In spite of worldwide research, the exact cause of asthma is not known to modern medicine.



It is consi¬dered to be caused by certain substances which taken together are called allergens. These allergens range at times from fine dust particles, pollen, to tiny fragments of fur which float in the air and which fall off moulting animals and birds. Asthma patients are often very sen¬sitive to irritating fumes such as cigarette smoke or the smell of lime which is often used for white-washing walls. Some patients are also allergic to medicines such as penicillin, aspirin and some preservatives used in tinned food and drinks.

How allergy causes asthma?

Allergy is a kind of reaction of the body to external substances which mayor may not be otherwise harmful. A healthy body is guarded against the invasion of germs by certain special cells which are collectively called the immune system. As a reaction to any foreign body, an antibody is produced inside the individual which enve¬lops and destroys the former. Sometimes this immune System over reacts to some apparently harmless sub¬stances such as pollen, pieces of hair, dust particles and even perfume. The allergy is considered to be a cause of bronchial asthma and bronchitis in modern medicine.

The ayurvedic concept

The allergic substances which are primarily responsible for the causation of asthma are floating in the air but not all persons who inhale these substances suffer from asthma. It is only a few amongst them who are the sufferers. Why this selectivity then? Why is it that only a few people in a given community suffer from bronchial asthma when all are equally exposed to the _same type of air, food ingredients and other regimens? According to ayurverda, an individual's body is com¬posed of seven categories of tissue elements and the functions of the entire body are regulated by three factors called vdyu, pitta and kapha. These three factors taken together are called tri do as or simply dosas. In a healthy person all three should be in a \state of equili¬brium. During different parts of the day and night, during different ages, during different / stages of the digestive process and in different seasons, these three do_as' undergo some change; but such changes should be within limits. If confined to these limits, the body has the power to bring them back to their normal state of functioning. It is only when they exceed that limit because of various reasons such as wrong diet, regimens, medicines and psychic factors, that diseases are caused.

In order to transport nourishment from the intestines to the tissues and the excretion of waste products from these tissues to different exterior openings such as the rectum, the urinary bladder and sweat glands, there are millions of channels. These channels are called srotas. A disease may be manifested in a particular organ of the' body but it is not necessary for it to originate from the same organ.

Ayurveda distinctively conceives of three different parts of this pathogenic process namely (i) the site of origin, (ii) the channel of circulation, and (iii) the site of manifestation of the disease. In the case of bronchial asthma, the site of origin is the stomach and the intes¬tines. The root cause of the disease is basically located there. The pathogenic substances for the manifestation of the diseases originate from these places. How do these pathogenic substances travel from the site of origin to the site of manifestation? They are carried, according to ayurveda, through a group of channels called rasavaha srotas. Why do these channels carry these pathogenic substances to the lungs and not to any other part of the body? It is the weakest point in the body which has an affinity to the type of morbidity already created in the stomach that is affected by this process. If the tissues of the lungs, musculature of the bronchial tube and the mucous membrane lining these tubes are weak, then, they get affected.

Thus, according to ayurveda, the site of origin of bronchial asthma is the stomach and the intestines. The channels of circulation of the waste products of the body are rasavaha srotas, that is, channels carrying plasma, and the site of manifestation of the disease are the lungs. It is only because of wrong diet. mental strain and unusual climatic conditions that these three factors are affected and the person suffers from bronchial asthma.
According to ayurveda, allergy is not the primary cause of the disease: the primary causes are wrong food habits, mental strain and bad weather. Allergic factors are only secondary causes which precipitate the disease.

Concept of AMA

When we eat, the food is acted upon by different diges¬tive enzymes and reduced to simpler particles. The end product of digestion is then absorbed into the body and different enzymes located in the liver play their role to enable them to be assimilated by the tissues. At the level .of the tissues, there are also enzymes which reduce the foreign particles and make them identical with the cons¬tituents of the tissues. Thus, the end product of the food is assimilated and it forms a part of the tissues. All these enzymes in the gastro-intestinal tract, in the liver and at the level of the tissues taken together are called agnis in ayurvedic parlance. If there is any dis¬turbance in these agnis, then the digestive and metabolic processes do not take place properly and a lot of the end product of food remains in the intestines, in the liver and in the blood stream. Similarly, during the process of digestion in the gastro-intestinal tract, some of these waste products of food come out which need to be thrown out. In the same way, during the normal process of metabolism, several waste products are produced and these are also to be thrown out through stools, urine, sweat and so on. All these waste products of proper and improper digestion and metabolism both at the gastro¬intestinal level, at the level of the liver and at the tissue level are called lima. This lima circulates in the blood and is transported through channels to the lungs where it causes obstruction of the bronchial tubes and the circulation of blood at the level of the alveoli to ¬cause spasms or contraction as a result of which asthma is caused.