Discovery Of New Atmospheric Compound Tied To Climate Change, Human Health

 
An international research team led by the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Helsinki has discovered a surprising new chemical compound in Earth's atmosphere that reacts with sulfur dioxide to form sulfuric acid, which is known to have significant impacts on climate and health. 

The new compound, a type of carbonyl oxide, is formed from the reaction of ozone with alkenes, which are a family of hydrocarbons with both natural and man-made sources, said Roy "Lee" Mauldin III, a research associate in CU-Boulder's atmospheric and oceanic sciences department and lead study author. The study charts a previously unknown chemical pathway for the formation of sulfuric acid, which can result both in increased acid rain and cloud formation as well as negative respiratory effects on humans. 

"We have discovered a new and important, atmospherically relevant oxidant," said Mauldin. "Sulfuric acid plays an essential role in Earth's atmosphere, from the ecological impacts of acid precipitation to the formation of new aerosol particles, which have significant climatic and health effects. Our findings demonstrate a newly observed connection between the biosphere and atmospheric chemistry." 

A paper on the subject is being published in the Aug. 9 issue of Nature. 

Typically the formation of sulfuric acid in the atmosphere occurs via the reaction between the hydroxyl radical OH -- which consists of a hydrogen atom and an oxygen atom with unpaired electrons that make it highly reactive -- and sulfur dioxide, Mauldin said. The trigger for the reactions to produce sulfuric acid is sunlight, which acts as a "match" to ignite the chemical process, he said. 

But Mauldin and his colleagues had suspicions that there were other processes at work when they began detecting sulfuric acid at night, particularly in forests in Finland -- where much of the research took place -- when the sun wasn't present to catalyze the reaction. "There were a number of instances when we detected sulfuric acid and wondered where it was coming from," he said. 

In the laboratory, Mauldin and his colleagues combined ozone -- which is ubiquitous in the atmosphere -- with sulfur dioxide and various alkenes in a gas-analyzing instrument known as a mass spectrometer hooked up with a “flow tube” used to add gases? "Suddenly we saw huge amounts of sulfuric acid being formed," he said. 

Because the researchers wanted to be sure the hydroxyl radical OH was not reacting with the sulfur dioxide to make sulfuric acid, they added in an OH "scavenger" compound to remove any traces of it. Later, one of the research team members held up freshly broken tree branches to the flow tube, exposing hydrocarbons known as isoprene and alpha-pinene -- types of alkenes commonly found in trees and which are responsible for the fresh pine tree scent. 

"It was such a simple little test," said Mauldin. "But the sulfuric acid levels went through the roof. It was something we knew that nobody had ever seen before." 

Mauldin said the new chemical pathway for sulfuric acid formation is of interest to climate change researchers because the vast majority of sulfur dioxide is produced by fossil fuel combustion at power plants. "With emissions of sulfur dioxide, the precursor of sulfuric acid, expected to rise globally in the future, this new pathway will affect the atmospheric sulfur cycle," he said. 

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than 90 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions are from fossil fuel combustion at power plants and other industrial facilities. Other sulfur sources include volcanoes and even ocean phytoplankton. It has long been known that when sulfur dioxide reacts with OH, it produces sulfuric acid that can form acid rain, shown to be harmful to terrestrial and aquatic life on Earth. 

Airborne sulfuric acid particles -- which form in a wide variety of sizes -- play the main role in the formation of clouds, which can have a cooling effect on the atmosphere, he said. Smaller particles near the planet's surface have been shown to cause respiratory problems in humans. 

Mauldin said the newly discovered oxidant might help explain recent studies that have shown large parts of the southeastern United States might have cooled slightly over the past century. Particulates from sulfuric acid over the forests there may be forming more clouds than normal, cooling the region by reflecting sunlight back to space. 

Asthma Ayurveda Treatment

1.     Dasamoolakatutrayam kasayam 15ml added with 45 ml lukewarm water and   Kasturyadi tab 1  all together to be taken in morning empty stomach.

