Asthma

Perspective on Asthma

Asthma can be, in severe cases, a crippling and debilitating disease. In mild cases, it can be an annoyance and a significant limitation on one’s freedom and activities – and flare ups can still be quite scary! And asthma is one of the most frightening conditions for parents – there are few sights as panic-inducing as seeing your child struggle to breathe, especially if there is a rapid onset of the problem or it is a first episode.

Asthma is most often an allergic condition, and the tendency to eczema, allergies, and/or asthma runs in families (this is called the atopic triad.) In fact, in medical literature of the early 20th century, it was common for medical doctors to observe that asthma seemed to be a common result of the suppression of topical eczematous rashes. Naturopathic treatment aims to remove the cause of the allergic irritation in the body – this can take a variety of forms, and treatment is always individualized to the patient.

The Naturopathic Approach to Asthma

Unfortunately, conventional medicine still largely relies on a lifetime of dependence on pharmaceuticals to manage this common and increasingly prevalent condition. Naturopathic medicine has promising alternatives, for many cases of asthma, to the pharmaceutical approach. We use diet and nutrition; assessment of food allergens and sensitivities; nutritional and herbal supplementation; homeopathy, and a variety of other natural approaches to balance the body and its biochemistry to both treat the symptoms of the condition, and to wherever possible eliminate the cause of the problem (in keeping with basic naturopathic principles).

Despite the conventional wisdom that asthma is a chronic, incurable condition, I have seen both children and adults respond marvelously to naturopathic treatment so that dependence on medication is decreased and often eliminated. Please explore the rest of this website, to learn more about the general philosophy and practice of naturopathic medicine. Of course, I am happy to meet with you to discuss your particular situation, and to explore with you how I can help you feel your best.

Please note: I do not advocate that any asthmatic person discontinue medication without consultation with the physician who prescribed it. Furthermore, in patients who appear to be cured of all symptoms of asthma as a result of naturopathic treatment,
I still recommend keeping an emergency medication (inhaler) on hand at all times in the case of an unanticipated dramatic exposure to an irritant or allergen or emotional upset.