Asthma
Definition
Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease which affects the bronchial tubes.
Symptoms
In Asthma the system is filled with waste matter and mucus. Asthma is characterized by labored breathing (dyspnea), wheezing with dry and painful coughing which is often due to an extreme irritation of the mucous membranes in the nasal passages or bronchial tubes. The symptoms are accompanied by constriction of the chest (bronchiolar spasm) and expectoration of mucus (mucoid sputum). Asthma may result in an excessive development (hypertrophy) of the glandular elements. This affliction is commonly believed to be due to hypersensitivity to inhaled or ingested substances such as odors, pollen, dust, smoke, etc.
Cause
Asthma is caused by malnutrition. Only by diligent and consistent effort to change embedded habits will one get permanent relief. The cough is a result of nature’s effort to expectorate mucus from the lungs, after which breathing becomes easier. Ofttimes the cause of asthma is basically a nervous condition because the nerves are irritated.
Herbal Aids
Convulsions: When a person is in a convulsion there are certain herbs that will help promote very fast relief. One of these is tincture of lobelia, and a valerian decoction with a little cayenne added to relieve spasms. If such an attack comes after a meal one should use an emetic, such as a large dose of lobelia or use the Yoga finger method.
Yoga Finger Method: Drink several cups of warm water, then place the middle finger deep down the throat and press the tongue until regurgitation starts.
Mustard is also good to clean the stomach and lungs.
Prior to the emetic a peppermint or spearmint tea should be used to soothe the area and alleviate the discomfort of continual vomiting.
Hot fomentation of castor oil, comfrey, lobelia, mullein, etc., may be placed over the stomach, liver, spleen and lung areas.
Frequent hydrotherapy baths or lengthy sweat baths are beneficial, followed by a cold shower or sponging.
Vapor Bath: Another helpful method is to take a vapor bath twice a week, inhaling steam from a decoction of cudweed ragwort, wormwood, or a decoction of the following herbs, taken warm, (equal parts) will help prove very beneficial: elecampane root, horehounds, hyssop, skunk cabbage root, vervain, wild cherry bark (and to this preparation add tincture of lobelia or
antispasmodic tincture.
Clear the bowels with an injection of catnip or barberry bark. This
affliction also calls for plenty of outdoor exercise, deep breathing, and good ventilation while sleeping. The whole body system should be built up with tonic herbs such as chickweed, comfrey, marshmallow, mullein, etc. Diet should be mostly fruits and vegetables, avoiding all processed
devitalized foods
Herbal Formula for Lungs and Respiratory Tract: It is wonderful for asthma. This combination of herbs in tea and capsule form is an aid to help relieve irritation in the respiratory tract–lungs and bronchial. This is an aid in Emphysema as well as other bronchial and lung congestion such as bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, etc. Suggested amount for an adult is a cup two or three times a day, or 2 or 3 capsules two or three times a day with a cup of comfrey tea. For additional help in the program, it is good to add three to six drops of tincture of lobelia to each cup of tea. This formula consists of comfrey root, mullein, chickweed, marshmallow root and lobelia.
Sha Tea: Formula for Allergies, Sinus, Hay Fever: It is good for asthma also. This combination is a natural herbal aid working as a decongestant and antihistamine to help dry up sinuses and expel from the head and broncho pulmonary tubes and passages the offending stoppage and mucus.
Combine this with the respiratory combination to speed up the process. The wise person will turn to fresh wholesome food and beverages to keep the body in a perfect state. This will guarantee permanent relief, by going to the cause.
Elder: The inner bark is used, although it should be aged before used. The fresh bark is violently irritating and poisonous to children. It is specifically used for spasmodic asthma with copious phlegm and stringy mucus. For asthma, take a tablespoonful whenever an attack threatens.
Powdered Cloves can alleviate excessive vomiting when using the bark. To avoid bowel cramps, add a tablespoonful of powdered Ginger to the infusion.
