Welcome To May 1; World Asthma Day

Let’s   Pray for All Asthma Sufferers.

‘’And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water, and I will take sickness from the midst of thee…the number of thy days I will fulfill’’. Exodus 23:25, 26.

Posted by Ambassador T. Brikins

You are not likely to know that May 1 is celebrated globally as World Asthma Day. But you know that it is Labour Day.

She lay there on the carpeted floor. Inside her, the battle is ragging hot. Her airways are swollen and inflamed. The muscles surrounding her airways tightened their grips on her, causing contraction and much mucus flow making her   bronchial tubes to narrow.

She is coughing or wheezing and experiencing difficulty breathing. Her breath are short, her chest tighten. The pain stab her chest. She stretched her hands to reach for a quick-acting (rescue) inhaler.

She lay there this night, unable to speak.

This is an asthma attack, otherwise called an asthma exacerbation. This is what my darling suffered that night.

 This is what 10.7 and 13% of people suffer. 330 million people are estimated to suffer from this ailment worldwide.250, 000 die yearly. On the other hand, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that   5,190 fatal work injuries died on the job in 2016, a 7-percent increase from the 4,836 fatal injuries reported in 2015 and the third year in a row the number has increased. This demographics puts asthma fatality way ahead of labour's.

And very few asthma patients have access to asthma treatment. In Nigeria for instance drugs for managing asthma are expensive and limited access to its medication because majority of sufferers are poor. But must this continue? What can 2.1billion Christians do?

 Today, May 1, is being celebrated as World Asthma Day 2018. This year’s theme is “Never too early, never too late. It's always the right time to address airways disease". This Day is being observed globally is organised by Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO). This year marks the 20th anniversary of World Asthma Day. The World Health Organisation defines asthma as "a chronic disease characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, which vary in severity and frequency from person to person." The WHO also estimates that about 235 million people worldwide are suffering from asthma and that it is "the most common chronic disease among children."

Dr. Olayinka Olufunke Adeyeye, a Consultant Respiratory Physician  with the Department of Medicine , Lagos State University College of Medicine , Ikeja ,Lagos among other things  said, ‘’…Unfortunately in our environment, many asthma sufferers are under treated. So, they suffer immense discomfort, hospitalisation, absenteeism from work and school, with even the risk of death from a severe attack, just because they are not taking preventer medications’’.

Consultant Physician and Pulmonologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, Dr. Michelle Dania,’’ …said one can develop asthma at any stage in life…’’. She also advised that people eat lots of fruits and vegetables, as research has shown that low vitamin D can make people to be exposed to asthma.

 Oladapo, O.J. has another story to tell. It is healing obtained by faith of Bronchitis. Hear him.‘’My parents told me that I was born with a bronchial problem. It defiled all human solutions, both medical and traditional, even after 25 years. Doctors instructed me not to eat carbohydrates, oily food and fried food, etc. Also, I must not stay in a dusty or stuffy environment. I could not use the air conditioner of fan. I could also not drink cold water or eat any dry thing. …After prayers I drank the anointing oil. Before I knew it, I coughed everything out that day! I can now breath well, and life has meaning to me now.’’

There are much evidence to show that divine healing is real. The Word of God is a living spirit and heals.

Isaiah 53:4-5

‘’ Surely He has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

  But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed’’.

1 Peter 2:24

‘’He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed’’.

Jeremiah 8:22

‘’ Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then has the health of the daughter of my people

not been restored?’’.

Jeremiah 30:17

‘’ For I will restore health to you,

and your wounds I will heal,

declares the Lord,

because they have called you an outcast:

It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’’

There are medically   known preventive and limited curative but that is not the focus of this blog. However, ‘’ Drugs for treatment include reliever medications and preventer medications. The reliever medications are those that patients must use every day, whether or not they have symptom, while the reliever medications are used only when they have symptoms to ameliorate.

This is a call to Christians the world over to invest time to pray for those suffering from asthma in our midst. It’s our responsibility to do so. What good you make happen to people God make happen to you.

Extras

 Top 8 Simple Diet Recommendations

For People with Asthma, Garlic and onions are considered nature's remedies for asthma.

Here are some diet recommendations from macrobiotic nutritionist and health practitioner Dr. Shilpa Arora that may help people suffering from asthma:

1. Include More Garlic and Onion: Onion and garlic aren't just great for adding flavour to your food- they have a number of health benefits as well. According to researcher Dr. Walter Dorsch, onions have a direct anti-asthmatic effect. This is because onions are rich in thiosulphates with anti-inflammatory properties. Both onions and garlic are nature's own remedies for asthma.

2. Eat More Magnesium Rich Foods: Magnesium has been known to relax the muscles of the respiratory tract and hence, addition of magnesium-rich foods in your diet may help you against asthma. Some of the foods that are rich in magnesium are pumpkin seeds, banana, cashew nuts, and dark chocolate and dark green vegetables like broccoli.

Pumpkin seeds are rich in magnesiumWorld Asthma Day 2018: Eating magnesium-rich foods may help fight asthma.

3. Include More Flaxseeds In Your Diet: Flaxseeds may help you in your fight against asthma as it's considered to be very effective anti-asthmatic. You can either eat the seeds after roasting them or soak them and then consume them. You may even add ground flaxseed powder in your milkshakes and smoothies or include flaxseed oil in your diet.

4. Eat Foods Rich In Vitamins D and C: A deficiency of vitamins D and C may lead to increased risks of developing asthma in kids and adults. Including foods rich in vitamin D and C may remedy this. Vitamin D-rich foods include fatty fish like tuna and salmon, cheese, egg yolks, etc. Vitamin C has anti-inflammatory properties and may reduce spasms in the bronchial passageways. Foods rich in vitamin C include tomatoes, papayas, oranges, gooseberries and green vegetables.

5. Add More Turmeric To Your Diet: Turmeric is a spice with many benefits. But one of the lesser known benefits of the bright yellow root spice is that it may help fight bronchial asthma. A glass of water containing a bit of turmeric and a bit of black pepper is considered as an effective remedy against asthmatic disorders.

6. Keep Dairy Consumption To A Minimum: Dr. Arora says that excessive consumption of dairy products may be avoided, even if a person is not allergic to dairy. This is because dairy may trigger production of mucous, blocking airways.

7. Avoid Sugary And Processed Foods: Foods with excessive sugar or foods that are processed are inflammatory in nature and may encourage allergies and trigger asthma. Consumption of these foods must be completely avoided if you are suffering from asthma or are at risk of developing asthma.

8. Avoid Drinking Chilled Water Too Often: According to Dr. Arora, eating cold food or drinking chilled water can tighten the airways. She further recommends eating smaller meals to keep the pressure off your diaphragm.

Besides these, finding ways to keep your levels of stress and anxiety to a minimum may also go a long in way in your fight against asthma and related disorders. So on World Asthma Day 2018, let us all pledge to make these small dietary adjustments to our diet and also educate our family and friends about the same.