For most people the sweltering heat of summer is a welcome shift from the chilly season of winter, however, the prickly warmth also brings with it allergy symptoms such as hay fever and a whole bunch of summer allergies.

But with acupuncture, you can kiss allergies goodbye and say hello to the sunny weather. Yes, you read it right, I am in fact talking about the ancient form of healing that originated from China that has been proven effective to heal a wide range of ailments including hay fever and other illnesses that sprout during the spring and summer months.

Hay fever, for one, is a very usual allergic reaction caused by airborne elements such as hay pollens, grass, and flowers that would affect the upper respiratory passages involving the sinus, nose, eyes and throat. During spring and summer, the common culprits of hay fever are the pollens from the trees. Hay fever is presented with cold, runny nose, sneezing attacks and watery eyes.

But how can acupuncture help?

Acupuncture has been known, for thousands of years, to help restore a person’s vitality as well as alleviate allergic symptoms by stimulating the acupuncture points with very thin needles.

These acupuncture points are located in strategic areas of the meridian pathways of the body’s vital energy flow, known as Qi. Through the healing process, an acupuncture specialist will help the body to respond naturally to the treatment thereby restoring the natural balance of the body’s organ systems.

Acupuncturists said that the modulating effect of acupuncture to the immune system is vital in addressing the symptoms of hay fever as well as other types of allergic conditions.

Hay fever, to be specific, is often provoked by a pathogen, which is dubbed as the “wind” in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The “wind” causes irritations in the respiratory system.

Acupuncture applies ample pressure on the acupuncture points using hair-thin needles to restore the respiratory system to its normal state. Aside from hay fever, the same acupuncture treatment has also been proven effective to treat chlorine allergy and prickly heat, which are also common during spring and summer.

Like other western form of hay fever treatments, acupuncture therapy is also best to start before the summer season began, which could be a very good preventive measure against the ailment. Just as they say, “prevention is better than cure.”

Acupuncture therapy for hay fever and other allergies would usually take six weekly treatments, with treatment spacing ranging from bi-weekly to four times a week depending on how you react to the treatment.

After a year, the therapy could be lessen to two treatments prior to the peak of the season and with the effectiveness of acupuncture, you will soon realize that hay fever has long gone and you are now bound to enjoy summer without a single sneeze.

Air that is too dry can cause respiratory illness. Avoid it by installing humidifiers in your whole house. Humidifiers bring back the moisture in the air. Built-in home humidifiers help in the relief of cold symptoms by allowing one breathe a moistened air to keep lungs more elastic. They also minimize a persons susceptibility to infection by keeping the mucus membranes of throat and nasal passages moist.

What are Humidifiers?
A Humidifier is a kind of household appliance which increases moisture in the air of a room or the whole house. When the air that is circulating in your home is too dry, it makes it very uncomfortable to breathe, thus, irritating our lungs which can lead to respiratory illness, itchy skin, chapped lips, sore throat, nosebleed, etc. Dry air can also damage some of our furniture such as wood products and flooring.

During the winter season, it is very important that we add moisture in the air we breathe. It is because the dry winter air can bring down the humidity level of the air to as low as fifteen percent, which is undeniably drier than desert air. Fortunately, by increasing the humidity in the house, we can avoid these problems. Installing or adding up humidifiers in the house will be a very good option. It is also a good way to resolve the irritated lungs as well as the dry, itching skin. It can also help you save money by protecting your furniture.

How do Humidifiers Work?
The humidifiers work by adding up some moisture in the air, thus, raising the level of humidity in your home. Generally, humidifiers all work with one standard; it heats the air so that it can absorb moisture. When the relative humidity of the air reaches 100%, a person feels a lot hotter and that is because sweat does not evaporate. In contrast, if the relative humidity of the air is low, a person also feels very dry. The airs relative humidity really affects how a person feels. It also plays a large role in determining a persons comfort level. When the air is warmer, it can hold more water and produce more moisture. Air with low relative humidity is dry. Humidifiers play a part by controlling the varying levels of the airs relative humidity, therefore, affecting a persons level of comfort in their homes.

