Traditional Chinese Medicine
for Asthma

During an attack patients usually feel short of breath,tight around the chest and have a cough with catarrh. There are several factors inducing asthma attacks,environmental irritants,sudden inhalation of cold or dry air and the rapid inhalation of air during exercise,laughter or hyperventilation,respiratory infections,pregnancy and menstruation,emotion and stress and ect.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM),asthma can be divided into three main types: cold type, heat type and Yin-deficiency type.

Cold type asthma is caused by the building up of excessive coldness and dampness in the lung and body systems. Typical symptoms are the feeling of fullness and distress in the chest, wheezing in the throat and coughing with thin sputum. This type of asthma is often triggered by cold weather and there is a greater frequency of attacks in winter than in summer. The treatment of TCM is based on a principle to ventilate the lungs,expel pathogenic cold and eliminate phlegm.

Heat type of asthma is caused by excessive heat and dampness accumulated in the lung and body systems. Typical symptoms are a shortage of breath,gasping,wheezing,irritable and oppressed feeling on the chest,yellowish and mucous sputum and feeling thirsty. Attacks normally occur most frequently in hot weather. The principle of treatment is to remove heat, dampness,phlegm and facilitating the flow of lung-Qi to relieve asthma.

Yin deficiency type of asthma is caused by imbalance of Yin and Yang,specifically due to deficiency of Yin in the lung and spleen. This type of asthma usually results from chronic and recurrent attacks for a ling time. Typical symptoms are a cough that sounds low and weak,palpitations,shortness of breath,spontaneous perspiration and aversion to wind. The principle of treatment is to strengthen the lungs and spleen,nourish Yin and improving inspiration.

The treatment is usually using Chinese herbal medicine(dry herbs and herbal tablets) combined with a course of Acupuncture