In my 20s I journeyed to Southeast Asia.
Mostly I explored Asia’s small cities, villages, jungles and long white beaches.
Occasionally a large city became a necessary stop to catch a boat, train or bus.
One such city was Medan, located on northern coast of Sumatra. In Medan I discovered two things.
One the best ice cream I have eaten and two air pollution so thick it coated my skin in black soot.
Needless to say, asthma is prevalent in Medan.
The traditional folk remedy for asthma in Medan is flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus) soup.
With a wing span of almost two metres, a body the size of a small fox and a nasty vampirish face, I would have to be pretty breathless before I would stew one of those extra ordinary beasts in my kitchen.
However, these endangered animals are popular medicine on the streets of Medan. The bats hang, alive, upside-down on large rods on sidewalks alongside the honking, bustling, black exhaust spewing traffic.
The man selling them assured me they relieve asthma.
Personally, I think the common sense solution is less diesel in the air and leave the bats in the jungle.
Asthma was unknown 150 years ago. It began its rise with the Industrial Revolution.
According to the World Allergy Organization, there are over 300 million people suffering with asthma world wide and each decade for the last 40 years, the prevalence of asthma has doubled.
In Canada there are approximately 3,000,000 asthmatics, 485,700 are between four and 11 years old.
It is commonly believed that the cause of asthma is constriction of air passages to the lungs due to inflammation and excess mucous production. However, the real question is what causes the initial inflammation.
Inflammation is the body’s response to damaged cells.
It is the janitorial department of the body, cleaning up debris.
Where there is inflammation, there is some sort of irritant to the body’s cells. Could this mean that an asthma attack is triggered by an irritant?
Many people who suffer from asthma find this is the case.
They struggle for breath when going into cold air (cold air being an irritant), they find pollen and mould create conditions for an attack.
Patting cats, dogs or horses trigger attacks. Unfortunately, finding the trigger of an attack is not always easy.
As asthma was almost unheard of 150 years ago, one may have to suspect the culprits to this breathlessness are something new and unseen to the human body.
Let’s look at occupations which have a high prevalence of asthma: chemists, detergent manufacturers, welders, hairdressers, farmers, car painters, lab and pharmaceutical workers, pharmacists and printers. All these occupations result in constant or intensive short term exposure to chemicals.
A holistic approach to easing asthma begins with reducing synthetic chemicals in the life and eliminating common food allergens.
Household cleaners bearing a skull and cross bone (an agreed upon symbol for poison) are replaced with white vinegar and baking soda. Carpets are pulled up and wood flooring is put down.
All new clothing and bedding is washed (again in vinegar) several times to remove fire retardants chemicals.
A regiment of reading food labels becomes necessary. Wheat is one of the foods sought out and replaced.
Wheat is found in most processed food. I have one client who discovered she was eating wheat 12 times a day.
Another client, after removing wheat from her diet felt much better but for a stubborn itch on her forehead. Then she discovered wheat was in her shampoo. Changing shampoos resolved the itch. Wheat is in everything!
It is also important to choose foods not been sprayed with pesticides or grown in soils soaked in herbicides.
These man made chemicals are also stored in containers with a cross and skull bones. Poison is poison.
Writing a column like this can be overwhelming. I think, “Well, it’s not possible to turn back the clock, the world is what it is today, a strange chemical stew and so we face the consequences.”
In the big picture of things, there may not be much I can do change things.
But in my home, my business and my life I make chooses which are healthy for myself and everyone around me.
A drop in the ocean perhaps, but then again, the ocean is made up of drops.
Herbs for Life is written by Abrah Arneson, a local clinical herbalist. It is intended for information purposes only. Readers with a specific medical problem should consult a doctor. For more information, visit www.abraherbalist.ca. Arneson can be reached at abrah@shaw.ca.