Posts Tagged asthma

Diseases Caused by Smoking – How They Will Affect Your Health

Diseases caused by smoking are many. Studies have been conducted to establish why smoking causes diseases. These studies were able to prove that the ingredients in cigarettes and tobacco products are the culprits. The ingredients can cause cancer and diseases. Some of these ingredients are nicotine, acrolein, tar, nitrosamine, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, radioactive carcinogens, and many more. Below are some diseases caused by smoking.

People who smoke develop lung cancer. And people who don’t smoke can also develop lung cancer. In the United States, 87% of lung cancer cases have been attributed to smoking. People who smoked at some point in their lives have a 1 in 10 chance of developing lung cancer. And it increases to 1 in 6 if they continue smoking. Secondhand smoke increases lung cancer risk by 20 to 30%.

Tar lungs and smoker’s cough are two diseases caused by smoking. Both are attributed to tar in cigarettes and tobacco products. Tar accumulates in the lungs. When accumulation becomes too much for the lungs to remove, tar lungs develops. On the other hand, smoker’s cough develops because coughing is another way for the lungs to remove the tar deposits.

Other diseases caused by smoking include heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, stroke, and atherosclerosis. These are caused by nicotine which leads to constriction of blood vessels. Smokers are 5 times more likely to suffer a heart attack. Secondhand smoking increases heart disease risk by 25 to 30%.

Long term exposure to cyanide and carbon monoxide, which are found in smoke, lead to diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema. Smokers who consume at least 20 cigarettes a day increase their tuberculosis risk by 2 to 4 times.

Infections are also diseases caused by smoking. Some of these are invasive pneumococcal disease, chronic bronchitis, common colds, and other pulmonary and respiratory infections. Other diseases caused by smoking are periodontitis, halitosis or bad breath, leukoplakia, asthma, allergies, chronic bronchitis, and many others.

A fetus exposed to secondhand smoke is likely to be born with low birth weight or small for gestational age. These two smoking diseases predispose the infant to other diseases like jaundice and breathing difficulty. Sudden infant death syndrome is also caused by secondhand smoke. 430 infant deaths in the United States every year has been attributed to this smoking disease. Other diseases caused by smoking in infants are impaired motor skills, cognitive deficits, attention deficit hyperactivity disease, developmental delays, and many others.

These are just some diseases caused by smoking. And all these could lead to death. 2.5 to 10 years is reduced from a smoker’s life expectancy. And each consumed cigarette is equal to losing 11 minutes of your life. Quit smoking now! Choose life!

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Salt Therapy, a Natural Cure for Bronchitis

Many illnesses annoy millions of people around the globe. Getting sick is very costly especially nowadays. Medicines are expensive, especially those that are used for treatment regimens. And it’s very sad to note that not all individuals are capable of paying their medical bills. In fact, many people die from different illnesses because they don’t have enough money to pay for consultation fees or even buy medicine.

Usually, the government offers health programs for the needy. You can search your locality for institutions or organizations that offer free medical services to less fortunate people.

Sometimes, taking a lot of medications can be harmful to the body. And that is probably why many people resort to going back to natural cures. Bronchitis, together with other respiratory diseases can be cured using the natural way.

Have you heard of Halotherapy? This is also called salt therapy or speleotherapy. In Europe, this therapy is highly documented. In the early part of the 19th century, speleotherapy was practiced in salt mines. And today, specialists are trying to replicate speleotherapy by using dry aerosol salt particles and minerals. These things are utilized to treat various types of respiratory diseases.

People who worked in salt mines don’t get lung diseases, and this was noticed by Felix Botchkowski. He was a health official who wrote a book about salt dust during the 18th century. He had a successor named M. Poljakowski who founded his own Salt Spa near Krakow. In World War II, salt mines were used as shelters; and it was noted that people suffering from asthma felt better there. As of today, salt sanatoriums can be found in Hungary, Austria, Romania, Poland, Russia, and European countries.

Salt therapy is a non-invasive and non-drug treatment of respiratory diseases including bronchitis. Drug therapy has its own advantages as well as disadvantages, and for people who want to stick with the natural means can make use of salt therapy. Medical researchers from Soviet Union are developing physical therapies to cut down on medicine costs and avoid side effects. Presently, Russia leads the development of physical therapies. A lot of clinical trials focused on salt therapy to treat chronic bronchitis and asthma. It is even proven clinically that salt therapy is very effective in treating all respiratory tract disorders.

