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Instructions: Read the information about Respiratory Diseases and Answer the questions.

Diseases Of The Respiratory System

Diseases of the respiratory system occur primarily in the bronchioles and the alveoli. Much rarer, unless you count choking and drowning, are conditions that affect the larger passageways of the lungs such as the trachea and the bronchi. That means that the focus of today's newsletter is on diseases that affect the bronchioles and alveoli. We're talking about COPD, emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, allergies, flu, pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and pulmonary embolisms. Since we've already laid the groundwork in our previous two newsletters covering theanatomyandphysiologyof the respiratory system, let's jump right in and start looking at the major diseases of the respiratory system -- and what natural alternatives exist to help deal with them.

Note: you're going to notice that some specific recommendations appear over and over and are recommended for dealing with multiple conditions. It doesn't make them magic bullets or miracle cures. It just means that diseases of the lungs tend to affect the same areas of the lungs -- the alveoli and bronchioles -- albeit in slightly different ways. Therefore, there is some redundancy in dealing with those diseases. Also, to avoid overwhelming the newsletter with links, I will provide support links on different solutions the first time they appear only.

COPD -- emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a progressive disease generally caused by long term irritation to the lungs that makes it hard to breathe. It is characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The airflow limitation is usually both progressive and associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious particles or gases. Cigarette smoking is the most common cause. Symptoms can include wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing, and the accumulation of large amounts of mucus in the lungs.

The term COPD actually encompasses two main conditions:emphysemaandchronic obstructive bronchitis. Emphysema is an abnormal permanent enlargement of the alveoli, accompanied by destruction of their walls, and without obvious fibrosis (scarring). Emphysema is defined by this damage occurring in the alveoli, causing them to lose their shape and elasticity -- and in some cases actually destroying their walls, leading to fewer and larger air sacs instead of many tiny ones.

Chronic obstructive bronchitis, on the other hand, is defined by irritation and inflammation to the mucus membrane lining of the airways (primarily the smaller bronchioles) leading to the alevioi. This causes the lining to thicken. It also generates a great deal of thick mucus, which fills the airways, clogging them, and making it hard to breathe. As the irritated membrane swells and grows thicker, it narrows or shuts off the tiny airways in the lungs, resulting in coughing spells accompanied by thick phlegm and breathlessness. Another useful definition of chronic bronchitis is a chronic cough or mucus production for at least 3 months in at least 2 successive years when other causes of chronic cough have been excluded.

COPD is a major cause of disability. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, with more than 12 million people currently diagnosed with the disease and an estimated 12 million more who likely have the diseaseand don't even know it.

Most people who have COPD actually have both emphysemaandchronic obstructive bronchitis. Thus, the general term COPD is more accurate and inclusive. Currently, there is no effective medical treatment for COPD and it is considered irreversible. But that doesn't mean there's nothing you can do about it. Just because the underlying condition is irreversible doesn't mean you can't significantly improve your outcome and quality of life by maximizing the breathing capacity you have left and minimizing any further progression. It is important to note in this regard that COPD develops slowly. Symptoms worsen over a long period of time. In other words, if you take decisive action, you can significantly change your long term prognosis. If your COPD is caused by smoking or continual exposure to other irritants such as air pollution, the disease will progress at an accelerating rate over time, resulting in early disability and shortened survival. On the other hand, if you eliminate the exposure to the lung irritant, the rate of decline in lung function reverts to the same rate as seen in non-smokers or people who live in areas that do not require them to breathe air redolent with the fumes of burning biomass fuels. In most cases, people with COPD who follow standard medical recommendations will need medication for the rest of their lives, with increased doses and additional drugs during periods of exacerbation.

More than 12 million people are currently diagnosed with COPD in the US. An additional 12 million likely have the disease and, as I mentioned earlier, don't even know it. Worldwide, COPD is also the fourth leading cause of death -- sharing the spot with HIV/AIDS. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2000, 2.74 million people died as the result of COPD worldwide. As a side note, in China, where it's estimated that as many as 75% of all adults now smoke and air pollution is endemic, the incidence and mortality of COPD are expected to skyrocket over the next 1-2 decades. As I mentioned earlier, COPD is currently the 4th leading cause of death in large urban areas -- but surprisingly it is the leading cause of death in rural areas.

What you can do about COPD (emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis)

This is largely a repeat of the recommendations we gave at the end of our last newsletter on thePhysiology of the Respiratory System.

