Asthma is a chronic condition affecting the respiratory system. During the course of an asthma attack, airways, which bring oxygen to and out of the lungs, tend to constrict and hence reduce the flow of air coming to the lungs. The airways also become swollen and lined up with mucus. Those symptoms can happen several times a day or week, or much less often. The gravity of the attacks also differs.

Different triggers can cause asthma attacks and the breathlessness that is corollary. Asthma can also cause chest pain and loss of consciousness. It is a very serious disease and can even be lethal: while asthma affects 300 million people worldwide, asthma attacks kill around 250,000 people on a yearly basis.

People who have asthma also have to go through its side effects in their everyday life. Sleeplessness is a regular experience which can cause fatigue during the daytime, and can have a negative impact on one's professional and personal life. The World Health Organization even recognizes that "reduced activity levels" and "school and work absenteeism" are often associated with asthma. Sports will usually be harder for asthmatic people, which can for example be a social isolation factor for children.

Even though asthma cannot be definitely cured, doctors have found different ways to relieve and prevent the symptoms, allowing everybody that has asthma to stay in shape, exercise and have a normal life. With the proper treatments, there are no reasons why somebody with asthma should not be able to enjoy an active life.

Numerous factors are able to trigger an asthma attack. Some are very basic things like the humidity and temperature of the air. Nonetheless, the most usual ones are natural indoor and outdoor allergens, like pollen, spores, house dust mites or cockroaches as well as pollution from chemical compounds, like the ones found in perfumes and perfumed products, tobacco smoke or fossil fuel related air pollution. Medications like aspirin or penicillin as well as a certain number foods, like peanuts or milk, in the case of food allergies, are also able to trigger asthma. Asthma attack may also happen after exercising.

Your emotional state can also be an important factor in triggering an asthmatic attack. Emotional stress, anxiety and tension can all trigger it. Many patients experiencing an asthmatic attack also make their condition worse by falling prey to panic, a totally normal response to the frightening experience they have to live through.

In order to better prevent asthmatic attacks, these triggers ought to be avoided as much as possible. Allergies are also responsible for triggering asthma attacks and allergy treatment can be used as a way to prevent them. There are however numerous kinds of asthma treatment. In the short-term, asthma attack treatment will provide relief in the case of an asthmatic attack. Asthma attack treatment is able to quickly provide asthma relief, but people having moderate or severe asthma must use a long-term asthma treatment.

You may find many types of bronchial asthma treatment available out there, but some might not work out for you. Bronchial asthma treatment as well as allergy treatment also have many side effects if used regularly and in the long run, particularly drugs containing corticosteroids or Beta2-adrenergic receptor agonists, the latter having cardiac side effects and increasing the risk of respiratory death. Such problems may explain why roughly half of asthmatic people use some sort of alternative treatment, like natural asthma treatment.

Even though little evidence shows the efficiency of therapies like air ionizers or chiropractic, other sorts of natural asthma treatments like homeopathy, yoga practices and hypnosis have shown significant results as asthma treatment. Hypnosis, just like yoga or meditation, but in a much faster and easier fashion, provides asthma relief because it is able to help handle the emotional side of asthma thanks to relaxation. With hypnosis you will become a lot more relaxed, which can help prevent asthmatic attacks. It will also make you able to better handle the panic and fear during an attack, hence significantly reducing the symptoms. Most asthmatics are aware when an attack is imminent, and specific hypnosis techniques exist which enable the asthmatic person to completely abort an impending attack.

Asthma is a serious respiratory disease, which can be really handicapping and at times even lethal. Drugs can help you with the physiological symptoms and might provide prompt relief in the case of an attack. Nonetheless these drugs have several undesirable side effects, particularly if used too often. NLP and hypnotherapy can decrease your need for medication. It is also an efficient asthma treatment and asthma attack treatment and may help you prevent the occurrences of asthmatic symptoms.

About the Author

Alan B. Densky is certified by the NGH. In practice since 1978, he has created effective Asthma treatment self-hypnosis CD's. His Neuro-VISION NLP site features free newsletters, an exceptional hypnosis article library and free MP3's.