Disclaimer: None of these treatments below have been shown to be effective for severe asthma, so do not stop using or taking your standard asthma medication unless directed by your primary care physician.

Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the tubes or air ways or passages that carry air in and out of a person’s lungs, characterized by inflammation of the walls of these airways. This inflammation makes the airways very sensitive, and they tend to react strongly to allergens like dust mite, animal dander and airborne pollen and irritants such as air pollution, cold air, and cigarette smoke. When this occurs, the air passages narrow resulting in less air flows to lung tissue. This causes symptoms like wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing, especially at night and in the early morning.

Asthma cannot be cured, but the majority of sufferers can control it so that they experience few and infrequent symptoms and can thus live fairly active lives.

The conventional or standard treatment of asthma is highly effective for most people, and includes such things as short- and long-acting bronchodilators, which help relax the bronchial muscles, and anti-inflammatory drugs that helps relieve the tissue swelling. Bronchodilators in and of themselves are often sufficient to manage mild asthma or asthma attacks that occur only with exertion or exercise. The use of anti-inflammatory steroids by inhaler is the mainstay of treatment for moderate to severe asthma. These are considered safer than oral steroids, but can increase the risk of osteoporosis and other problems when they are taken in sufficiently high doses or over a long period of time.

 Natural Treatments  

The herb Indian ipecac (Tylophora indica also called Tylophora asthmatica) is felt by some researchers to be a promising treatment for asthma. In one double blind, placebo-controlled study of one hundred and ninety-five (195) asthmatics, study participants who were given 40 mg of an Indian Ipecac extract daily for six (6) days showed significant improvement as compared to a placebo.  These findings were duplicated in two double-blind placebo-controlled studies involving more than two hundred (200) asthmatics.  This said, it should be noted that these studies were flawed.

Two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies involving more than eighty (80) asthmatics indicated that pine tree bark oligomeric proanthocyanins might reduce symptoms.

And in another double-blind, placebo-controlled study a Japanese herbal mixture called Saiboku-To was tested in patients over a four (4) week period.  The scientists involved specifically focused on the impact this particular Japanese herbal Kampo (Traditional) drug had on the tendency of bronchial tubes to constrict when exposed to an asthma-producing substance called methacholine. The results showed that Saiboku-To helped prevent such constrictive episodes, while also reducing lung inflammation.

Vitamin B6 use has been touted as a natural way to ameliorate asthma. In one double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving seventy-six (76) children with asthma showed significant benefit from vitamin B6 after the second month of regular use.  In fact, children in the treated group were actually able to reduce their doses of bronchodilators and steroids. However, a more recent double-blind study involving thirty-one (31) adults did not show any benefit. 

The use of vitamin B12 is also reputed to be effective for asthma and I supported by several open studies.  While not as rigorous as a randomized double-blind, placebo controlled study, these studies do indicate the need for additional clinical trials.

One premium source of slow release, best form B6 and B12 is NUTRACENE  

There is also some preliminary evidence that coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone or ubiquinol) might be helpful for asthma.  One of the most bioavailable forms of CoQ10 is found in CARDIUM

And finally, probiotics (gut-friendly microorganisms) given to infants may delay the onset or even prevent asthma later on in life.  Although this is based solely on anecdotal or case history evidence, which is the weakest kind of evidence there is in the world of science, it has nonetheless convinced scientists at the University of California at San Francisco to launch a three (3) year study titled the “Trial of Infant Probiotic Supplementation to Prevent Asthma.”

If you are interested in acquiring a top flight probiotic formula, check out BIOOPTIMA

Food Allergies + A Diet That May Help Reduce Asthma Attacks

At least some people with asthma appear to have food allergies. Naturally, eliminating the offending food is reputed to reduce asthma symptoms. One way to identify food one is allergic to is to eliminate suspected allergenic foods from one’s diet, then systematically reintroduce them and watch to see if a reaction occurs.

There is also evidence that consuming animal fats and foods that contain animal fats may increase the frequency of asthma attacks. This makes sense, because animal fats provide the body with raw material it uses to churn out highly inflammatory compounds such as leukotrienes.