  • Quit smoking.1.2 billion people smoke worldwide -- some 43 million in the United States alone. There isn't much you can say good about smoking (other than that Gandalf looked coolblowing a smoke galleoninThe Fellowship of the Ring.As we've already seen, smoking destroys all of the cilia in your trachea bronchial tree. It is the primary cause of lung cancer and emphysema. And it's harmful to everyone around you --even weeks after you finish your last cigarette.
  • You might want to consider investing in a high quality air filtration system (and no, the Ionic Breeze does not count). TheIQAire Health Plusis highly regarded -- and is priced accordingly.
  • Supplement with a goodproteolytic enzyme formulato help thin mucous, reduce inflammation in the lungs, and reduce the chances of embolisms in your lungs.
  • A tea of mullein, uva ursi, and coltsfoot can be very healing/soothing for the lungs of people suffering from COPD. Mix two parts mullein, to one part each of uva ursi and coltsfoot. Put one teaspoon of the mixture in a tea ball. Add a cup of boiling water and let steep for ten minutes. Drink two to four cups a day for 30-90 days, or as long as needed.
  • A syrup made from elecampane root can be very tonic for the respiratory system. It has a warming effect on the lungs and it works as an effective, but mild expectorant, gently stimulating the coughing up and clearing of mucus from the chest.
  • Consider incorporatingnasal irrigationinto your daily routine to optimize the flow of air through your nasal passages.
  • As we discussed last issue, practice breathing exercises to optimize the efficiency of the lung tissue you have left.

Bronchitis

Non-chronic bronchitis has the same symptoms as chronic bronchitis. The differences are primarily ones of timing and cause. Whereas chronic bronchitis lasts for three months or longer, non-chronic bronchitis is short term -- although in its acute form can last up to six weeks. In most cases the infection is viral in origin, but sometimes can be caused by bacteria. If the condition is not acute and you are otherwise in good health, the mucous membrane will return to normal after you've recovered from the initial lung infection, which usually lasts for several days. Acute bronchitis is responsible for the hacking cough and phlegm production that sometimes accompany an upper respiratory infection.

In fact, I have extensive experience with bronchitis. When theBaseline of Health®Foundation,Baseline Nutritionals®, andNutribody Proteinstarted sponsoring the KBS Pro Cycling Team, I met with the entire team to talk about how I thought I could help improve athletic performance. But the riders made it clear that they weren't that concerned about whether or not I could improve performance. Their primary concern was whether or not I could keep them from getting sick. As it turns out, high performance athletes train at such an edge, they end up pushing their immune systems beyond the limits, and they get sick frequently. They told me that on average, they came down with bronchitis before almost half the races they were scheduled to compete in, and the only way to get rid of the bronchitis was to take a round of antibiotics for a couple of weeks and then spend up to four to six weeks to fully recover from the antibiotics. As it turns out, this problem is common among all professional cyclists -- even the greats such asLance Armstrong.

In fact, the team told me that many of the riders on the Tour de France actually live on antibiotics for most of race just to prevent the possibility of coming down with bronchitis. In any case, I told them I could help.

Those riders who followed my recommendations virtually eliminated their incidence of bronchitis (they now carry a bottle ofmy antipathogen formulawith them wherever they go), and in those rare cases where they came down with it, were able to eliminate it in a matter of a couple of days without antibiotics. Needless to say, this captured the attention of the rest of team and by the second year, every single rider on the team made use of the program (and, as it turns out, improved performance at the same time).

What you can do about bronchitis

For bronchitis, we're usually talking about a viral or bacterial infection as the source of irritation. The key here, then, is to focus on the immune system.

  • Use a good natural pathogen destroyerat the first sign of any problem.
  • A goodblood support formulacan be an effective alternative since it will contain anti-pathogens. In fact, this has become the preferred formula of choice for many of the cyclists when dealing with bronchitis.
  • Use a good natural immune system enhanceron a continual preventive basis.
  • To speed up recovery, you might want to try using anultrasonic nebulizerwith a good Echinacea based herbal tincture in the medicine cup.
  • Proteolytic enzymes to thin the mucus.
  • Elecampane syrup to help clear the lungs.

Asthma

In some ways, asthma is similar to bronchitis. In fact, people with asthma also experience an inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tubes, a condition actually called asthmatic bronchitis. But there are differences. Yes, asthma is a chronic disease that affects your breathing. But when you have asthma, your bronchioles (the smallest airways -- just before the alveoli) tend to be constantly red and swollen and are easily irritated in response to triggers/allergens, such as pollen and cigarette smoke. Exposure to these allergens, then, causes the walls of the bronchioles to become even more swollen and for the muscles to tighten. This narrows the passages even more so that even less air reaches your alveolar sacs. And as if that weren't enough, when you have asthma, mucus is also produced in larger than normal amounts, which clogs your airways yet even more, making it even harder to breathe, and resulting in even more severe asthma symptoms.