2.      Vyagryadi  kasayam 15ml added with 45 ml lukewarm water and  Chukkumtippalyadi tab1  all together to be taken in evening 6PM

3.      …Vyoshadi vatakam  5g added with hot water  at noon and night before food

4.      …Vasarishtam+Saptachada rasam   30ml added with Swasanandam tab 1  at noon and night after food.

5.      …Swasajeevanam leham 1 tsp taken at night bed time followed by a cup of boiled water

6.      …Thekaraja tailam  to be applied on the head  

7.      …Karpooradi tailam  to be applied on the chest before hot water bath 

http://www.asthma.org.uk/
http://www.lunguk.org
http://myasthma.com

Modern Management of Asthma

MANAGEMENT :

            The principles of management of asthma are based closely on the guidelines for the management of asthma produced by the British Thoracic Society and also the International Consensus Report on the diagnosis and management of asthma.

Avoidance :

            There are a few instances in which a single agent can be identified as the cause of attacks of asthma. These include allergens such as grass pollens, house dust mites, animal dander, drugs, industrial chemicals such as isocyanates and certain articles of diet. The vast majority of asthmatic patients are hypersensitivity to a wide range of allergens and attempts to avoid them all are impracticable.

            Avoidance of day to day triggers such as exercise and cold air generally imposes inappropriate restrictions on lifestyle, and it may b preferable to adjust treatment to cover exposure to these. Smoking should be discouraged.

Management of chronic persistent asthma

 Occasional short acting B2 adrenoreceptor agonists

Regular inhaled corticosteroids  High dose inhaled corticosteroids  plus regular bronchoplilars  plus regular oral corticosteroids

Symptoms of Asthma

CLINICAL FEATURES :

Episodic Asthma:

            In this form of the disease the patient has no respiratory symptoms between episodes of asthma. Parxyms of wheeze and syspnoea may occur at any time and can be of sudden on set. Attacks may be mild or severe and may lost for hours days or even weeks.

Chronic Asthma :

            During an attack the chest is held near the position of full inspiration and the percussion note may be hypernesonant.

            Breath sounds when not obscured by numerous high pitched poly phonic expiratory and inspiratory ronchi are vesicular in character with prolonged respiration. Severe asthma persisting from childhood may cause a pigeon chest deformity.

ASTHMA

            Bronchial asthma is a common disease affecting 10-20% of the population. In the vast majority of cases the disease is mild and often unrecognized. There is evidence that the prevalence of asthma is increasing the reason for this being unknown. In spite of better understanding of the pathophysiological process involved in this disease, which has led to apparently improved treatment, mortality from asthma has not been influenced and in some countries has increased. It is of two major types-

1)      Early onset asthma

2)      Late onset asthma

Contrasting Features of the two major types of Asthma

Feature	Extrinsic Asthma	Intrinsic Asthma
Age at onset	in childhood	Adult
Personal/family history	commonly present	Absent
Preceding allergic illness	Present	Absent
Allergens	Present	None
Drug Hypersensitivity	None	Present
Serum IgE levels	Elevated	Normal

  

causes

Early onset asthma

            Early onset asthma (atopic) it is common for asthma to have its onset in childhood and generally it occurs in atopic individuals who readily form IgE antibodies to commonly encountered allergens. Asthma is these individuals are after referred to as 'atopic' asthma.

            The allergens responsible for asthma in atopic individuals generally enter the bronchi with inspired air and are derived from organic material such as pollen mite containing house dust, feathers, animal dander and fungal spores. This causes the release, from cells, such as the mast cell, in the bronchial wall of pharmacologically active substances which provoke bronchial construction and an inflammatory reaction of allergic type in the bronchial wall.

            The mast cell does not play such a major role as once thought but eosinophils plays an important role, the asthamatic inflammatory reaction being characterized by a cellular infiltraction rich in activated corinophis. There cells release several mediactors including lipid mediators and oxygen radicals and their granules also contain basic protein including major basic protein rasinophil cationic protein, lasiophil derived neurotoxin and easionphil perovidase. T lymphocytes are present in increased numbers in asthmatic airways and immunological markers suggest that they are activated. They play an important role in orchertraing and perpetuating the chronic asthematic response.

