Sharing with Dr Mercola:
Another recent study, which was presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference, found that adding ginger compounds to isoproterenol, a type of asthma medication called a beta-agonist, enhanced its bronchodilating effects.
Conventional asthma treatment typically consists of a non-steroidal bronchodilator, an anti-inflammatory agent that you inhale, which causes the smooth muscle cells in your lungs to relax.
This helps to open up your airways. If that doesn’t t work, the next step is typically an inhaled steroid, which is a very potent anti-inflammatory agent.
Part of the explanation for ginger’s benefits for asthma are its potent antioxidant activity, which is attributed to constituents such as gingerols, shogaols and zingerones. It is believed that these compounds have particular anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties similar to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Because ginger enhances bronchodilation, it may provide a much safer alternative, or at least adjunct, to current medications on the market, which is badly needed. While asthma is a serious condition that can be fatal if left untreated, asthma medications themselves carry serious, even lethal side effects.
For example, the common asthma drug Advair contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol, which can actually increase the severity of an asthma attack as well as the risk of death from asthma problems.
The drug used in the above-mentioned study, isoproterenol, was also linked to an epidemic of asthma deaths that occurred in the 1960s, whereas conventional asthma treatments have also been found to increase your risk of heart disease, cataracts and osteoporosis, just to name a few of the additional risks.
If you have asthma, I suggest looking into The Buteyko Method, which teaches you how to bring your breathing volume back toward normal or, in other words, to reverse what’s called chronic hyperventilation or chronic overbreathing. When your breathing is normal, you have better oxygenation of tissues and organs.
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