Respiratory System Illnesses and Diseases

Respiratory System Illnesses

The respiratory system delivers oxygen to the lungs and is carried via the bloodstream to other vital organs throughout the body. Every cell in your body requires oxygen to function and stay healthy. Millions of people suffer from chronic lung conditions, making it difficult to breathe impairing their health. Several disorders affecting the lungs include asthma, COPD, influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and lung cancer.

The third-largest killer in the US today is COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. With so many affected, an enormous impact on the healthcare system leaves the burden of responsibility with the sufferer to seek self-care. Aromatherapy can offer profound help to suffers from upper respiratory conditions. Assisting clients in finding a natural remedy that will support their immune system from coughs, colds, and sore throats will become important for your business for everyday customers.

Let’s start with some of the main conditions you may be already familiar with or will be asked about.

Asthma

Asthma is a chronic illness that causes the airways responsible for carrying oxygen to the lungs to become inflamed and swollen, which can be painful. This swelling narrows the route for air to get through, causing breathing to can become laborious. With asthma, the person has difficulty breathing with wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness. This can be problematic upon rising in the morning and during the evening. While these symptoms themselves are not necessarily indicators of asthma – they might for instance denote a chest infection or perhaps even hay fever. The doctor will diagnose using lung function tests.

Often, asthma is linked to allergies. Someone who suffers from asthma may be very sensitive to other things. Atopic Disease is when the individual with asthma also suffers from eczema and hay fever.

When your asthma symptoms become worse than usual, it’s called an asthma attack. Severe asthma attacks may require emergency care, and they can be fatal. Symptoms of asthma include:

• Wheezing
• Coughing, especially in the morning and at night
• Tightness in the chest
• Shortness of breath

Influenza

Influenza, or commonly referred to as the “flu” is a respiratory infection caused by a virus. Viruses are spread through the air and enter the body through your nose or mouth. Often, coughs and colds will be mislabeled as this illness. However, symptoms of the flu are much worse and come on suddenly. Symptoms may include, body aches and pains, chills, fever, headache, and/or a sore throat. Flu is sometimes confused with gastroenteritis or the “stomach bug” which symptoms include an upset stomach. Influenza, however, rarely involves digestive complaints. Influenza can be very serious for individuals whose immune system is compromised, such as the elderly or young children.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

The third-largest killer in the US today is COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease which encompasses chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Both conditions make it difficult to breathe.

Bronchitis

Bronchitis has two strains: acute and chronic. It is helpful to understand the differences between chronic and acute diseases. Acute is sudden and changing, chronic is long and lingering. Bronchitis is when the bronchus tubes that carry air to the lungs become infected and inflamed, forming mucus. The sufferer will feel the urge to cough, bringing up mucus. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, wheezing, fever, and tightness in the chest. With acute bronchitis, most people get better within a few days, but your cough may last several weeks after the infection is gone. The same viruses that cause colds and flu often cause bronchitis. It is not unlikely that you have suffered from bronchitis at some stage of your life. Typically, this type of respiratory infection will clear up with antibiotics. A diagnosis of Chronic Bronchitis is given if there have been three or more prolonged instances of the illness that have not cleared with antibiotics.

Emphysema

Emphysema is a progressive pulmonary disease resulting from the air sacs inside the lungs losing their elasticity as a result of losing the respiratory membrane for oxygen exchange. As the membranes of the sacs deteriorate, rather than having many pockets of oxygen there is one big “room” causing the lung capacity to become weaker. The main cause of emphysema is cigarette smoke. Other factors that contribute to the disease include mold, chemical pollution, and stress.

The prognosis for an emphysema sufferer is very poor. Their ability to move and perform everyday duties becomes impaired to non-existent. After some time, they will require an oxygen cylinder to help them breathe. A massage is a great help to these sufferers since their back, ribs, chest, and neck become tight and inflamed from the jerking movement of their cough.

For sufferers of COPD life is a dark and dreary place. Consider the physiological effects of a cough. It pulls repeatedly on the diaphragm which shares fascia with the pelvis. The repeated pressure means that after a time the sufferer will most likely suffer stress incontinence. Playing with their children climbing the stairs and rigorous activities become a thing of the past. There is high comorbidity shared with depression here.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an infection that affects one or both lungs. There are many causes for this illness from germs such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or by inhaling a chemical. The range of severity of pneumonia is vast from very mild to fatal. Indicators that pneumonia may be present include a high fever, chills, a cough that produces phlegm and worsens chest pain, and flu-like symptoms. Everyday activities become very difficult with shortness of breath and often there is extreme pain in the chest when you cough. People most at risk for this illness are individuals 65 or older and young children with other health problems.

There has been extensive research regarding the use of essential oils for pneumonia, however preventing pneumonia is always better than treating it. Treatment by the aromatherapist will depend on what strain it is. Are we treating a virus or a bacterium for instance? It will require a doctor to perform a sputum test to know accurately. Clearly, an oil that is anti-viral, anti-fungal, and bactericidal such as clove or tea tree for instance will be of great help because they cover all three bases. Sweet basil, rose and chamomile is ant-tussive and will help calm the coughing. It will be necessary for a doctor to prescribe antibiotics if bacteria are the cause, and an antiviral medicine if the infection is caused by a virus.