Late onset Asthma :

            Asthma can begin at any age in non atopic individuals and because the majority of these patients are adults this type of asthma is often called late onset asthma.

ASTHMA - An Interview with Dr. Marc Halpern, D.C., C.A.S., P.K.S.

From the Ayurvedic medical viewpoint, asthma does not begin in the lungs but in the digestive system according to Marc Halpern, D.C., C.A.S., P.K.S. Dr. Halpern, a licensed chiropractor and now an expert in Ayurvedic medicine, directs the California College of Ayurveda (instruction) and Ayurveda Healthcare Center (treatment), both in California. Dr. Halpern relates the case of Isabel, 44, who came to him with symptoms of severe asthma.Isabel complained of wheezing, shortness of breath, weight loss, dry cough, sleeping difficulties, dry skin, scanty appetite, and frequent constipation. In consultation with Isabel, Dr. Halpern learned that her asthma was sufficiently serious to require the daily use of an inhaler and the frequent use of cortisone during an asthma attack.Her recent weight loss from 120 to 108 pounds had left her gaunt and even "emaciated," observed Dr. Halpern.

She drank a great deal of coffee and had a rapid, thin pulse. Isabel said food settled in her stomach "like a rock." Coffee, as a stimulant, "makes everything more faster," and is not helpful to a person with a predominating vata condition in which, in effect, there is already too much movement, says Dr. Halpern.Isabel's "emotional landscape" was dominated with fear, worry, anxiety, and a deep-set concern about suffocating; her mind was flighty, "like a bee, moving very fast" unable to focus and settle for long on one topic and constantly waffling and changing direction. These factors, and Isabel's light thin skeletal structure, were classic indicators of a basic constitutional type called vata, one of three types described by Ayurvedic medicine, says Dr. Halpern.
In Ayurvedic medical thinking, the internal "fire" or basic life force is Isabel's system was suppressed, leading to digestive difficulties, and mal-absorption of nutrients. "It's like putting a big log on a campfire with a tiny flame; most likely, the log will not catch fire but only smolder," says Dr. Halpern. From Isabel's digestive system, the imbalance then spread upward to her lungs, he adds."Dry' asthma, as in Isabel's dry cough without mucus, begins in the intestines while 'wet' asthma, with mucus on coughing, starts in the stomach." This is why Dr. Halpern began his treatment program by addressing what foods Isabel put in her stomach.The goal was to use foods to introduce warmth into Isabel's digestive system and to stimulate the digestive fire.
Dr. Halpern put her on a limited diet for five days consisting of 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg mixed with ½ cup of buttermilk (diluted 50% with water), to be taken three times daily. Buttermilk, because it is fermented, provides warmth to the stomach (compared to regular milk, which is a "cold" food and thereby harder to digest), while nutmeg increases nutrient absorption.Dr. Halpern also recommended Basmati rice mixed with cumin, fennel, and ginger; these hot spices would "increase the fire" in Isabel's digestive system and enhance absorption. She ate these foods with a traditional Indian product called ghee, made from clarified butter, to help regulate the digestive forces, or "fire."After the five days, Isabel's digestion was noticeably better, so Dr. Halpern began to gradually increase her food intake by adding selected cooked vegetables, not raw, as well as warm milk mixed with ginger. His approach was to increase Isabel's food consumption in proportion to the improvements in her digestion. "That's the key because if you increase the foods too rapidly, the digestion will be upset."

