What Asthma Is

We must be educated of asthma triggers in order to help prevent them. If you or anyone you know or love, struggles with asthma, you know how critical it is to avoid any kind of trigger that would spur on an attack. You can take your preventative medicine, of course, but as soon as you enter a dusty room or even go outside, allergens are inhaled and your airways may constrict, causing another attack. Many people with asthma keep an inhaler with them to prepare for going outside or into the workplace. But we cannot control these environments, unfortunately. On a better note, you can prevent asthma triggers in your own home! The main triggers in your average household are dust mites, molds, and pollens. Dust mites may be the most common asthma trigger at home. How can you protect yourself? Wash your bedding in hot water every week and make sure your pillows and bedding don’t contain feathering. Non carpeted floors are great because they are easily cleaned. If you don’t have...

Today asthma has become a major health concern due to the high pollution levels and intense industrialization. Hectic lifestyles and busy schedules make people ignore their personal health. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that is related to the lungs causing breathlessness. The swelling of the lungs that causes the airways to constrict leading to a lot of difficulty for the air to move in and out is the main cause of asthma. How Does Asthma Affect Your Lungs? When we breathe, air passes through our nostrils, windpipe and bronchi tube to finally reach our lungs. During an attack of asthma, this function of breathing in and out is affected. The individual cannot breathe freely as his airway becomes constricted. Restricted air flow causes breathlessness and wheezing. Asthma symptoms can be either mild or severe. Mild symptoms include coughing normally during the night, headache, nasal and chest congestion, loss of appetite, runny nose and sleeplessness. In severe c...

An asthma attack is always taken as a physical experience. Sufferers often experience chest tightness, coughing, and an more effort to breathe. Yet asthma also has an emotional component. There is the frustration of experiencing an attack and the fear of what might happen if the attack worsens. Asthma can be a life-threatening condition. This can increase levels of anxiety, leading to panic, which in turn can trigger or worsen an asthma attack. Anxiety, resentment and despair are common emotions felt by the asthmatic. For centuries, many people believed asthma was caused by stress or emotional disorders. This led to a stigma being attached to the condition and there grew a stereotype of the asthmatic being a weak, anxious person, forever wheezing and coughing. Breathing is obviously tied in with emotion. We gasp with fear when we watch a scary movie, and take short breaths if we get involved in an action flick. We catch our breath if something startles us. Laughing and cryi...

Asthma,controlling and managing it is an essential part of your life. Controlling your asthma means staying away from things that bother your airways and taking medicines as directed by your doctor. If you have asthma, it is important to learn how to take care of yourself. MAKE AN ACTION PLAN FOR ASTHMA WITH YOUR DOCTOR It is important that you work with your doctor to make an action plan that you are both happy with. As part of this, you will need to: * Tell your doctor about all other medications and drugs you are taking, in case one of them affects your asthma. * Follow your asthma action plan and have regular checkups. * Learn to use your medication correctly. Ask your doctor to teach you how to use your inhaler. This is very important. If inhalers are not used correctly, less medication gets into the airways. * If you are having problems taking your asthma medicine, seek your doctor’s advice immediately. IDENTIFY YOUR ASTHMA TRIGGERS You also need to l...

Asthma inhalers are a lifesaver to many or if not all asthma sufferers. Asthma inhalers provides a safety net for people with asthma and is used whenever an asthma attack is about to happen.The most common asthma inhaler is a canister that deliver asthma medication. A metered-dose inhaler (MDI) is a device that delivers a specific amount of medication to the lungs, in the form of a short burst of aerosolized medicine that is inhaled by the patient. It is the most commonly used delivery system for treating asthma,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other respiratory diseases. The medication in a metered dose inhaler is most commonly a bronchodilator, corticosteroid or a combination of both for the treatment of asthma and COPD. A metered-dose inhaler (MDI) Asthma inhaler has been used for nearly a hundred years and has improved a lot in recent years to deliver greater absorption and potency. The basic principle is still the same although the medication has chang...

Acid reflux or GERD is very common in adults over age 40 but actually anyone can get it even infants. Studies have shown that approximately 75% of asthma patients also suffer from GERD. GERD can result in permanent injury to the esophagus or can cause pre-cancerous changes in the esophagus (Barrett’s esophagus). It also seems to be one of the major risk factors for cancer of the esophagus (adenocarcinoma), a cancer that is becoming more and more commonplace among Americans. What are the symptoms of GERD. GERD (acid reflux) can cause a real nasty coughing spell and it in turn can produce asthma symptoms. This condition is more than just heartburn, although that is the most common symptom. GERD is the chronic backward flow of stomach acids into the esophagus. It may worsen your asthma symptoms. Unfortunately however some asthma medications may worsen GERD symptoms. Few factors connecting GERD and asthma are the absence of an allergic component, adult onset asthma, nocturna...

Asthma attacks any races and any ages, and it is the commonest chronic childhood illness. Asthma in child is most likely to occur before age five. Young children are especially open to attack because their lungs are still developing. It can develop as early as infancy, although most childhood asthma appears between ages 2 and 5, which is when antibodies to inhalant allergens increase in a child’s body. Among adults, asthma usually appears for the first time between the ages of 30 and 39. About 10 percent of new cases occur in people ages 65 and older. Childhood asthma affects boys more than girls around the age of 12; however, girls with asthma begin to outnumber boys after they experience their first menstrual periods. Many think that hormones may be another asthma trigger. The signs and symptoms of child asthma are mostly the same as for adults: wheezing, coughing shortness of breath, chest tightness, rapid breathing and exercise intolerance. In addition, asthma kids may ...