People with asthma have extra sensitive or hyper-responsive airways. The airways react by narrowing or obstructing when they become irritated, making it difficult for the air to move in and out. Asthma is a chronic lung condition characterized by difficulty in breathing, wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, a feeling of tightness in the chest and often tremendous anxiety about being unable to breathe.

There are many old fashioned home remedies that help asthmatics breathe easier. You need look no further than the kitchen. Garlic and onions have long been used to treat bronchitis, allergies and asthma. The ingredients responsible include mustard oils and quercetin. Onions can be added to teas, or applied in a poultice.¹ The caffine in coffee and tea is a chemical cousin to the asthma drug theophylline. Researchers have found that a caffeine dose of 7 milligrams per 2.2 pounds of body weight can significantly improve lung function of people with asthma.¹Rosemary, a common culinary herb, has been used traditionally to ease asthma. Rosemary's essential oils can block the airway constriction induced by histamine, the chemical culprit of both asthma and allergies.

Steam inhalations are one of the home herbalists best tools for difficult breathing. Eucalyptus opens the lungs and encourages breathing by increasing oxygen in the cells, and is a very good addition to any steam or vaporisor treatments.

Native Americans smoked the leaves of lobelia, known to colonists as Indian Tobacco, to ease asthma. According to M. Grieve,³ smoking a mixture of herbs known as "British Herb Tobacco" relieves asthma, catarrh and the difficult breathing of old bronchitis. Coltsfoot is the main herb in this mixture. Nettle is anti-asthmatic, the juice of the roots or leaves, mixed with honey or sugar will relieve bronchial and asthmatic troubles, and the dried leaves, burnt and inhaled will have the same effect.