Home Evaporative Humidifier
The Evaporative humidifiers are the most common type of humidifiers. It only consists of few parts; the reservoir, the wick and the fan. It usually systemizes a foam or cloth wick or sheet to retract water out of the reservoir, a fan that blows over the wick would let the air take up moisture. This kind of humidifier is self-regulating. It is because when the relative humidity of the air is higher, it harder for the water to evaporate from its filter. While the humidity increases, its water vapor output decreases. Due to these kinds of abilities, these make it a very functional humidifier.

Evaporative humidifiers, which are very common nowadays, capture virtually almost all of the minerals and pollutants from water. They also get rid of the white dust that some ultrasonic humidifiers produce. This kind of technique works very effectively on both tabletop and console models and on the central evaporative humidifiers that is attached to the home heating system. They function by passing some air stream into a wet medium, for example dampened grill or a sponge. Some have honeycomb-type fiber panels which push water upwards from a reservoir, while others uses cloth or foam drum that rotates through a water-filled trough while air passes by. Still some humidifiers blow air into a woven aluminum pad which is drenched by a continuous stream of water.

Built-in Home Humidifier
The built-in home humidifiers help in the relief of cold symptoms by allowing you breathe a moistened air that keeps lungs more elastic. Accordingly, they reduce a persons susceptibility to infection by keeping the mucus membranes of throat and nasal passages moist. It also helps in the relief and prevention of dry lips as well as scratchy skin and also keeps nosebleeds in check. Built-in humidifiers can help prevent wooden floors from separating and buckling. They also reduce the static electricity, therefore reducing the little shocks that are received from touching certain objects and other people.

Furnace Humidifier
A furnace humidifier is attached in the furnace system. It is installed in the pipes and works along with the homes cooling and heating system in order to humidify the whole house. While these kinds of humidifiers are quite more costly than the other models, they are more efficient in energy and charge less in operating for long terms. Aside from yearly maintenance expenses, one would have to get the filters changed. When acquiring a furnace humidifier, a person should search for a model that has a humidistat. This will permit you to regulate the preferred humidity level. When the certain level is achieved, the humidifier will shut off, thus, avoiding the problem of over-humidifying.

Respiratory therapist is also known as respiratory care practitioners. A career in this field in very flourishing and is much in demand. Those who are looking forward, or are keen on having a career as a respiratory therapist, must be aware of the job, and the duties it encompasses.

A respiratory therapist is trained to monitor the patients with lung and cardio pulmonary disorders, evaluate, and treat, manage the patient. A therapist learns to treat all type of respiratory cases of patients belonging to every age group. They provide temporary relief to patients who suffer from asthma. They are trained to treat complicated cases like emphysema, as well as manage emergency situations like heart attack or stroke, shock or drowning.

Respiratory therapy is a sector that is very much growing in demand, and is becoming the need of every hospital. These therapists are professionals who are assistants to the senior doctors so that they take care of the preliminary requirement to simplify and ensure proper patient care. He has to consult the doctor to plan the patient care and treatment.

A respiratory therapist requires interviewing patients, taking the case, performing the needed physical examination and also conducting diagnostic tests. A respiratory therapist’s job includes testing and evaluating the lung capacity. He has to record the inhaled and the exhaled oxygen and compare the values keeping the age, sex and other parameters in mind. This will help determine the patient’s lung deficiency. He is also trained to analyze blood samples, remove mucus from the lungs, perform chest physiotherapy, etc. a therapist has to offer complex therapy and care to patients who are on life-support system or in ICU.

To become a qualified respiratory therapist, the candidate has to undergo 2 years of associate degree course or 4 years of graduation degree after high school degree. It is important that your degree is governed by NBRC (National Board for Respiratory Care) to become a certified and licensed respiratory therapist. Respiratory therapy requires study in subject’s like anatomy, physiology, physics, chemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, pathology and mathematics. The therapist courses deals with therapeutic and diagnostic procedures and tests, equipment, patient assessment, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation the application of clinical practice guidelines, respiratory health promotion and disease prevention, patient care outside of hospitals, and also includes medical recordkeeping as well as reimbursement.