The major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide are respiratory diseases. Drug therapies usually have palliative effects; and drugs with steroids or corticoids have considerable side effects. And so there is a great need for a natural cure like salt therapy.

Here is a list of countries that acknowledge the use and effectiveness of salt therapy:

  • Romania
  • Poland
  • Germany
  • Austria
  • Armenia
  • Bulgaria
  • Hungary
  • Belarus
  • Russia
  • Ukraine
  • Slovenia

These countries believe that salt therapy is a very important treatment fro chronic bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. It works well if you’re taking a medication or not and there are no side effects. Asthmatic patients and pregnant women can use the therapy. In European countries, salt therapy is usually covered by public medical systems, making it easier for the less fortunate to avail of the therapy at a minimal or no cost at all.

The salinity differs from one sanatorium to another. There are also salt lakes with different salinity ranging from 9g per 1 to 320g to 1.

Now, it is possible to have the natural cure even in your own homes. An inventor from Romania developed a certain device that can reproduce salt therapy in a home environment. This device is very convenient and affordable. People having bronchitis and other respiratory diseases can hope for a better and natural way of treating their condition at home. The device is called air salinizer that uses natural salt.

Using salt therapy does not entail any risk and can be adapted to your living space. But remember, natural cures are not substitutes for any medical treatment. Consult your doctor first. Natural cures like salt therapy can greatly improve the life of a patient having bronchitis. With it, you can reduce antibiotics, steroids or corticoids, and decrease hospitalizations.

This is an alternative that you might want to try yourself. If your medications are not enough to address bronchitis and other respiratory diseases, then you can try the natural cure.

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The Nature Of Allergies

Allergies can affect a person in various ways. These can be in the form of hayfever or allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, food allergies or drug allergies just to name a few. Allergies can elicit reactions, which range from the annoying and itchy skin redness to the fatal anaphylactic shock usually caused by drug or food allergies.

One of the most common allergies is hayfever. It is estimated that almost 1 in every 5 Americans has this form of allergy. Hayfever is often aggravated by molds, pollen, dander or bits of animal skin and household dust.

Food allergies commonly affect children than adults. However, children often outgrow their food allergies by the time they reach the age of 3. The most common food offenders are nuts, milk and eggs. It is observed that peanuts and seafood deliver the strongest and sometimes worst and fatal reactions. Unfortunately, most people rarely outgrow their peanut and seafood allergies. Other allergies that can result into fatal reactions include allergies to penicillin and insect stings.

Most often allergies can be handled effectively by home remedies. However, if you experience the worst form, it is always wise to consult your doctor. He will be able to prescribe some medications to curb the reactions like antihistamines and steroid nasal sprays. Some alternative treatments like herbs, acupuncture and homeopathy are found to be effective by some individuals.

Here are some of the signs and symptoms of the different forms of allergies:

A person suffering from hayfever may experience itchy or runny eyes accompanied by frequent sneezing with runny or stuffy nose. The back of the throat and hard palate or roof of the mouth may also feel itchy.

Sneezing, coughing and wheezing are common to people with allergic asthma. There are even cases when those affected with this form of allergy may find difficulty in breathing.

A person with food allergies will often experience an upset stomach and itchy, red and bumpy skin outbreaks whenever offending foods are consumed. Drug allergies on the other hand often show bumpy, red and itchy skin similar with food allergies. Sometimes, drug allergies exhibit flu like symptoms like low fever, headache and joint pain.

There are different approaches to follow in order to prevent allergic reactions depending on the offending substance.

If you are allergic to pollen, it will be helpful if you stay indoors during the days when the pollen count is high. It is also advisable to avoid smoking or smoky places and areas with dusts and insects sprays.

If you have hayfever, try over the counter antihistamines. It is also wise to keep track which among the antihistamine medications work best for you. Always check with your doctor if you are taking prescription drugs because these might cause some unwanted reactions when mixed together with over the counter antihistamines.

Finally, if your allergies are due to insect stings or if you have severe reactions to some food, ask your doctor for an emergency kit that contains antihistamine and epinephrine shot. Always carry this kit with you because this might just save your life.

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