Asthma is a chronic disease affecting the respiratory system. During an asthma attack, airways, which bring oxygen to and out of the lungs, tend to get narrower and hence decrease the flow of air coming to the lungs. The airways are also inflamed and lined up with mucus. Those symptoms can occur several times a day or week, or a lot less often. The gravity of the attacks also differs.

Various triggers may cause asthma attacks and the breathlessness that is corollary. Asthma may also cause loss of consciousness and chest pain. It is a very serious disease and can at times prove to be deadly: while asthma affects 300 million people around the world, asthma attacks are responsible for the death of an estimated 250,000 folks every year.

People with asthma also have to go through its side effects in their everyday life. Insomnia is a common experience that may cause daytime fatigue, and may affect one's personal and professional life. The World Health Organization even recognizes the fact that "reduced activity levels" and "school and work absenteeism" are usual side effects of asthma. Sports will usually be harder for people who suffer from asthma, which can for instance be a social isolation factor for children.

Although asthma cannot be definitely cured, doctors have found several ways to relieve and prevent the symptoms, making it possible for everybody that has asthma to exercise, stay in shape and lead a normal life. With the appropriate treatments, there are no reasons why anybody with asthma should not be able to enjoy an active life.

Different factors are able to trigger an asthma attack. Some can be very basic things like the humidity and temperature of the air. However, the most usual ones are natural indoor and outdoor allergens, such as pollen, spores, house dust mites or cockroaches as well as pollution from cars, tobacco smoke or chemical compounds, like the ones found in perfumes and perfumed products. Medications like aspirin or penicillin as well as some foods, like peanuts or milk, in the case of food allergies, are also able to trigger asthma. Asthma attack may also occur after exercising.

Your psychological state can also be an important factor in triggering an asthmatic attack. Emotional stress, anxiety and tension are all able to trigger it. Many people experiencing an asthmatic attack also make their condition worse by falling prey to state of panic, a totally normal response to the scary experience they must live through.

To better control asthmatic attacks, all of these triggers should be avoided as much as possible. Allergies also play an important role in the triggering of asthma attacks and allergy treatment may be taken in order to prevent them. There are however several sorts of asthma treatment. In the short-term, asthma attack treatment will provide relief in case of an asthmatic attack. Asthma attack treatment will quickly provide asthma relief, however individuals having mild or severe asthma must use a long-term asthma treatment.

There are several kinds of bronchial asthma treatment available out there, however they will not all work out for you. Bronchial asthma treatment and allergy treatment also have a lot of side effects when taken regularly and for an extended period of time, particularly drugs containing corticosteroids or Beta2-adrenergic receptor agonists, with the latter having cardiac side effects and increasing the risk of respiratory death. These problems may explain why roughly fifty percent of the people with asthma use some sort of alternative treatment, such as natural asthma treatment.

Even though little evidence shows the effectiveness of therapies such as air ionizers or chiropractic, other sorts of natural asthma treatments such as homeopathy, yoga practices and hypnosis have shown notable results as asthma treatment. Hypnosis, just like yoga or meditation, but in a much easier and faster fashion, provides asthma relief because it is able to help control the emotional aspect of asthma thanks to relaxation. Thanks to hypnosis you will become a lot more relaxed, which will help prevent asthmatic attacks. It will also make you able to better control the panic and fear during an attack, hence significantly reducing the symptoms. Most asthmatics are aware when an attack is imminent, and specific hypnotheraputic techniques exist which enable the asthmatic person to put a stop to an impending attack.

Asthma is a serious respiratory disease, which can be very disabling and at times even deadly. Drugs will help you with the physical symptoms and may provide prompt relief in case of an attack. However those drugs present a lot of undesirable side effects, particularly when taken too often. Hypnotherapy and NLP can diminish your need for medication. It is also an effective asthma treatment and asthma attack treatment and may help you prevent the occurrences of asthmatic symptoms.

Alan B. Densky is an NLP Practitioner who is also certified by the NGH. In practice since 1978, he has created effective NLP Asthma Treatment CD's. His Neuro-VISION NLP site features free MP3 downloads, an exceptional hypnosis article library, and a free video hypnosis blog.