farmeric May 9th, 2011
Honey may seem like a “wonder drug” for diarrhea, but that’s not all it can fix. Check out these other honey therapies.
- Perfect for minor cuts, burns, and emergency first aid, a little dab of honey can protect you from infection, scarring, and swelling.
- To relieve your sneezing and wheezing from allergies and asthma, try eating a daily tablespoon of locally produced honey. You immune system will become used to the local pollen in it and won’t kick into overdrive
- If you suffer from insomnia, honey boosts a chemical in your brain that calms you down and helps you sleep.
Tags: honey, honey first-aid, therapies
farmeric May 20th, 2010
You’re out in the wilderness and suddenly realize that you left your inhaler at home. What do you do if you feel an attack coming on?
Count on caffeine in a pinch!
Head for the coffee pot. ” A couple of cups of strong coffee will have a beneficial effect on asthma,” say allergist Allan Becker, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Manitoba, who tested the effects of caffeine on asthma.
Asthmatics given pills that contained the amount of caffeine found in two cups of coffee “could breathe better and their asthma improved,” Dr. Becker found. Caffeine and the popular asthma drug Theophylline are almost identical - your body doesn’t know the difference.
He cautions, however, that caffeine is not a substitute for your medication. “We don’t recommend it as a treatment, but in an emergency, when you don’t have your medication around, two strong cups of coffee or hot cocoa or a couple of chocolate bars would be an effective substitute medication that would buy time until you can get to your medicine or inhaler.”
Tags: cold, flu, Health
farmeric May 15th, 2010
When someone is choking on food, you probably know what to do. But if someone has an asthma attack, you might stand by helplessly. Fortunately, what works for chowking also works for asthma - the Heimlich Maneuver.
Heimlich Maneuver
According to Heimlich Institute, the famous anti-choking action works by forcing trapped air and mucus out of the lungs. The Heimlich Maneuver, if performed regularly, might even prevent future asthma attacks.
Here’s how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on someone suffering from a life-threatening asthma attack.
- Stand behind the choker and wrap your arms around his waist.
- Make a fist, and place the thumb side of the fist against the upper abdomen, above the belly button but below the ribcage.
- Grab your fist with your other hand and press into the upper abdomen with a quick but gentle upward thrust. Do not squeeze the ribcage.
- Repeat if necessary.
If you are alone and having an asthma attack, you can perform the Heimlich Maneuver on yourself. Just skip the first step and follow the rest of the directions. Or you can lean over a table, chair, or railing and briefly force your upper abdomen against its edge.
Tags: asthma attack, heimlich maneuver