Once you are a qualified respiratory therapist, especially those who are graduates, job opportunities are overwhelming. Most jobs are hospital oriented, though today there are jobs outside hospital too attached to home healthcare service, or private clinics etc. it is expected that in the coming times need of respiratory therapists will be higher, understanding the ever increasing rate of cardio-pulmonary diseases in the world. There will be almost 21% growth in demand in various filed like disease prevention, early detection of pulmonary disorders, case management, and emergency care.

ADHATODA VASICA
(VASA)

Botanical Name: Adhatoda vasica, Justicia adhatoda

Family: Acanthaceae

Common names: Adatodai, Arusa, Vasaka, Adulsa, Adathoda, Adalodakam, Adusoge, Lions Muzzle, Stallions Tooth

Vernacular names:
Hindi- Adusa, English- Malabar Nut, Punjabi- Vamsa, Marathi- Adulsa, Telugu- Addasaramu, Tamil- Eidhabad, Bengali- Bakas, Gujarati- Araduso
Synonyms: Atarusa, Bhisagatma, Vasika, Vrsa, Simhasya, Simhi

Classcal Categorization :
Caraka: Tikta skandha
Susruta: –
Vagbhata: Durvadigana

General Discription:
Adhatoda is a well known herb which have been used extensively in Ayurvedic Medicine for over 2000 years,mainly for respiratory disorders. It is also used for bleeding disorders and febrile illness.

Properties:
Rasa: Tikta, Kashaya
Guna: Ruksha, Laghu
Veerya: Shita
Vipaka: Kattu
Karma: Kapha-Pittahara, Hrdya, Svarya

Origin:
A small evergreen, sub-herbacious bush which grows commonly in open plains, especially in the lower Himalayas (up to 1300 meters above sea level), India, Sri Lanka, Burma and Malaysia. This plant is also cultivated in other tropical areas. It grows well in low moisture areas and dry soils.

Botanical description:

Adhatoda vasica is a small, evergreen, dense shrub with elliptic or lanceolate, acuminate leaves.
Flowers- are white in colour with streaked purple lower lip., deeply five lobed, stamens gre glabrous.
Fruits- four seeded small capsules.
Seeds- are glabrous.
The flowers and fruits of Vasa appear during Februray- May.

Parts Used: Leaves, Roots, Flowers and Stem bark are used for medicinal purposes.

Major Chemical Constituents:
The chief principle present in Vasa is the quinazoline alkaloid, Vasicine. This herb also contains several other alkaloids such as vasicinine, b-sitosterol, kaempferol, vasicinolone, vasicol, peganine etc.

Pharamacology:
The alakalois vasicine has bronchodilatory and antihistaminic properties. The Uterotonic stimulant activity and moderate hypotensive activity of the alkaloids have also been reported. The leaves are a rich source of vitamin C and carotene and yield an essential oil.Vasicine also exhibited strong respiratory stimulant activity and cardiac-depressant effect.

Indications:
Swasa (chronic bronchitis, asthma)
Kasa (cold, sore throat, cough, whooping cough)
Jwara
Chardi
Prameha
Kshaya (tuberculosis)
Pandu
Raktpitta
Pyorrhoea and in bleeding gums(local application)

Therapeutic uses:
Vasa is a Expectorant (an agent that promotes the discharge of mucous and secretions from the respiratory passages)

Bronchodilator, Antiasthmatic

An Antispasmodic (an agent which relieves or eases muscular spasms, cramps or convulsions)

Antitussive (an agent that relieves coughing)

Oxytocic (an agent that stimulates contraction of the uterine muscle, facilitating or speeding up childbirth)

Uterotonic (an agent that tones, strengthens and invigorates the uterus or the entire organism giving a feeling of well-being)

It acts as a sedative, a bronchial antiseptic and is used in treating other lung and bronchiole disorders.Adhatoda vasica has also been used to speed delivery during childbirth.

The flowers of vasa are Kapha-pitta hara thus these are useful in treating various respiratory disorders. It is used to control bleeding conditions like menorrhagia (excessive menstrual bleeding), postpartum (after childbirth) hemorrhage and assists uterine involution.

