necessary. The inhaled air through the nostrils, reaches the nasal cavities, where is cleared of thee impurities (including viruses), humidified and warmed it ready to be used by the lungs.
The importance of the nasal cavity is greatly overlooked and under estimated because is the air conditioning centre of the breathing system. Its configuration, as assigned by nature during thousands of years, together with all the different components whose technical names are often hard to read, hard to pronounce and even harder to remember, are of limited importance to the individual affected by asthma, as long as they function according to the rules which, as mentioned, is to circulate the air clearing it of harmful impurities before sending it to the lungs.
In a passive smock situation, to my knowledge and not yet scientifically verified, the nasal cavity could very well contribute towards the removal of the poisonous particles present in the cigarette smock before the air reaches the lungs.
Following this considerations, the problem of asthma can be viewed under a different aspect because it is not a sickness; the impurities are stopped within the nasal cavities, therefore they no longer irritate the throat consequently this will render unnecessary the need for the so called “puffer” which is referred as a small pump injecting into the mouth a relaxing air intended to clear the airways by relaxing the breathing muscles.
As a consequence it becomes logical to admit that such medical aid is no longer required eliminating the stressful necessity to carry them all the time; should their use, still be considered, the pumping would have to be executed through the nose and not the mouth.
Clearly nature has provided the body with all necessary components to ensure its smooth functioning but they have to be used properly according to the rules. To achieve such goal, even if at first appears difficult, it simply requires a change of attitude: inhaling with the nose and if necessary exhaling with the mouth only when necessary.
All this can be done by regularly blocking the back of the mouth with the tongue. It must be remembered that the body, very often, has the answer “if asked” and attention is paid to what is saying.
The rules of nature are always valid, relevant and lasting, logically children should be encouraged, at a very young age, to breathe with the nose in preference to the mouth because this will serve them for a very long time.
The medical profession has made many incredible progresses but, on close consideration, is very often the case of coping, duplicating and imitating what the body has been doing for long time instead of just examining and considering seriously.