Lobelia: Most people agree that Lobelia is a specific treatment for asthma, as well as other bronchial or spasmodic troubles. Because the herb removes obstructions, giving it when an attack comes on will often cause vomiting; matter will accumulate in the stomach which will cause obstructions.
When the person vomits, it removes the intestinal blockage and often removes the mucus accumulations in the bronchial system as well.
Lobelia: It is one of the best plant expectorants, but as it is a stimulant to the vagus nerve it can easily produce nausea and vomiting when taken in excess. If a teaspoonful of the tincture produces nausea, cut down; it can easily be overdone, says herbalist Moore
The leaves and flowers have strong antispasmodic effects on the bronchials when smoked, and certain individuals with asthma can find it a reliable herb to smoke at the first signs of spasms (Ibid.). [
Mullein: This herb soothes the lungs and helps bring up the phlegm. It can be combined with sage and plantain for use in asthma. Sometimes a vapor treatment of Mullein is good for asthma, which is made by simmering a strong pot of Mullein tea and inhaling the steam with a towel over your head. This is also good for bronchial troubles of various kinds.
Skunk Cabbage: Because of its antispasmodic properties, is well known in many cough problems. Foremost in this use is its application in asthma. It can help control the coughing and sneezing in hayfever. Many claim that it is useful in cases of tuberculosis. For people who have chronic dry coughing spells, skunk cabbage can offer relief. It will also clear up a chronic cold, with a cough which will not leave because of mucus accumulations and bronchial problems of all kinds.
Milk Products: One of the best ways to prevent and therefore treat Asthma is not to use milk products. Dr. N. W. Walker, in his book Raw Vegetable Juices (Norwalk Press Publishers), says about cow’s milk,
“Cow’s milk is probably the most mucus-forming food used by human beings. The casein content of cow’s milk is exceedingly high, being about 300% more than is contained in mother’s milk. [Casein, by the way, is a milk byproduct and is considered to be one of the most tenacious adhesives used for gluing wood together.] This is one of the reasons for the mucus condition of children and adults brought up to drink quantities of such milk and for the resultant colds, running noses, tonsil, adenoid, and bronchial troubles–whereas carrot juice is one of the greatest aids in the elimination of mucus!
General Program for Clearing Up Asthma: Hayfever may end in an attack of bronchial asthma, and those two are often associated, as both are based upon a nervous predisposition and an unusual susceptibility to small amounts of albumins. “Home Physician,” 1923 edition, page 482
To get to the root of the matter, the system must be cleared of toxins and the nerve energy restored to normal; then the cause does not exist. The cause starts with the customary unclean bowel.
We should not put mucus into the body faster than it can be taken and eliminated. With this preventative diet, not only are the sinuses, the bronchi, and the lungs cleared, but also the constipating mucus (catarrh) in the tissues of the body from the head to the bottom of the feet. “Harmful or mucus-forming foods.
Secondary, denatured, or inorganic food substances are to be eliminated from the patient’s diet. “Salt: For those who are accustomed to large amounts of salt, this may sound difficult, but if you will substitute coarsely ground pepper and savory herbs, adding powdered kelp, you will find that the craving for salt will immediately begin to disappear.
The black pepper is a good nutritional herb and helps rebuild the body when used in its natural state. But, when pepper is cooked in food, the molecular structure changes, so it becomes an inorganic irritant (as high heat changes the cayenne, black pepper, and spices from organics to inorganic irritants), and this is the only time when damage results.
The use of salts of a vegetable or potassium base (such as Dr. Jensen’s, Dr. Bronner’s, and other various ones, which in some cases contain some sea salt) is all right, providing it is not overdone.
“Eggs: No eggs should be eaten in any form.
“Sugar and all sugar products: You may use honey, sorghum molasses or blackstrap molasses, but no sugar of any type.
“Meat: Eliminate all red meats from the diet.