Dr. Halpern also sought to reduce the overbearing influence of vata in Isabel's system by prescribing foods to "pacify" its effects.Dr. Halpern introduced a series of tonic herbs to increase Isabel's internal strength, including Shatavari, Bala, licorice, and Ashwaghanda. She took these in capsule form three times daily, then gradually increased the dosage to nine capsules daily.Dr. Halpern gave her Triphala, a common Ayurvedic herbal flaxative formula for the colon to normalize bowel movements; she took ¼ teaspoon of Triphala powder three times daily, Hingwastika, another traditional Ayurvedic formula, was also given (1 capsule, 3 times daily) to stimulate digestive function. Here is the goal was to "work more systematically on Isabel's internal energy as it encompasses the function of all her organs and systems," says Dr. Halpern.Only one month after starting Dr. Halpern's program, Isabel reported that her asthma was gone, her breathing capacity had returned to normal, and that she had discontinued the cortisone. Bear in mind that Isabel had suffered from asthma for a full year before Dr. Halpern and that for the final three months she had endured the severest symptoms and used the inhaler every night.

Even so, Dr. Halpern wanted to fine-tune Isabel's recovery from asthma, so he drew upon other facets of Ayurvedic practice.He prescribed special breathing exercises, called pranayama, to help free up her lungs, giver her more control over her breathing, and again, to stimulate her digestion. Dr. Halpern suggested that Isabel apply a small amount of sesame oil into her nasal passages to help normalize the breathing. Isabel started using more of the hot spices (mentioned above) in her foods to reduce the formation of mucus throughout her body and she started having broths made from stewing meat and bones, then draining off the stock.
The intention here was to help Isabel regain her lost weight; in about two weeks, she had put on three pounds.Next, Dr. Halpern added "heavier" foods to her diet,, meaning ones harder to digest, such as almonds and sunflower seeds, and he suggested she eat five small meals every day. During a holiday dinner, Isabel binged on foods outside the strict Ayurvedic prescription, and had a three-day flare-up of her asthma symptoms.Specifically, she ate some vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and cabbage, which for her system at that point, were to taxing to easily digest. Even so, her system was strong enough to require the use of an inhaler only once; after the three days, the asthma symptoms disappeared again.

Dr. Halpern introduced another Ayurvedic specialty preparation called kitcheree to help normalize digestion. Kitcheree, which consists of split mung beans and Basmati rice cooked with spices and ghee, became a mealtime regular for Isabel in the third month of her program. "We also started paying attention to all the habits that surrounded her eating," comments Dr. Halpern.He suggested that she eat slowly in a quiet environment, that she chew her food thoroughly, and generally create a positive atmosphere for eating, adding prayer, grace, or brief meditation, if she wished. "In Ayurveda, we say it's more important how you eat rather than what you eat, that even good food eaten the wrong way will create digestive problems."Isabel broke her diet again, this time with yams, butter, and turkey, and quickly saw how it led to a transient return of the milder of her previous asthmatic symptoms.
To regulate her system again, Dr. Halpern re-instituted the earlier stages in her diet, of, first, nutmeg, buttermilk, kitcheree, and Basmati rice for three days, followed by the nuts as well as the various herbs already prescribed. To strengthen her lungs, Dr. Halpern added an herbal formula in jelly form called chavanprash, made from the amla fruit, mixed with spices and herbs.Four months after starting treatment with Dr. Halpern, Isabel's asthma "had totally subsided, as though it never existed," he reports. After one more month, her weight had climbed from 113 to 117 and she had experienced no further episodes of asthma. Dr. Halpern emphasizes that while the program produced excellent results for Isabel, it was precisely tailored to her temperament and physiology. Not every case of asthma is treated this way.

There are many other asthma treatments for different types of people."Ayurveda is the traditional medicine of India, based on many centuries of empirical use. Its name means " Ayu = (Life) + Veda (Knowledge)", implying that a holistic medicine may be founded on spiritual principals. Ayurveda describes three metabolic, constitutional, and body types (doshas), in association with the basic elements of Nature in combination. These are vata (air and ether, rooted in the large intestine), pitta (fire and water/small intestine), and kapha (water and carth/stomach). Ayurvedic physicians use these categories (which also have psychological aspects) as the basis for prescribing individualized formulas of herbs, diet, massage, breathing, meditation, exercise and yoga postures, and detoxification techniques.