Vegans are people who consume a diet free of any foods from animals or foods containing animal-derived ingredients. This includes eggs and, dairy products. Given this, one would suspect that asthmatics on a vegan diet would experience fewer asthmatic episodes than when they went off this diet. And this is exactly what at least one clinical study found.

In the study, thirty-five (35) asthmatic patients who had suffered from bronchial asthma for an average of twelve (12) years, all of whom were on medication, twenty (20) including cortisone, went on a vegan diet for a period of one year.  In virtually every patient medication drastically reduced or withdrawn. There was also a significant decrease in asthma symptoms. Twenty-four patients (69%) completed the year-long study, of which seventy-one percent (71%) reported improvement at four (4) months and ninety-two percent (92%) at 1 year.

People on vegan diets can, however, suffer B-vitamin deficiencies. If you are on a vegan diet or your doctor OK’s placing you on such an austere diet regimen, make sure to take a suitable slow release full spectrum B-vitamin supplement formula such as NUTRACENE.

1. Shivpuri DN, Singhal SC, Parkash D. Treatment of asthma with an alcoholic extract of Tylophora indica: a crossover, double-blind study. Ann Allergy. 1972;30:407-412.

2.Mathew KK, Shivpuri DN. Treatment of asthma with alkaloids of Tylophora indica: a double-blind study. Aspects Allergy Appl Immunol. 1974;7:166-179.

3. Shivpuri DN, Menon MPS, Prakash D. A crossover double-blind study on Tylophora indica in the treatment of asthma and allergic rhinitis. J Allergy. 1969;43:145-150.

4. Mathew KK, Shivpuri DN. Treatment of asthma with alkaloids of Tylophora indica: a double-blind study. Aspects Allergy Appl Immunol. 1974;7:166-179.

5. Gupta S, George P, Gupta V, et al. Tylophora indica in bronchial asthma—a double-blind study. Indian J Med Res. 1979;69:981-989.

6. Gopalakrishnan C, Shankaranarayanan D, Nazimudeen SK, et al. Effect of tylophorine, a major alkaloid of Tylophora indica, on immunopathological and inflammatory reactions. Indian J Med Res. 1980;71:940-948.

7. Kreutner W, Chapman RW, Gulbenkian A, et al. Bronchodilatory and antiallergy activity of forskolin. Eur J Pharmacol. 1985;111:1-8.

8. Yousif MH, Thulesius O. Forskolin reverses tachyphylaxis to the bronchodilator effects of salbutamol: an in-vitro study on isolated guinea-pig trachea. J Pharm Pharmacol. 1999;51:181-186.

9. Wright J. Vitamin B12: powerful protection against asthma. Int Clin Nutr Rev. 1989;9:185-188.

10. Sur S, Camara M, Buchmeier A, et al. Double-blind trial of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) in the treatment of steroid-dependent asthma. Ann Allergy. 1993;70:147-152.

11. Collipp PJ, Goldzier S III, Weiss N, et al. Pyridoxine treatment of childhood bronchial asthma. Ann Allergy. 1975;35:93-97.

12. Arm J. The effects of dietary supplementation with fish oil on asthmatic responses to antigen. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1988;81:183.

13. Monteleone CA, Sherman AR. Nutrition and asthma. Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:23-34.

14. Hosseini S, et al. Pycnogenol® in the management of asthma. J Med Food. 2001;4:201-

15. Lau BH, Riesen SK, Truong KP, et al. Pycnogenol as an adjunct in the management of childhood asthma. J Asthma. 2005;41:825-832.

16. Hsu CH, Lu CM, Chang TT, et al. Efficacy and safety of modified Mai-Men-Dong-Tang for treatment of allergic asthma. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2005;16:76-81.

17. Gvozdjakova A, Kucharska J, Bartkovjakova M, et al. Coenzyme Q10 supplementation reduces corticosteroids dosage in patients with bronchial asthma. Biofactors. 2006;25:235-

18. Giovannini M, Agostoni C, Riva E, et al. A randomized prospective double blind controlled trial on effects of long-term consumption of fermented milk containing Lactobacillus casei in pre-school children with allergic asthma and/or rhinitis. Pediatr Res. 2007 Jun 25. [Epub ahead of print]