Asthma & Stress: Correlation, or No?

Modern medicine knows stress can affect the cardiovascular, immune, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems. It can also create physiological reactions that can lead to a feeling of airway constriction and an inability to breathe. Sounds like asthma, right? If stress alone causes the feeling of not being able to breathe, just imagine adding asthma to the mix. Many immunologists and researchers now say there is a clear connection between stress and asthma. Stress may cause your asthma symptoms to worsen and cause you to feel frightened, making the problems escalate even further. So how should the problem be taken care of? Below is a list of possible solutions to help the problem:

• Breathing techniques: Breathing exercises can help to calm the body down, increase oxygen flow to the brain and releases tension in muscles.
• Identifying the cause of stress: Many times, people don't want to think about what might be causing them stress because they don't want to focus on it. However, if you can identify the underlying cause of stress then find ways to cope with it, it makes the problem a lot easier to overcome. It also can help prevent the worsening of asthma symptoms due to stress.
• Exercise: Exercising relieves stress and produces endorphines. It also keeps your body healthy, which can affect your asthma and respiratory system in a positive way.
• Get enough sleep: This one is a no-brainer. A good night's sleep can totally change the mood of the whole day and also helps your body fight the anxiety. In general, your whole body functions better with sufficient sleep.

When you have an asthma attack, it should subside within 5-10 minutes. If it doesn't stop, or gets worse in 15 minutes, get medical help. When the condition is managed well, and stressors are limited, you don't have to live in fear that you can't do the things you want to do.