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Methods Of Naturopathy

-- ASTHMA --

Causes and Symptoms: Asthma is a disorder of the respiratory system characterized by severe paroxysms of difficult breathing. The onset of an attack is sudden, though the patient starts feeling uneasy, drowsy and irritable a little before the difficulty of breathing starts. Respiration becomes difficult and the breath comes with a wheezing and sometimes whistling sound. The general belief is that asthma is a chronic disease and that once gotten continues to dog its chronic disease and that once gotten continues to dog its victim till the day he dies.

In fact, asthma is caused by excess of phlegm and the inability of the body to expel it. If the patient gives up foods which tend to increase the phlegm, e.g., rice, flour passed through a sieve, sugar, lentils, milk and curds, he can find relief. He should be put on foods which discourage phlegm, such as green vegetables, fruits, and the like. That would tend to reduce the amount of phlegm present in the body and the disease will have him. Unfortunately, under the false impression that asthma being a weakening disease, the patients are fed on high protein diets like meat, fish, milk and milk products and fats and that makes there condition worse.

Treatment: An asthma patient must select foods which help contain the amount of phlegm in the body. For breakfast he should take foods like orange, tomato, papaya, guava, mango and rose apple and vegetables like carrots. His dinner and lunch should consist of boiled vegetables. His bath is recommended in the morning and evening to perk up his digestive powers. Taking a walk is also recommended, if jogging is beyond the capacity of the patient.

Asthma, particularly when its attack is severe, tends to destroy the appetite of the patient. He should not be forced to eat. He should keep fasting till the attack is over. The only thing he should take is a cup of warm water every two hours. An enema taken at that time would be doubly beneficial. If this regimen is followed, the attack will not last for more than 36 hours and its virulence in case of a recurrence would be very much less.

An asthma patient should regularly fast once a week and take an enema the morning after the fast to clear his bowels. If he is unable to fast regularly, he must not hesitate to stop eating the moment the attack comes. A fortnight after the treatment has been started the patient can take cow's unboiled milk or curd with a breakfast of fruit.

The sufferer from this disease should be extremely careful in his eating habits. He must never overeat. The amount of food taken at one time should be so measured that he must feel extremely hungry at the time of the next meal. A salt-free diet would be the best.

At the onset of the attack, soaking of the feet in warm water can relieve the agony to a large extent. A chest pack can also help, even though on application it may seem to aggravate the attack. The pack applied in the afternoon and immediately before sleep would do wonders. The main aim of treatment of asthma should be to augment the vital force of the body with the help of proper diet and a natural living in which clean water and sunshine play an important part.