More air for every cell: natural asthma helpers

You want so badly to take a big, deep breath and feel the rush of fresh air in your lungs. But your constricted airways won’t allow it, you just get a coughing fit. Every time you exhale, there’s a whistling sound, and you feel pressure on your chest, like someone’s dropped a brick. Damn asthma… Is there any natural remedy?

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways that affects about 5% of the population in Europe. Inflammation is an important factor – it is always present in patients, even when they have no symptoms.

Asthma is manifested by difficulty breathing, shortness of breath (often called expiratory dyspnoea), wheezing when exhaling, chest tightness and a dry, irritating cough. Bronchospasm, a contraction of the smooth muscles in the airways, is typical. These symptoms very often occur in the second half of the night or after exertion.

Asthma can occur at any age, but in about 63% of cases the first symptoms appear before the age of five. In children under three years of age, however, the symptoms are not yet typical – rather, it is frequent respiratory infections accompanied by so-called obstructive bronchitis, or swelling and thickening of the mucous membranes of the airways, which mainly causes expiratory dyspnoea. Later, the symptoms are no different from adult asthma.

Seizures can be triggered by various stimuli, most often a cold, increased physical exertion or exposure to an allergen. Smoking and a polluted environment are significant risk factors for its occurrence.

How is asthma treated?

Proper asthma treatment is very important. It is not only about eliminating unpleasant symptoms that make it difficult for patients to function normally, but also about preventing permanent negative changes to the bronchial tubes.

Until about the 1980s, the treatment of asthma in conventional medicine focused mainly on eliminating bronchospasms, but then it became clear that asthma is mainly an inflammatory problem, and therefore treatment began to focus more on controlling inflammation. Nowadays, treatment involves both bronchodilators, which relax the muscles of the airways, and anti-inflammatory drugs. These include the widely used corticosteroids (e.g. prednisolone or dexamethasone), anti-leukotrienes and mast cell stabilisers, which prevent the release of histamine. The latter is particularly important in the case of allergen-induced asmatas, because histamine secreted by mast cells is the cause of allergic manifestations.

It must be said, however, that classical medicine does not yet have any procedure that would really cure asthma, it is always only about suppressing the symptoms. And most of the drugs used have numerous negative side effects.

Hope in the name of epigenetics

However, the findings of epigenetics bring great hope to patients. It turns out that in asthma, epigenetic changes are almost always present in the DNA, which negatively affect the activity of certain genes. These are mainly changes in the methylation of genes, and some of these changes have already been demonstrated in the cord blood – that is, they either occurred during pregnancy or were inherited by the child from one of the parents. Risk factors during pregnancy include environmental pollutants or smoking.

Few studies have been conducted in adults, but it is thought that epigenetic changes resulting from negative lifestyle and environmental factors may play a role – this has been confirmed, for example, in smoking.

However, asthma has also been linked to other epigenetic reactions. For example, regulation by microRNAs plays a role in the proliferation (rapid proliferation) of smooth muscle cells that is typical of chronic asthma, but also in the control of inflammatory processes. Alterations in histone acetylation in turn have a negative effect on e.g. T-lymphocytes.

These findings may be used in the development of epigenetic-based drugs in the future. However, herbs and dietary supplements with epigenetic activity can offer great help.

Natural helpers for asthma

The Onion

Seemingly ordinary vegetables are very useful in asthma. It contains a large amount of soluble fibre, which effectively supports the balance of the gut microbiome. It is this imbalance that negatively affects both our immunity and our risk of developing asthma and allergies. In addition, onions suppress the production of enzymes involved in asthma (e.g. 5-lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase), stabilize mast cells and reduce histamine production.

Coleus forskohlii

The herb, native to the Himalayas, is the only known natural source of forskolin, which has a number of interesting effects on the human body by improving the transmission of information within cells. In asthma, it has positive effects in several ways. It significantly reduces the intensity of inflammation, among other things by suppressing the production of the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase, which plays an important role in the development of asthma. It also relaxes the smooth muscle of the bronchial tubes, has an antihistamine effect and reduces the remodelling of the airways due to asthma.

One study also compared its effectiveness with conventional treatment, specifically inhalation of sodium cromoglycate (cromolyn), which acts as a mast cell stabiliser. Two groups of volunteers with mild to moderate asthma took one of these alternatives for six months, and while 85% of the participants in the cromolyn group experienced at least one asthma attack during this time, only 40% of the Coleus group did.

Boswellie

Frankincense resin is especially known for its positive effects on joints, but it can also be very useful for asthma. It has strong anti-inflammatory effects. It inhibits the production of the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase as well as leukotrienes, which are molecules involved in cell signalling that not only cause inflammation. At the same time, Boswellia also reduces the production of histamines and reduces the contraction of airway smooth muscle.

The combination of boswellia with curcumin, or even with liquorice, is very effective.

Rosemary

It is anti-inflammatory, very effectively relaxes the smooth muscles of the airways and improves their patency. In addition, it has very strong anti-allergic effects, counteracting excessive activation of T-lymphocytes and mast cells and suppressing histamine production, making it particularly suitable for allergic asthma.

Baikal pine cone

The herb, particularly popular in traditional Chinese medicine, is very effective in allergies, where it effectively prevents the release of histamine. It has the advantage of being particularly fast-acting, as it is sufficient to start taking it 48 hours before encountering the allergen. However, it is also very useful for asthma. It is anti-inflammatory and prevents the remodelling of the airways due to asthma. It has proved to be very effective not only in allergic asthma but also in asthma caused by smoking.

Propolis

This unique bee product is known for its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. But it also suppresses histamine release and T-cell activation, which is important in allergies. In asthma, its use reduces the frequency of attacks and generally improves respiratory function.

Shrubby goatgrass

It has been particularly useful in allergic asthma, where it reduces the frequency of attacks, especially in children. Its antifibrotic effect is also important here, as it prevents airway remodelling in asthmatics.

Bacopa monieri

The herb better known as brahmi is widely used to promote mental performance, but it can also help with asthma. It is one of the effective mast cell stabilisers and prevents contraction of the airway smooth muscle.

Bharangi

The herb with the Latin name Clerodendron serratum is traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine for allergies and respiratory problems. Scientific studies have confirmed that it is an effective bronchodilator, i.e. a substance capable of improving airway patency.

Ginkgo biloba

In asthma sufferers, ginkgo can effectively reduce the level of inflammatory processes in the airways, improving their patency and lung capacity. Efficacy has also been demonstrated with concomitant treatment with glucocorticosteroids.

Torture

This herb is not only an effective weapon against anxiety and insomnia, but it also helps to relieve mast cell activation, suppress coughing and generally relieve asthma symptoms.