A Natural Treatment For Asthma
By Dr. Joseph Mercola, Thu Dec 8th

A plant-based compound significantly improves lung function inpatients with moderate to severe asthma, producing resultscomparable to those of the steroid drug prednisone.

ASHMI

The mixture consists of the extracts of three herbs, and iscalled the anti-asthma herbal medicine intervention (ASHMI).ASHMI is a simplified version of a 14-herb medication used totreat asthma in Chinese hospitals.

First Controlled Study

It is the first time a controlled study has shown Chinese herbalmedicine proving as effective as a corticosteroid for aidingasthma patients. The study was conducted on over 90 patients whowere given either oral ASHMI, prednisone, or a placebo.

After four weeks, both the ASHMI and prednisone groups showedsignificant lung function improvement. There was a slight, butstill measurable, greater improvement in the prednisone group.

Doesn't Impair Adrenal Function

ASHMI, however, unlike prednisone, also has the benefit ofhaving no negative effects on adrenal function.

Journal of and Clinical Immunology September 2005;116(3): 517-524MSNBC October 17, 2005

Dr. Mercola's Comment:There aren't many things that areimportant to do in life, but one of them for sure is breathingand when you can't get a full breath it is a major problem.

That is in large part why asthma can be such a frightening andfrustrating condition, it's no wonder people will try anything-- including a toxic drug -- to stop it. Although steroidsclearly work for asthma and many other conditions, they do so atgreat risk to your health.

Aside from their considerable toxicities though, steroids in noway shape or form treat the underlying cause which, if leftuntreated, will continue to devastate your health.

Although most supplements also fall into the category of nottreating the underlying cause, especially herbs, they aretypically far less toxic.It appearsthis novel natural,plant-based compoundwill prove to befar saferthan dangerousthecorticosteroid drug prednisone.

But if you're looking to reduce your dependence on any asthmacrutch, here aresome simple lifestyle changes you can make:

• Eat a healthy diet, being especially careful to reduceor avoid sugar, fruit juices, most grains and pasteurized dairyproducts.

• Replacing commercial milk with raw milk from grass-fed cowsis also usually well tolerated and highly health promoting.However, even raw milk may worsen asthma so you will need to becareful here.

• Include

  generous amounts of omega-3 fats in your diet. Ifind Carlson fish oil and cod liver oil to be one of the mostsuperior brands available as it conforms to the strictestguidelines for purity and freshness.

Please remember that for most Americans we are now in the codliver oil time of year, as we simply don't have access to enoughsunshine on our bare skin to help us produce vitamin D.

Important NEW Information About Cod Liver Oil Capsules

You have to be VERY cautious about using cod liver oil capsules.If for some reason you are not using the more economical liquidyou need to understand that most brands of cod liver oilcapsules can provide excessive doses of vitamin A (unlike theliquid) that can cause you a problem if you take dose in the10-15 capsules per day that you will need to meet your omega-3needs.

I reviewed this issue with Carlson and they were able to developa low vitamin A cod liver oil capsule that won't get you intotrouble. Interestingly they also taste great if you chew onthem, almost like candy and I frequently chew them as a treat inthe winter.

SO when you take cod liver oil if you feel you need to take thecapsules the choice is very clear. Get Carlson's low vitamin A.If you can't find them we do have them in our store for yourconvenience.

For more severe and resistant cases of asthma, skintesting can be appropriate. Traditional treatments areone of medicine's safer and better approaches; however it hasgreat room for improvement.

Additional Asthma Alternatives

My experience with conventional testing, whether donethrough the blood (RAST) or skin is that only 20 percent to 30percent of patients do exceptionally well with it. It is alsohighly inconvenient, as patients need to go to the doctor'soffice every week for months or years. It clearly does not workfor the majority of patients.

For the past several years, I have been using a much improvedversion of this testing, which is taught by the American Academyof Environmental Medicine, called Provocation Neutralization(PN). The success rate for this approach is in the 80 percent to90 percent range and patients can receive their treatment athome.

About the author:This article is reprinted from Mercola.com, the world's #1 mostvisited and trusted natural/alternative health website. For alimited time only, you can take the FREE "Metabolic Type Test"to help you learn the right foods for your particular body typeso you can achieve optimal fitness & health. Just go tohttp://www.mercola.com/forms/mt_test.htm right now to take thisquick test!