Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways that affects 15 million persons in the United States. An estimated 5 million children have asthma, which makes it the most common chronic disease of childhood. Some 60 percent of people who use steroids long term for asthma and other diseases will develop a mood disorder, such as depression or manic depression. Obesity is a known risk factor for type II diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer. Evidence is now mounting that obesity is also a risk factor for asthma. Smoking during pregnancy is known to raise a child's future asthma risk.
   Intermittent periods of worsening airway inflammation, indicated by exacerbations in asthma, lead to faster lung function decline.

Natural therapies for asthma management
Avoid or reduce exposure to allergens listed above
Eat more cold water fish with high content of Fish-Oil-Wild. Eating oily fish like salmon or mackerel regularly may reduce the risk of asthma symptoms, according to new British research.
Have hot soup and tea -- warm liquids lessen severity
Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Have a wide variety of produce, preferably organic.
Reduce hydrogenated and trans fats
Reduce omega-6 oils such as corn, safflower, and sunflower
Fish oil supplements may help reduce the severity of exercise-induced asthma. Eating oily fish such as salmon or trout during pregnancy appears to help protect babies predisposed to asthma from developing the condition during their first years of life.
Forskolin supplements could be helpful. See Forskolin supplement information here.
Boswellia is an Ayurvedic herb that has been found to be helpful in asthma. You can find Boswellia here.
There is no added benefit with peak flow monitoring for asthma management
Reduce your sugar intake, for a natural sugar alternative, consider stevia.
Reduce weight - Excess pounds increases the likelihood of being hospitalized for a severe asthma attack. Diet Rx works well for appetite suppression.

Fish oils, omega-3 fatty acids, and asthma
Fish oil intake compared with olive oil intake in late pregnancy and asthma in the offspring: 16 y of registry-based follow-up from a randomized controlled trial.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 July. Olsen SF, Østerdal ML, Salvig JD, Mortensen LM, Rytter D, Secher NJ, Henriksen TB. Maternal Nutrition Group, Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Our aim was to examine whether increasing maternal intake of omega-3 PUFAs in pregnancy may affect offspring risk of asthma. In 1990, a population-based sample of 533 women with normal pregnancies were randomly assigned 2:1:1 to receive four 1-g gelatin capsules/d with fish oil providing 2.7 g omega-3 PUFAs (n = 266); four 1-g, similar-looking capsules/d with olive oil (n = 136); or no oil capsules (n = 131). Women were recruited and randomly assigned around gestation week 30 and asked to take capsules until delivery. During the 16 y that passed since childbirth, 19 children from the fish oil and olive oil groups had received an asthma-related diagnosis; 10 had received the diagnosis allergic asthma. The hazard rate of asthma was reduced by 63%, whereas the hazard rate of allergic asthma was reduced by 87% in the fish oil compared with the olive oil group. Under the assumption that intake of olive oil in the dose provided here was inert, our results support that increasing omega-3 PUFAs in late pregnancy may carry an important prophylactic potential in relation to offspring asthma.

Asthma triggers include
Additives to alcoholic beverages or foods — metabisulfites, MSG, tartazine (yellow dye #5), yeast, sulfite additives in wine.
Allergens from animal dander, cockroaches, dust mites or mold spores, pollen (trees, grass, weeds), indoor and outdoor pollutants. Children who are sensitive to cats appear to have an increased risk of developing asthma or hay fever as young adults.
Cleaning agents have many chemicals that could cause lung tissue damage. These cleaning fluids used in hospitals may present a health hazard to staff, and potentially patients. People who work as cleaners have higher-than-normal rates of asthma, asthma-like symptoms such as wheezing, and skin problems such as hand eczema.
Foods such as eggs, milk, nuts, soy, wheat and peanut. Toddlers who consume large amounts of margarine and foods fried in vegetable oil may be twice as likely to develop asthma as their peers who eat less of these foods.
Changes in humidity or barometric pressure.
Diseases such as GERD, sinusitis, rhinitis, viral infections, hyperthyroidism.
Drugs-- aspirin, NSAIDs, beta blockers, sulfites, estrogen.
Irritants -- tobacco smoke, wood-burning, perfumes, cleaning agents, carbon dioxide, pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone. Children who live near a busy road may be at increased risk of wheezing, a symptom of asthma. Exposure to air pollutants may increase the risk of death among people with severe asthma. Almost 100 million people in 21 U.S. states breathe unhealthy levels of tiny particles spewed by coal-burning power plants, cars and factories.
   The closer people with asthma live to roadways with heavy traffic, the lower their lung function.
Physical triggers--exercise, hyperventilation, cold air.
Physiological factors - stress, psychological factors. Stress of finals may worsen the symptoms of asthma.
Infant swimming lessons in an indoor pool may have the unintended effect of raising some children's risk of asthma later on

Environmental control measures include removing carpets from the patient’s bedroom and living areas, weekly washing of bedding and clothing in hot water, specially designed mattress and pillow covers, removing stuffed animals, keeping pets outdoors. Quilts made of synthetic fibers like polyester might trigger wheezing in some children with asthma.