Citrus Oils May Hold Key For Treatment of Asthma

With reference to the "Basic Herbs Directory", Citrus skin is dried & use as the herb for regulating the "Chi".

Whereas, Asthma is due to the illness of the Lung & Nasal system. In the healing drinks, there is not only using a single herb like Citrus skin or Almond.. each herb used is always mix with at least 3 herbs, the quantity of each is highly dependent on the individual health condition.

Therefore, please beware of what is offered, check the specifications & data before you buy & drink.

Citrus Oils May Hold Key For Treatment of Asthma
December 10, 2004 Kevin Hattori

A key to preventing asthma might be found in a lemon, a rose or a pine tree. According to a study at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, inhalation of limonene, the main component found in the essential oil of citrus, prevented asthma symptoms in animals. The findings are published in this week’s Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry.

Inspired by previous findings that show the incidence of asthma to be five times higher in urban areas than in rural and agricultural ones, lead researcher Professor Ehud Keinan studied the connection between ozone and asthma and other lung disorders. He believes this higher incidence of asthma is due in large part to the absence of natural "ozone scavengers" produced by plants.

"Ozone in the outer atmosphere is essential for life on earth because it absorbs the destructive ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun," he explained. "But on earth, it is a dangerous component of air pollution. Numerous studies have shown exposure to ozone, even at low levels, induces airway inflammation and lung injury in humans and animals."

Keinan’s team also found that ozone is produced in inflammatory tissues by antibodies as a defense against asthma. The presence of this ozone activates more antibodies, perpetuating a vicious cycle.

The research team says that "ozone-scavengers" – substances that devour ozone – could be used for preventing asthma. The inhalation of water-repellent ozone scavengers that accumulate in lung membranes could break the cycle of inflammation. Organic compounds called monoterpenes -- produced by all plants -- are ideal sources of such substances.

Limonene, an unsaturated monoterpene and the main component in the essential oil of citrus, functions extremely well as an ozone scavenger. Other ozone scavenging monoterpenes studied by the team came from roses, pine trees and citronella, but limonene was the most effective. Saturated monoterpenes, however -- such as those found in eucalyptol -- were found to have no ozone scavenging properties.

The experiments involved exposing rats with induced asthma-like symptoms to either limonene or eucalyptol for a couple of days. The lung function of the rats showed that limonene inhalation prevented the asthmatic symptoms. The anti-inflammatory effect of limonene was also supported by pathological evidence.

According to the American Lung Association Epidemiology & Statistics Unit Research and Scientific Affairs, more than 20 million Americans (6.1 million of them children) suffered from asthma in 2002. Read More....
Citrus Oils May Hold Key For Treatment of Asthma