Respiratory System Disorders and Therapy From a New - Louis Bolk ...

Seasonal Influences
The relation between cold and moisture, and increased awareness and inhalation
is, in fall and winter, a nearly daily experience. Everyone knows the sensation
of the (unexpected) contact with something cold — for example, cold water –
leading to a forced intake of breath and, subsequently, the tendency to ‘hold
one’s breath.’ The thorax becomes rigid being overfilled with air: a hyperinflated
chest. The enhanced inhalation occurs simultaneously with greater alertness
and increased awareness of one’s own body. Hypertonic muscles complete the
picture of the asthmatic dynamic of the organism when it comes into sudden
contact with something cold.
Those who still have doubts about the relations of the above-named phenomena
with each other, may think of the opposite experience in which the organism
comes in contact with something warm: warmth helps us to relax, exhale, and
doze off.
Seasonal influences may increase the preexisting dysbalance in asthma patients by
emphasizing the increased muscle tension and end-expiratory volume.
3.1.6. Summary and Conclusion Asthma
Particularly in exacerbations, asthma patients are forced into awareness, tend towards
immobility and rigidity, tighten all their muscles, are anxious, and are limited in their
movements. Verbalizing longer sentences is not possible during a serious attack. The
cramping and held breath are palpably present, the eyes demand complete attention and
are fully aware of everything that is happening. Patients feel cold to the touch. They are
focused on the outside world and have an unremitting, intensified contact with it.
At such a moment, many asthmatics cannot rid themselves of the menacing picture of
suffocation. They are literally ‘threatened with a complete standstill’ and the patient
is intensely aware of that (fig.2.5.). The physician who visits a patient with an acute
exacerbation may also experience this oppressive feeling.