So what causes asthma? The main culprit is, in fact, a faulty immune system. In people with asthma, the immune system tends to overreact to certain allergens. In people who do not have asthma, these allergens either produce no response, or a very minimal one. Fortunately, this points us in the direction of some very helpful alternative treatments.

What you can do about asthma

  • Avoid food based sources of allergens. The primary offenders included: wheat, corn, dairy, eggs, and soy. The more of these foods you eat, the more your immune system is "keyed up" to respond aggressively to any further triggers. You also might want to consider usingdigestive enzymeswith meals to help break down these protein allergens before they enter the bloodstream.
  • Use proteolytic enzymes to reduce inflammation of the bronchioles and to thin mucus. Proteolytic enzymes also help reduce the level ofcirculating immune complexes, which will make you less susceptible to asthmatic attacks when exposed to allergens.
  • Use nutraceutical immunomodulators to regulate your immune system -- boosting a weak system or calming down an overactive one. By using immunomodulators such asL-carnosine,Cetylmyristoleate(CMO), and theTransfer Factorfound in bovine colostrum, you can retrain the immune system to not overreact.
  • And, of course, a good air filtration system

Allergies

I actually dedicated a newsletter some three years ago toa discussion of allergies. If allergies are a particular problem for you, you can check it out. And to learn more about how exactly antigens and antibodies produce allergic responses in your body, check outBlood of My Ancestors. So rather than repeat it all again in this newsletter, let me just focus on the highlights.

Your tissue and blood are being exposed to allergens every day:

  • Pollen
  • Dander
  • Foods
  • Food additives
  • Chemicals
  • Etc.

As with all threats, your body tries to rid itself of these "invaders" -- using your immune system to accomplish this purpose. Unfortunately, for many of us, the intake of allergens overwhelms the ability of the immune system to get rid of them. The net result is that over time, these allergen levels build up in the blood (and in your soft tissue, as in the case of Circulating Immune Complexes). At some point they build up to the level that it takes only the slightest trigger -- some pollen in the air, dust from an old book, or your boyfriend's cat, Boozer -- to send your body over the edge and cause sneezing, watery eyes, and a runny nose. At which point you reach for theZyrtec. Unfortunately, antihistamines don't get rid of your allergies, they merely suppress the temporary symptoms. And even worse, they're based on a delusion. The delusion here is that the cat actually caused the allergic response. Not true. Your allergies result from the cumulative effect of multiple allergens -- not just the final trigger, in this case the cat, that throws you over the edge.

As always, it is best to deal with the cause rather than just suppressing the symptoms. There are several factors that trigger allergies, but in the end, getting rid of allergies primarily depends on eliminating the key cause -- foreign proteins in the blood. If they are allowed to build up, it takes only a mild stimulus (pollen, for example) to throw your body across the line of symptoms and produce problems that can range from mild itching and runny nose to an asthmatic attack.

The key to stopping allergies is to clean allergens out of your soft tissue and blood so that your personal health line sits far away from the line of symptoms. That way, the occasional exposure to pollen, dander, etc. are not enough to move you over the line of symptoms. This is done in several ways:

What you can do about allergies

  • Eat smart. That means minimizing exposure to the most common food allergens -- the primary ones being wheat, corn, dairy, eggs and soy.
  • Breathe smart. Invest in an effective air filtration system to scrub the air in your house -- and make sure you clean it frequently.
  • Use proteolytic enzymes to reduce the level of circulating immune complexes.
  • Use digestive enzymes to break down allergenic proteins before they enter the bloodstream.
  • Do acolon detoxtwice a year. Have you ever noticed how just having a good bowel movement can sometimes clean up a stuffy nose in a matter of minutes? Your bowel is like a porous membrane that reclaims water from your stools (which is why stools get harder and dryer the longer they sit in the bowel) and shuttles that water back into your body. It also means that allergens are readily drawn into the body along with the water. The longer waste sits in the bowel, the more toxins are absorbed into your body along with the water. Remove the waste, and you have instant relief.
  • Do aliver detoxtwice a year so that your liver can more efficiently eliminate toxins from the bloodstream. Since your liver is your body's primary filter, cleansing your liver is imperative in order to not only rid it of existing allergen build up in its own tissue but to allow for it to optimally perform its filtering functions and remove allergens from your blood.
  • Use immunomodulators to retrain your immune system to not overreact.
  • Use afull spectrum antioxidantthat contains high levels of quercetin. Quercetin stabilizes the membranes of immune cells (basophils and mast cells) so they no longer dump inflammatories into the bloodstream.
  • Try incorporating daily nasal cleansing as part of your evening ablutions.

Flu, bird flu, and pneumonia