The hypotensive activity of the alkaloids present in this herb are useful in lowering blood pressure and other pulmonary diseases. It also is useful in Dyspepsia, intermittent fever, typhus fever and also in local bleeding due to peptic ulcer and piles (hemorrhoids).

Large doses may cause
Diarrhoea
Irritation of the alimentary canal
Vomiting, in some people.

Dosage:
0.5-1.5g/day dried root
1-3mL/day fluid extract

Imporatant Preparations:

Vasavlehya : 6-12 g b.d.
Vasarishta : 15 ml t.i.d.
Vasasvarasa : 10-20 ml b.d.
Vasadigutika : 250-500 mg t.i.d.
Vasaghrita : 6-12 g b.d.
Vasakhanda : 6-12 g b.d

Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) is an infectious disease in one or more parts ranging from nasal airway to the lungs and takes place in less than 3 weeks. Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) is a contagious disease and is often experienced by children. Most of the URI is light, caused by a viral infection, and can heal themselves (self-limited diseases). However, URI also can be severe and cause death. Therefore we need to understand and properly handle the ISPA. We also need to know the signs of emergency in the URI so that our children are not too late to get treatment in hospital.

Channel Anatomy of Human Breath Infection can occur throughout the human respiratory tract from the nose, sinus cavity, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, and lungs.

Diagnosis Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) URI is actually a term for many diseases in respiratory tract infections.

The following are diseases that are included in the URI: 1. Common cold 2. Flu (Influenza) 3. Rhino sinusitis or Sinusitis 4. Tonsillitis, Pharyngitis, or Tonsil of uringitis (Sore Throat) 5. Abscess peritonsilar 6. Acute otitis media (middle ear infection) 7. Epiglottitis 8. Laryngitis 9. Trakeitis 10. Bronchitis 11. Bronchiolitis 12. Pneumonia 13. Pleuritis

So, if doctors diagnose a child as URI, then our children may be ill common cold or sore throat or the other. Ask the doctor about a more specific diagnosis.

Symptoms of Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) URI symptoms vary widely. Between one and the other diseases often have similar symptoms. For example, we may be difficult to distinguish the common cold with the flu because the symptoms are almost the same. Talk to your doctor to make sure the disease experienced by our children.

The following are symptoms of respiratory infection in children: Fever Cough Colds, congestion, or sneezing Painful throat / swallowing pain Hoarse voice Headaches, body aches, or joint pain Fatigue, weakness Shortness of breath Frequency of fast breathing

Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) Treatment Many respiratory infections that are grouped into ARD. Therefore we need to know what actually experienced infectious disease of our children. What is the common cold, influenza, or pneumonia? Is the disease caused by viral or bacterial infection? Specific diagnosis and its cause will determine the further handling. For example, if our children common cold sore, then our children need adequate rest, nutrition and drinking enough, and when the fever febrifuge. But when our children are suffering from bacterial pneumonia, so he may also require antibiotics and hospitalization.

Here are some tips for handling respiratory infection in general:

1. Get plenty of rest 2. Give children drink more, especially if the children cough and fever (see article Cough and Fever). 3. Give febrifuge if fever (see Fever article) 4. Avoid transmission to others. The way to avoid transmission: closing the mouth and nose when coughing / sneezing, wash hands with soap after coughing / sneezing, using a mask (if the child is cooperative), avoiding too close contact with infants. 5. Do not give antibiotics without a doctor’s instructions. Antibiotics are not necessary if the ARD is caused by viral infection. Inappropriate use of antibiotics can increase the immunity of bacteria to antibiotics. 6. Avoid giving a cough / cold in children. Discuss with your doctor about the benefits and risks of the drug if it will be given to your child (see article Cough). 7. Recognize the signs of an emergency.

You should immediately consult a child to the doctor if:
1. Shortness of breath or breathing becomes more rapid frequency
2. Breath sounds (wheezing) or like a whimper (grunting)
3. Chest wall / rib sidelines seemed interested in where the child is breathing
4. Bluish lips
5. Stiff neck
6. Difficulty swallowing
7. Continuous vomiting
8. Children looked very weak