Other Upper Respiratory Problems

3. Other Upper Respiratory Problems

Some other upper respiratory ailments are hay fever, sinusitis, postnasal drip, deviated septum, nasal polyps.

Hay fever is not caused by hay and there is no fever. The nasal portion of the respiratory tract is affected, causing the itching, watering, inflamed eyes; nasal obstructions; runny nose; or paroxysms of sneezing. It is usually triggered by pollens from trees, grasses or weeds, or exposure to molds, dust, fur, feathers, animal dander, or orris root, the base of most cosmetics.

The use of nasal sprays for hay fever or colds is a dangerous habit. It produces a rebound nasal congestion, a vicious cycle that is worse than the original problem.

A contributor to Joe Graedon’s column made an excellent suggestion for a way to break the habit. She said that the doctor had told her to quit “cold turkey,” but she couldn’t sleep because she couldn’t breathe at night. Instead, she used the spray on only one nostril. After several days, the untreated nostril unclogged. She then repeated the procedure in the other nostril. She said that breaking the nose spray habit was even harder than quitting smoking.

Sometimes hay fever progresses to a more serious condition called asthma. Asthma is not essentially different, except that the bronchial tubes are affected, resulting in labored breathing, wheezing and coughing, slow respiration, sweating, blueness of skin (cyanosis) and coldness of extremities.

When one or more of the four pairs of air-filled cavities in the skull become affected, the condition is called sinusitis.

Nasal polyps are soft, pendulous outgrowths from lining membranes of the nose. If they are of sufficient size to cause obstructive symptoms, a prolonged fast will sometimes reduce or eliminate them. Sometimes, surgery is necessary.

Sinus headaches and postnasal drip will usually be relieved by short periods of fasting.

Hay fever, asthma, sinusitis and polyps are often associated with so-called allergies. Chronic sinus inflammation can result in the formation of polyps.

Lesson No. 71 will go into detail about allergies, hay fever, asthma, emphysema and other chronic conditions involving the respiratory tract, the bronchial tubes and the lungs.

Actually, the primary causes of all these problems are the same as the causes of all other pathologies—the faulty living habits that lead to toxemia and disease.