“Milk: Eliminate all dairy products, which include butter, cheese, cottage cheese, milk, yogurt, etc. These are all mucus-forming substances and, in most cases, are extremely high in cholesterol. As a substitute for butter or margarine (hardening vegetable oils, etc.), you can train your taste buds to enjoy a good, fresh, bland olive oil on vegetables, salads, and other tools and you will discover this is one of the choicest foods there is.
“Flour and flour products: When flour is heated and baked in high temperatures, it changes to a mucus-forming substance. This is no longer a food, which means it has no life remaining therein. All wholesome food is organic, where unwholesome food or dead food is inorganic. This is the key to our whole mucusless program.”
Rebuild the nervous system: Nerve Herbal Food Combination, consisting of black cohosh, capsicum, hops flowers, lobelia, scullcap, valerian, wood betony and mistletoe. The suggested amount for an adult’s use would be one to three cups of the tea, or two or three capsules or tablets three times in a day, taken with a cup of celery juice or steam distilled water.
Here is a formula we have used with great success for well over thirty years. It is used to help promote the relief of nervous tension and insomnia; it is mildly stimulating and yet lessens the irritability and excitement of the nervous system and also lessens or reduces pain.
This formula contains herbs that help feed and revitalize the motor nerve at the base of the skull (medulla area and upper cervicals) and also rebuilds the frayed nerve sheath, the nerve itself, and its capillaries. To finish up the package, of getting to the cause we need to add our formula for hayfever, sinus and allergies.
This is an aid for clearing up these malfunctions, a “natural and herbal help” working as a decongestant and natural antihistamine to dry up the sinus and expel from the head and broncho- pulmonary tubes and passages the offending stoppage and mucus. This formula consists of the following herbs: Brigham tea, marshmallow root, juniper berries, golden seal root, chaparral, burdock root, parsley root and lobelia.
To speed up this cleansing procedure, use the following combination in addition to the above: Blend fresh, chopped up horseradish roots, mixed with apple cider vinegar, into a thick pulp and chew thoroughly before swallowing.
Take 1/3 teaspoon three times in a day. Each three days increase this amount from 1/3 teaspoon up to one teaspoon, increasing the amount 1/3 teaspoon each three days. As with all wholistic procedures follow the program faithfully six days per week–week after week until desired results are obtained.
For irritations of the respiratory tract, lungs, and bronchials, the following formula can be used: comfrey root (Symphytum officinale), mullein (Verbascum thapsus), chickweed (Stellaria media), marshmallow root (Althea officinalis), and lobelia (Lobelia inflata).
Emphysema, bronchitis, asthma and tuberculosis sufferers have been helped by using this formula either as a tea (three cups a day), or in capsules (two or three capsules or tablets three times a day with a cup of comfrey tea).
Three to six drops of tincture of lobelia may be added to the tea for additional aid.
Dangerous Drugs Prescribed for Asthma: You should know that the drugs doctors prescribe for the condition can be very dangerous. Theophylline is the standard ingredient for the most anti-asthmatic medicines, and it has a long list of possible side-effects, including nausea, stimulation of the central nervous system, irritability, sleeplessness and over excitement.
We do not know what the long-term effects of the drug might be. More dangerous still are the steroid drugs, such as Vanceril and Prednisone. If taken by children, these drugs can adversely affect growth and sexual maturation.
It encourages yeast infections both locally and systemically.Asthma
Adrenal insufficiency has been traced to this drug, so severe that death could result. Broken bones become more common among recipients of this kind of drug. And when you are ready to get yourself off the drug, you can suffer all kinds of side effects (withdrawal symptoms), such as inability to maintain body warmth, extreme tiredness, faintness, exhaustion, heart palpitations, and so on.
If you are an asthma sufferer, you should examine the natural way very carefully before exposing yourself to these powerful drugs. (Dr. Christopher has an excellent asthma formula). A natural source of ephedrine, which is used for congestion, is Brigham tea. This herb, combined with the peppermint/lobelia treatment and an altered lifestyle (including getting rid of problematic tension, which can sometimes bring on asthma attacks), might bring you relief safely.
Adapted from Dr Christopher Files
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