Asthma is a chronic condition that impacts an estimated 262 million people worldwide (2019 statistic 1). It is one of the most common chronic conditions in children.
In the US, an average of 10 people die each day from asthma (2). In Canada 9.5% of the population has asthma. That’s about 1 in every 10 people.
The statistics are staggering!
Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest. Asthma can leave people feeling like they can’t breathe. When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters!
The involvement of histamine in allergic asthma has been understood for a long time, but what about when your asthma isn’t from allergies? Researchers have been trying to identify factors for a long time.
Asthma can be the result of hyper-responsiveness in the airway. Studies suggest that histamine intolerance (3) or mast cell activation (4, 5) can be at the root of lung sensitization and asthma.
Other studies show that markers of mast cell activation may be high in asthma (6, 7), further confirming mast cells' role.
Another component of asthma is epithelial permeability. Tight junctions in the lungs can be dysfunctional, contributing to compromised barrier function in lungs, which may contribute to inflammation and immune activation. (8)
If you are familiar with the concept of leaky gut, then this might seem familiar. We have also discussed compromised barrier function in the skin with eczema. These compromised barrier tissues in the body allow substances to “leak” through tissue that can then trigger mast cell activation. The same thing is happening in the lungs with asthma.
Do you want better control of your asthma? We have made sure to build in both mast cell stabilization and barrier repair into the Histamine Haven protocol. Get started with the Histamine Haven shopping list in order to know which foods will be your allies at this time.
Need more than a grocery list? Ready to start figuring out the histamine piece to the puzzle here for you or someone you care for who is struggling with asthma, including exercise induced asthma?
Join us at our upcoming class The Histamine Connection. It's at no cost to you; we dive in to exploring a bit more what histamine is in the body, what it does, why you need it, but what's going on when it seems to be driving symptoms.
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