What is asthma?

Asthma is a lung disease that makes it harder to move air in and out of your lungs. With asthma, the airways in your lungs are often swollen or inflamed. This makes them extra sensitive to things that you are exposed to in the environment every day, or asthma “triggers.” A trigger could be a cold or the weather, or things in the environment, such as dust, chemicals, smoke and pet dander.

When you breathe in a trigger, the insides of your airways swell even more. This narrows the space for the air to move in and out of the lungs. The muscles that wrap around your airways also can tighten, making breathing even harder. When that happens, it’s called an asthma flare- up, asthma episode or asthma “attack.”

Asthma can start at any age. Sometimes, people have asthma when they are very young and as their lungs develop, the symptoms go away, but it’s possible that it will come back later in life. Sometimes people get asthma for the first time when they are older.

There are also a few different types of asthma. Exercise-induced asthma, which occurs with physical exertion. Occupational asthma, triggered by workplace irritants such as chemical fumes, gases or dust. Then there’s Allergy-induced asthma, triggered by airborne substances, such as pollen, mold spores, or particles of skin and dried saliva shed by pets (pet dander)

Medicines used for asthma.

The types of medication used to treat asthma are as diverse as the symptoms and include inhaled corticosteroids, short- and long-acting relief medications, oral steroids, leukotriene modifiers, mast cell stabilizers, and immune modulators.

Inhaled Corticosteroids are prescribed to help prevent the symptoms of asthma. When used regularly, they help decrease the frequency and severity of asthma attacks. On the other hand, they will not relieve an attack once it has started. These steroids can also offer side effects not limited to the entire body. After long term use you can have possible side effects such as “Thrush” a common fungal mouth infection, sore mouth or throat, hoarseness of voice, and can even have deepening effects such as decreased bone density in adults, or even slight reduction of growth in children.

Oral steroids are another common medication used for asthma patients. Oral steroids are typically used if you have had or are at risk of a serious attack. They are given in oral form if your symptoms are severe but do not require hospitalization. Side effects are similar to those for inhaled steroids, but more common and severe. With oral steroids you could experience weight gain, fluid retention, elevated blood sugar which can lead to diabetes.

These are just side effects for the most common medications used to help treat asthma patients. We want a medication that will heal, rather than cause future health issues. We should want our medications to solve the issue not give more issues that will eventually need more medications just to stabilize the problem. As most of these medications offer more and more side effects, we are only stabilizing the problem for a moment.

What makes CBD beneficial for asthma?

The inflammation of the air passages causes a temporary narrowing of the lungs, which reduces the amount of oxygen carried throughout the body. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the lungs’ airways, and cannabis happens to be a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. CBD is a well-known anti-inflammatory, interacting with cannabinoid receptors throughout the body, including the lungs.

Muscle Spasticity, or bronchial spasms, are a sudden constriction of the muscles in the lungs. Causing difficulty in breathing. CBD is known to be antispasmodic. The strains found in CBD have muscle spasm relief effect. By Relaxing the muscles in the lungs, the airways expand, allowing for an increase in airflow.

It is well documented that CBD is a very potent bronchodilator and useful in the treatment of asthma. CBD can dilate the respiratory air passages and inhibits bronchoconstriction, which is the main problem of asthma patients. When a patient is undergoing an asthma attack, bronchioles become constricted, and the flow of oxygen is constrained. CBD, when taken orally or inhaled, opens the bronchioles and dilates the respiratory passage making it easier to breathe.

How should you use CBD with asthma?

As we are all thinking, “there is no way an asthma patient should be smoking anything!” Well in terms of vaporization, this is beneficial for an asthma patient. Vaporizers open the airways rather than restrict the airways making this a good option for asthma patients. Typical inhalers contain adrenaline-like stimulants, which work well but tend to heighten anxiety. CBD helps balance anxiety not add to it. When CBD oil is vaporized it provides the maximum amount of concentration. Vaporizing CBD oil also does not have negative effects on a person’s throat or lungs. In some cases, individuals may not be able to use a vaporizer if their symptoms are too severe or would prefer another method of consumption.

During an asthma attack, a CBD vaporizer or tincture is ideal as it will give immediate results without irritating the system. However, if vaporizing CBD leads to coughing or worsening of symptoms then try using an edible form of CBD. Keep in mind edibles are not reliable when facing an attack.

Tinctures are a great way to really help continuously coat the lungs internally. A few drops of oil go under the tongue for 15 seconds as this allows the oil to be absorbed into the blood stream. Then swallow. Relief is typically found immediately.

Taking CBD by any method shows a result in decreased airway resistance. A daily dosing of CBD necessary to get a starting point of medication in the human system to control asthma more easily. Asthma patients can use CBD to improve their overall functions of the body, more importantly, their lungs.

Does my diet play a role in asthma?

What you eat effects your entire human body system. In a case such as asthma it is important as well to be cautious of certain foods we eat. Eating to maintain a healthy weigh is important as individuals who are overweight, this can increase asthma symptoms. By eating a variety of fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants, this can help to reduce lung swelling. There’s evidence that people who eat diets higher in vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, flavonoids, magnesium, selenium, and omega-3 fatty acids have lower rates of asthma. Keeping away from processed foods can not only reduce symptoms but also prevent asthma from developing.

If we feed our bodies a whole diet, of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and limit our meat consumption, we can see improvements in the overall well being of our bodies. Eating a healthy diet can help to prevent, treat and even reverse many healthy concerns.

When using CBD combined with a nutritional diet plan you will see the results come in greater form. Keeping the body healthy helps to aid the function of CBD in the body.