“The prevalence of asthma in Canada has been increasing over the last 20 years and it is estimated that currently over 3 million Canadians have asthma. Experts are struggling to understand why prevalence rates world-wide are, on average, rising by 50% every decade.” – The Asthma Society of Canada
Asthma is most common during childhood and affects at least 12% of Canadian children. Asthma is the leading cause of absenteeism from school and the third leading cause of work loss. Every year in Canada, there are 146,000 emergency room visits due to asthma attacks. Despite advances in understanding the disease, and the availability of more efficacious medications, asthma is still a major cause of morbidity. While these medications are helpful during asthma attacks, they do not address the underlying causes of asthma and have many serious potential side effects.
In my clinical practice, I have worked with many parents who were convinced that they had run out of options for their child after finding medications to be only a short-term solution for asthma. Many of these parents try naturopathic medicine as a last resort and have found success. Pursuing naturopathic care isn’t an “either or” scenario, but rather an “and also”, meaning conventional medications do not have to be abandoned.
Based on the experience I have had in working with asthmatic patients, I have found that nutrition, vitamin & mineral supplementation and herbal remedies can offer tremendously helpful support in healing the root causes of this epidemic. Often children with asthma have eczema and allergies as well – this trio of health problems is known as the ‘allergic triad’. Environmental and food allergies contributing to ill-health should be identified, which can be accomplished through in-office testing. From a holistic perspective, asthma is multi-factorial health issue and more than a single remedy is needed to adequately treat it.
Natural healthcare can help to reduce symptoms of asthma and frequency of attacks. A comprehensive approach to treatment can be provided through naturopathic care.