Is it okay to take Chinese medicine for bronchial asthma?

Written by Wang Xiang Yu

Pulmonology

Updated on September 16, 2024

00:00

00:00

Bronchial asthma can be treated with traditional Chinese medicine, but it is definitely not feasible to treat bronchial asthma only with Chinese medicine without Western medicine. Modern medicine still primarily uses Western medicine, which is the mainstream. Traditional Chinese medicine serves as an auxiliary treatment. Bronchial asthma is a recurrent disease that needs standardized treatment to be controlled. Currently, many unscrupulous businesses are exploiting the banner of traditional Chinese medicine or some ancestral secret formulas to provide non-standard treatments to patients with bronchial asthma, which may contain corticosteroids. Long-term oral intake of their herbal medicines might control bronchial asthma in the short term, but such long-term treatments are definitely non-standard and will lead to future difficulties in controlling the asthma. Therefore, patients with bronchial asthma must receive standardized Western medical treatment and can use traditional Chinese medicine as an auxiliary treatment, but it must be provided by a formal hospital.

Other Voices

home-news-image

Written by Yuan Qing

Pulmonology

1min 2sec

home-news-image

Is oxygen inhalation useful for bronchial asthma?

Administering appropriate oxygen therapy can have certain benefits for patients with bronchial asthma. The onset of bronchial asthma is mainly due to the edema of the bronchial mucosa and the constriction of the smooth muscles outside the bronchi leading to the narrowing of the lumen. This makes it difficult for gases to pass normally through the airway into the alveoli. Patients may experience symptoms such as coughing, chest congestion, breathlessness, or wheezing, which are primarily due to the pathophysiology of bronchial asthma. Of course, providing patients with appropriate oxygen therapy during an asthma attack can be beneficial, temporarily solving the problem of hypoxia. However, it is important to understand that asthma patients are not primarily suffering from a lack of oxygen but from ventilation dysfunction, which leads to the inability to expel carbon dioxide, the waste gas, from the body. Therefore, the fundamental treatment should focus on improving airway spasms and narrowing to enhance ventilation.

home-news-image

Written by Wei Shi Liang

Intensive Care Unit

55sec

home-news-image

Prevention and Treatment of Bronchial Asthma

The prevention and treatment of bronchial asthma mainly involve the following aspects: First, eliminating the causes and triggers of the disease; second, preventing diseases and pests such as allergic rhinitis and gastroesophageal reflux disease; third, immunomodulation; fourth, routinely checking if inhaled medications are used correctly; fifth, education and management of asthma patients, mainly allowing them through long-term, appropriate, and sufficient treatment to fully and effectively control asthma attacks. Additionally, understanding individual differences in asthma triggers to avoid occurrences, learning patient self-monitoring of disease progression, mastering the use of inhalers and peak flow meters, and educating patients on simple self-help methods are essential. It's important for patients and doctors to jointly develop a plan to prevent asthma attacks and maintain long-term stability. These are the basic elements of the prevention and treatment of bronchial asthma.

home-news-image

Written by Wang Li Bing

Intensive Care Medicine Department

38sec

home-news-image

What causes bronchial asthma?

Bronchial asthma is very common in clinical settings, mainly characterized by a reversible airflow limitation that can cause recurrent attacks of wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath in patients. These attacks generally occur at night or in the early morning and can gradually ease after treatment. Bronchial asthma is mainly related to several factors, the first being environmental factors. Exposure to pollen and animal dander can trigger asthma attacks. Additionally, infections, diet, and medications are among the various factors that can provoke asthma attacks.

home-news-image

Written by An Yong Peng

Pulmonology

48sec

home-news-image

Does bronchial asthma have wheezing sounds?

During an acute attack of bronchial asthma, patients often have wheezing sounds in their lungs, but it's important to note that some patients may not exhibit wheezing, such as those with chest tightness or cough variant asthma, who only show symptoms of chest tightness and typically do not have wheezing on auscultation. However, administering inhaled corticosteroids and bronchodilators can relieve their condition. Additionally, during a severe acute attack of bronchial asthma, severe airway spasms can occur, leading to a situation where the patient might not have any wheezing sounds, a condition referred to as "silent lung." In such cases, patients often experience difficulty breathing or even respiratory distress, which is usually quite serious and requires active intervention.

home-news-image

Written by Feng Ying Shuai

Traditional Chinese Medicine

56sec

home-news-image

Bronchial Asthma Massage Method

In clinical situations of acute exacerbations of bronchial asthma, or even normally, we can alleviate clinical symptoms through certain massage techniques. These methods mainly involve massaging specific acupoints to relieve asthma attacks and reduce their frequency. We can massage points along the lung meridian, such as Chize, Taiyuan, and Kongzui. Additionally, we can massage an extra-meridian acupoint called Dingchuan, as well as Lung Shu, Zhongfu, Tiantu, and Danzhong. Beyond these basic points, we also need to select acupoints based on the patient's condition. For example, if the patient's bronchial asthma is caused by exposure to cold wind, we can massage Fengmen. If the patient has excessive heat phlegm causing asthma, we can add Quze and Taibai to clear heat and transform phlegm.