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Are you jailed by your breathing problems? Do you feel like taking in air at times is a struggle and requires a lot of effort? Asthma can be a very troublesome condition that you need to overcome.

Asthma is a chronic condition affecting the airways and lungs, in which there is inflammation and constriction in the airways that bring oxygen and air to the lungs. When asthma occurs, these inflamed airways or bronchial tubes in the lungs become sensitive and overreact to allergens or irritants that are inhaled. When the reaction happens, the airways swell and narrow even more, at the same time produces mucus. All of these developments make the flow of air to the lungs more difficult. Furthermore, there is tightening in the muscles located around the airways, further restricting air flow

Symptoms of Asthma

An asthma attack or flare up is experienced by the asthma patient when certain triggers cause the airways to react. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists the following as symptoms of asthma attack:

• coughing
• wheezing
• chest tightness
• trouble breathing

The asthma symptoms some people experience are mild and are triggered only by certain activities like physical exercise. Other people experience more severe and more frequent asthma symptoms.

Causes of Asthma

What really causes asthma is not known. It is believed, however, that it is a result of a combination of genetics and environmental factors. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute says that people afflicted with asthma may have risk factors associated with genetics making them more prone to having the disease and certain factors in the environment such as allergen exposure and even viral infections during one’s infancy may contribute to the risk of experiencing the disease.

Triggers can cause symptoms of asthma to manifest. Common triggers include cigarette smoke, air pollution, dust mites, mold, pollen, respiratory infections, cold air, physical activity and allergy to some foods.

There are several ways of dealing with an asthma attack. While medications can provide temporary relief, you need to make certain changes in your lifestyle and diet in order to permanently overcome such condition.

Most men find their hair thinning increasingly as they age. However hair thinning is also observed among women, although the instances of female baldness are relatively smaller than those of men.

There are many reasons which can cause hair thinning in men and women. For laymen, it would be difficult to determine with certainty the exact cause of hair loss; that is why it is necessary to consult a physician and have an examination so that the exact cause may be known and treated.

One of the most common causes of hair loss or thinning in both men and women is genetics. As a matter of fact, it is claimed that ninety-nine percent of premature hair thinning or baldness is caused by genetics. This hereditary male and female pattern baldness is known as androgenic alopecia in medical terms. For people who have one or both parents who had DNA relating to hair loss, such inherited DNA would be decisive of the fate of that person’s hair.

Aside from genetics, hair thinning can also be caused by external factors such as stress and illness, which can prevent the healthy growth of the hair. Medication can also be a cause, since some medications contain a component which affects hair growth. Poor diet may also cause hair thinning since the person will not be getting the nutrients needed by the body to sustain the growth of the hair.

Hair loss or thinning consists of different processes for men and women. The process which goes on with men is more known to the medical society than that of women’s. For men, hair loss is caused mostly by genetic factors, combined with hormonal ones. In particular, male hormones such as testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) cause hair loss. This process can start as early as during puberty for men. On the other hand, women usually will not observe their hair thinning until they reach the age of forty or fifty, and while their hair loss is also associated with hormonal changes, such association is not held with certainty.

While the above mentioned causes of hair loss may already be known to most people, there are a lot of things which are believed to cause hair loss when in fact, they do not. Among these are dandruff, poor scalp circulation, ‘clogged’ hair follicles, and the use of wrong shampoo or other hair products. In addition, the use of hair cover-ups such as helmets and caps will not affect hair loss. A person must therefore not be prevented form using hair products or hair accessories they want just because of fear that they might lose their hair in the process.

People with a narrow view of chiropractic think that the only conditions chiropractic care can help treat are those that are directly linked to the spine, such as back pain, neck pain and perhaps headaches. It is difficult for them to believe that chiropractic care is an effective therapy for other disorders that are not obviously and directly spine-related.

On the other hand, patients who visit chiropractors for their headaches, back pain, and neck pain who present with other health conditions that are to them not supposedly chiropractic in nature are surprised to see the symptoms of their other conditions relieved or eliminated. Chiropractors do not claim to cure or treat these conditions. They, however, know that many health conditions are symptoms of nerve interference. They understand the spine and the nerves’ relationship to the body’s internal organs. That is why they pay attention to the spine and the nerves that may relate to the condition of the internal organs.

It will be helpful for us to take a look at an “Autonomic Nervous System Chart” or a Merck Chart, visual representations showing the relationship of each element the spine, the nerve system and the body’s organs. The Merck Chart, in particular, also called Hoffman Chart, is developed based upon many years of actual clinical experience. You will be amazed at how chiropractic care can be beneficial in helping treat practically all disorders of the organs of the human body.

Can an Unhealthy Spine Really Affect the Internal Organs?

This is exactly the question that Dr. Henry Windsor, a Doctor of Medicine wanted an answer to, as he questioned chiropractic then. He wanted to confirm whether there is truth to the chiropractors’ claim that by adjusting the vertebrae, they can help relieve conditions such as ulcers, stomach troubles, constipation, menstrual cramps, kidney disease, thyroid conditions, lung, heart and other diseases. He decided to conduct an experiment where he would dissect human and animal cadavers to check if there was any relationship between diseased internal organs, which were determined during autopsy, and the part of the vertebrae and nerves connected to the organs. With the permission of the University of Pennsylvania, he performed his experiments, consisting of a series of three studies wherein he was able to dissect a total of 75 human cadavers 72 cat cadavers. Of these, he found 221 structures that were diseased, aside from the spine. The results from his studies showed an almost 100% correlation between vertebrae minor curvatures and disease of the organs. Here are some of the results, listing the disease categories and the location of the misalignments observed in the vertebrae:

• Lung disease: Total of 26 cases, all showed misalignments in the upper thoracic area of the spine (upper back)
• Heart Disease: Total of 20 cases with heart and pericardium conditions, all showed misalignments in the thoracic vertebrae (T1 – T5)
• Liver disease: Total of 13 cases, all showed misalignments in the mid-thoracic area of the spine (T5 – T9)
• Stomach disease: Total of 9 cases with stomach conditions, all showed misalignments in the mid-thoracic area of the spine (T5 – T9)
• Gall bladder: Total of 5 cases with gallstone disease, all showed misalignments in the mid-thoracic area of the spine (T5 – T9)
• Spleen: Total of 11 cases with spleen disease, all showed misalignments in the mid-thoracic area of the spine (T5 – T9)
• Pancreas: Total of 3 cases with pancreatic disease, all showed misalignments in the mid-thoracic area of the spine (T5 – T9)
• Kidney: Total of 17 cases with kidney disease, all showed misalignments in the lower thoracic area of the spine (T10 – T12)
• Prostate and bladder: Total of 8 cases with prostate and bladder disease, all showed misalignments in the lumbar vertebrae (L1 – L3)
• Uterus: 2 cases with uterine conditions, showed misalignments in the second lumbar

The findings from Dr. Windsor’s studies were published in “The Medical Times” (November 1921, 49, pages 267 – 271). Since then, other researchers have come up with their studies confirming Dr. Windsor’s discovery. Also, many literatures on medicine at present include many experiments upholding chiropractic’s theory and proving its effectiveness. Studies also abound validating the relationship that exist between the spine and nerves and the internal organs.

It is clear how chiropractic treatment can be effective not only in relieving common spinal disorders like back pain and neck pain but a lot of other disorders of the body’s organs and health issues.