Asthma and the bowel.

A damaged bowel ecosystem and undiagnosed food sensitivities and mold allergy are the real causes of asthma, says Majid Ali, MD. "Exercise, stress, and environmental chemicals," Dr. Ali writes, "in such cases simply act as the last triggers." A healthy immune system, inflammatory response, and detoxification depend upon healthy bowel ecosystem and function. When treating asthma, Dr. Ali and colleagues at The Institute of Integrative Medicine use "a seed, feed, and occasionally weed approach [with antifungal drugs, if necessary]" to restore bowel ecology. He explains the process in his book The Canary and Chronic Fatigue.

Nutrients and herbs, along with therapies to support the blood ecosystem and liver, provide long-term management of asthma in many cases. Dr. Ali says that magnesium, glutathione, vitamin B12, protein and peptide protocols, pantetheine, essential oils (e.g., cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, pumpkin oil, and sesame oil), and taurine are most important for asthma control. The most beneficial herbs for people with asthma are uncooked ginger (a piece of chopped root, an inch or less long, eaten with food or taken with water), licorice, wild cherry, hawthorn berry, fennel seeds, bloodroot, and Ephedra. Lobelia, valerian, skullcap, and St. John's wort can ease anxiety that can trigger an asthma attack. Because asthma can be a life-threatening condition, Dr. Ali advises people with asthma to find an integrative physician. Asthma is too serious to be managed through self-care.

Addressing physical components of asthma is only part of recovery. Dr. Ali urges asthma sufferers to attend to the spiritual work of healing, as explained in his book Healing Miracles and the Bite of the Gray Dog. "[C]onstant thinking about one's disease stands in the way of healing," he writes. An "energy-over-mind approach," not a mind-over-body approach, is needed.

Ali M. The seven for asthma: when the lungs become the spokesorgan for the body. Originally published in Aging Healthfully Magazine. Available at: www.garynull.com/Documents/AgingHealthfully/Asthma.htm. Accessed February 4, 2008.