by Phillip Day
Profile and symptoms
Wheezy
exhalations and difficulty in breathing caused by the narrowing of the
bronchial tubes (airways to the lungs). The condition is brought on variously
by air pollution allergens (toxins and pollen), infections, food sensitivities,
drugs such as aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), exertion
(exercise), emotional outbursts, smoking, Candida infections, leaky gut
syndrome, etc.
An acute
asthma attack can be very serious, where breathing is impaired and can
lead to asphyxiation through respiratory failure (suffocation). The condition
is most common in children under eleven years of age, among whom there is a
two-to-one, male-to-female ratio which equalises by the age of thirty.
Traditional treatments usually include the use of oral corticosteroids, bronchodilators and other inhalant
aids.
That asthma is primarily caused by stress to a poor immune system has been
established beyond doubt. The question is, what is doing the stressing and why
is the immune system so poor to start with? There is evidence that the pertussis
(whooping cough) vaccine is implicated as a
primary causation in asthma (this is usually taken as part of the diphtheria, pertussis,
tetanus (DPT) shot).[1]
Both types of
asthma, extrinsic and intrinsic, are caused
by the release of chemicals, including the neurotransmitter hormone histamine and factors known as leukotrienes. The production of excess
histamine and leukotrienes is believed to be a secondary factor caused by acute
dehydration and lack of unrefined salt, the reaction of a stressed and
poorly performing immune system to factors in the environment, and poor diet.
Hay fever, or
seasonal allergic rhinitis, shares many common factors with
asthma and is prevalent today, its incidence increasing yearly. This has
caused researchers to wonder what it is behind such a dramatic increase.
My research
indicates that the prevalence of asthma, hay fever, allergies and multiple chemical sensitivity today is without doubt being caused by unintentional, chronic,
long-term dehydration in the population, a condition known to provoke the
production of hormones histamine and vasopressin. Eminent water doctor,
Fereydoon Batmanghelidj MD has carried out extensive work over several decades
on the relationship chronic dehydration is having on the populations. Many of
today’s ‘illnesses’ are the body’s many cries for water but are being treated
with drugs to switch off symptoms, Dr Batmanghelidj contends:
“Asthma and allergy - conditions mainly treated with different
kinds of antihistamine medications - are important indicators of dehydration
in the body. Histamine is an important neurotransmitter
that primarily regulates the thirst mechanism for increased water intake. It also establishes a
system of rationing for the available water in the drought-stricken
body. Histamine is a most noble element
employed in drought management of the body. It is not the villain that
we have been led to believe due to our limitation of knowledge about the human
body.
In dehydration, histamine production and its activity
increase greatly, and this generates the emergency thirst signals
and indicators of the water-rationing programme
that is taking place. Increased histamine release
in the lungs causes spasms of the bronchioles, making them constrict. This natural spasmodic action of histamine on the
bronchial tubes is part of the design of the body to conserve water that normally evaporates during breathing - the winter 'steam'.”[2]
Children are
especially vulnerable to asthma since the billions of new cells being made as
they grow require 75% of their volume to be filled with water. Children fed
sodas or other manufactured drinks for water intake are dehydrating the body
through the diuretic action of these beverages; asthma can be the result.
Doctors are mistakenly taught that a) water is pharmacologically inactive and
b) one ‘fluid’ is very much like
another (viz: one calorie is very much like another!). The risk activities for
asthma – i.e. exercise and emotional outbursts - place an increased demand for
water on the body. Increased histamine release in the lungs causes spasms of
the bronchioles, making them constrict in the classic asthma pattern. For more
information, read Dr Batmanghelidj’s excellent book, Water and Salt, Your
Healers From Within (available through www.credence.org).
Take action ©
Probably the
beverage industry is responsible for the sharp escalations in asthma. Certainly, one gets an appreciation of how
dehydrated the population must be with a pub on every corner! Most of the known
causes for asthma are, in fact, secondary to the primary reason people develop these
sensitivities in the first place – chronic, unintentional dehydration. Effective
treatment of asthma involves avoiding asthma triggers, changing diet and increasing water and salt intake, and
avoiding carbonated and manufactured beverages.
·
PREVENTION:
Avoid trigger foods,
such as eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts, milk, chocolate, gluten products (wheat, barley, rye and oats), citrus and food colourings and additives
·
PREVENTION:
Avoid areas containing
dust, mites, pollen, pollution, paint fumes and other causative factors
·
DIET: COMMENCE A LOW GI, ANTI-CANDIDA REGIMEN with plenty of fresh
vegetables and cold caught, oily fish, i.e. salmon, mackerel, herring, etc.
·
DIET: Commence drinking half your bodyweight
(lbs) in ounces, i.e. a 120 lb female should drink 60 oz of water daily. For
most adults, 2-3 litres of water will suffice. For children, scale down
according to bodyweight
·
DIET: Half a teaspoon (tsp) of unrefined sea
salt or, best, Himalayan salt for every ten glasses of water (not sodium
chloride – ‘table salt’, which is a poison)
·
DIET: Take particular care to avoid the
foods discussed, both in the ANTI-CANDIDA DIETARY REGIMEN and THE
FOOD FOR THOUGHT LIFESTYLE REGIMEN
·
DIET: Ensure additional intakes of flaxseed
oil and other omega-3 essential fat food sources
·
RESTORE
NUTRIENT BALANCE: COMMENCE THE BASIC SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM (adjust for children according to body
weight), ensuring:
·
‘Ingenious’
complex, as directed (www.neways.com or
local distributor)
·
Echinacea and astragalus, as directed
·
TIP: Use a HEPA air filter (high efficiency
particulate arresting) to assist in removing allergens from the patient’s
environment while recovering (these are available from heating and
air-conditioning companies)
·
TIP: Remove pets, dander, upholstery
coverings and other media where allergens may collect
This regimen
is a long-term strategy for all asthmatics, aimed at boosting immunity
and allowing the body to adjust to increased water intake. Attacks should
become less severe and finally stop. Certain foods which trigger the condition
should be avoided until asthma attacks diminish. Any reintroduction of trigger foods should be
under the advice of your physician only after the condition has not been in
evidence for a protracted period.
Resources
Water and Salt – Your Healers From Within
by Fereydoon Batmanghelidj MD
Water – The Stuff of Life by Phillip
Day
Himalayan
Salt (fine ground for shakers)
Himalayan
Salt (coarse crystals for mills)
Pura-Flow
Reverse Osmosis drinking water system