Asthma affects an astonishing 17 million Americans totaling approximately 6.4 percent of the population. With statistics like this it would seem that there must be a reason for it! Most theories for the asthma-causing culprit point to rising levels of air pollutants while others faults the lack of exercise and increased levels of obesity within our populations. Another theory for such high rates of asthma blames increased sanitary conditions which results in fewer exposures to disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

Regardless of the initial asthma trigger, most experts agree that asthma is actually caused by an immune system out of control. The immune system of asthma sufferers rages in high gear as though it were battling parasites within the body. When the body is fighting parasites it produces a molecule called IgE, or immunoglobulin E. IgE is also a trigger for other molecular chain events that result in a full-on asthma attack. So, why does the asthmatic body think it's being invaded by parasites? Why does the immune system of asthma patients confuse pollen, air pollutants, viruses and bacteria for parasites? That is the million dollar question.

Treatment is usually aimed at decreasing symptoms of asthma; keeping the airway open for breathing is the primary concern. To do this conventional medicine often uses bronchodilators and corticosteroids. However, an emerging possibility that continues to be studied is the use of glyconutrients in asthmatics.

As asthma is notably a condition of inflammation, anything that will decrease the inflammation will decrease symptoms. In fact, mannose, one of the eight essential glyconutrients, has been shown to down-regulate the production of cells known to be a player in inflammation, neutrophils. Moreover, several other cell types have been shown to be affected by adding glyconutrients to patients' diets. These changes tend to decrease inflammation leading to a lessening of symptoms exhibited by the asthmatic patient.

In the future, glyconutrients may become commonplace as more studies and evidence emerge for the use of glyconutrients in the control and therapy of asthma.