Pleurisy

Pleurisy is a condition in which the pleura is inflamed. The pleura consists of two large, thin layers of tissue. One layer wraps around the outside of your lungs. The other layer lines the inside of your chest cavity.

Pleurisy occurs when the layers of tissue called the pleural space become inflamed. The pleura comprises two large layers of tissue, one wrap around the outside of the lung, and the other lines the inside of your chest cavity. Normally, this space is filled with fluid that helps the membranes glide easily over each other when you breathe in and out. This rubbing can cause sharp pain. Many conditions can cause this condition, including viral infections and it can last years.

Pulmonary Embolism

Pulmonary embolism is a blockage such as a blood clot in a lung artery. Although it falls under the respiratory, it is in close relationship with the circulation because the cause is usually a blood clot in the leg called a deep vein thrombosis that breaks loose and travels to the lung via the bloodstream. Fifty-percent of the people with pulmonary embolism has no symptoms. Others may suffer shortness of breath, chest pain, or coughing up blood. Clots in legs may cause swelling, pain, tenderness, or redness. Treatment may include breaking up clots and to prevent other clots from forming.

As an aromatherapist, you may get asked about this condition since coverage on medical insurances is hit and miss. Orthodox medicine treats with blood-thinning drugs such as warfarin and heparin. Oils such as grapefruit and Holy Basil will do the same job.

Pulmonary embolism is a very serious condition causing permanent damage to the lung and/or damage to other organs in the body due to a lack of oxygen. In some cases, it may cause death.

Interstitial Lung Disease 

Interstitial lung disease is a name that covers a large group of diseases caused by inflammation and scarring to the lungs making it difficult to get enough oxygen. Things that may cause these types of diseases to include:

• Black lung disease among coal miners, from inhaling coal dust
• Farmer’s lung, from inhaling farm dust
• Asbestosis, from inhaling asbestos fibers
• Siderosis, from inhaling iron from mines or welding fumes
• Silicosis, from inhaling silica dust
• Occupational exposures to molds, gases, or fumes.

Some types of interstitial lung disease have no known cause and may be related to autoimmune diseases. Treatment will depend on the type of exposure and at what stage the disease is in.

Tuberculosis (TB)

Tuberculosis is an airborne illness caused by bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis which attacks the lungs. TB is spread when a person infected with tuberculosis coughs, sneezes, or talks. Symptoms of TB in the lungs include a bad cough lasting several weeks, weight loss, coughing up blood or mucus, fatigue, fever and loss of appetite. A doctor or clinic will perform a skin test and x-rays to determine if a person is infected. If a person tests positive, it will be necessary for them to take several medications over a long period of time. This is a serious bacterial infection and any essential oils administered should only be offered alongside orthodox treatment from the doctor. TB can be fatal if left untreated.

Cystic Fibrosis

This is an inherited disease where the lungs and digestive system are affected by the mucous production in the body. Traditionally, the families of the sufferer are taught complex massage techniques (Mainly using petrissage to break down the mucous), with essential oils to add to the success of the treatment when flare-ups occur. Hygiene is of paramount importance to these sufferers because the very thought of a chest infection can cause them to become chronically ill.

Epistaxis

Epistaxis is a fancy term for “nosebleed.”

Atelectasis

Atelectasis is the clinical term for a collapsed lung.

Lung Cancer

Sadly, lung cancer is one of the most common cancers on the planet and is the leading cause of cancer death among US citizens. Most lung cancer cases result from cigarette smoking. Symptoms of lung cancer include a persistent cough that worsens over time, chest pain, coughing up blood, shortness of breath, wheezing, related lung conditions such as bronchitis or pneumonia, swelling in the face and neck, loss of appetite or weight loss, and fatigue. Treatment will vary according to a person’s age, type of cancer, stage, and how advanced it is. Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and targeted therapy which includes substances that attack cancer cells without harming normal cells.

There has been a flurry of information on the internet concerning the usage of frankincense for lung cancer and other cancers. Recent clinical trials have found that sacred frankincense (Boswellia sacra) can kill cancer cells, most particularly breast, prostate, and brain tumor cells. The active constituent responsible for this is Boswellic acid. Sadly, this constituent does not pass through the process of distillation into the essential oil and so steam-distilled frankincense oil will NOT help alleviate cancer, lung, or otherwise. Research is still being performed to find out what happens to this constituent when distilling. It is believed it may be water-soluble and exist in aromatic waters and hydrosols but this is still unclear. No doubt, you will have people asking you about frankincense for cancer. Often these people see essential oils as the last hope of salvation for a loved one. In this case, you may want to help with secondary symptoms to support the immune system and body as a whole.

Bibliography

Ashley, E. (2015). The Aromatherapy Bronchitis Treatment (The Secret Healer). Build Your Own Reality.

Wanzhou Zhao, P.,. (2002, 11). Boswellic acid acetate induces differentiation and apoptosis in highly metastatic melanoma and fibrosarcoma cells. Retrieved from Science Direct: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361090X02001708

WEBMD. (2015, 28 10). Lung Diseases Overview. Retrieved from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/lung/lung-diseases-overview

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