Entries Tagged as 'Asthma'

How to prevent frequent asthma attacks?

Asthma is a non curable disease but there are various means to prevent the frequency and intensity of the attacks. An asthma patient must have full knowledge about the disease and means of controlling it. Asthma does not mean keeping away from exercises but one should in fact engage in regular physical activity to stay healthy.

Follow some simple rules and you can conquer asthma. Stay away from cigarette smoke and fireplaces. Do not get tempted by eggs, nuts, milk and sea food. Do not use aspirin and drink coffee. Try and maximize your magnesium intake, because it relaxes the muscle. Include Vitamin B6 in your diet. A grandmother’s remedy would be to make the patient smell honey or drink lemon juice during meals. But doing all these does not mean escaping from medicines.

Go for check ups and consult your doctor regularly. Lead a systematic life to be free from asthma attacks.

What To Do In Case Of Emergency Asthma Attack

Asthma attacks can be frightening, not just for the patient but also those around him/her. When you have an emergency asthma attack or someone near you gets an attack, do no panic. It is also good to reassure the patient so that they too do not panic. Panicking only worsens the situation. The first thing to use is the inhaler. Help by holding the inhaler for him/her as s/he breathes into it. If they do not have their inhaler with them, borrow one from those who may be having one. Help the sick person to sit upright so that they can breathe more easily. Do not allow the patient to lie flat as this makes it difficult for the patient to breath. Next, loosen the clothing around the neck so that movement of air along the throat is not constricted. You can call the doctor if the situation does not improve.

What Is Bronchial Asthma

This is the condition where a disorder occurs in the airways. The symptoms are recurring and include airflow impediment, bronchial hyper responsiveness and an underlying inflammation. The interaction of these factors determines the extent and impact together with how the asthma manifests.

In some individuals chest the inflammation causes chest tightness and breathing problems are experienced especially at night or in the morning. Others only experience the symptoms only during exercise. However hyper responsiveness arises from specifics triggers.

These triggers may include: tobacco smoke, infections such as cold, pneumonia and flu, exercise air pollution, drugs, stress etc. And the symptoms include: shortness of breath wheezing, excessive coughing or cough that keeps one awake at night and the ones mentioned above.

One should be careful as this kind of asthma proceeds in a wavy manner. I.e. there are times when one does not feel any discomfort and others he/she might feel hence anti-flamatory treatment should be administered as a preventive remission.

Asthma and senior citizens

Health care, Asthma, AllergyAsthma is defined to be a persistent lung disease which in today’s polluted world has become quite prevalent. It can affect anyone, irrespective of age and can never be said to have been completely cured.

Symptoms of old age asthma are continuous forcing senior citizens to take everyday medication. Asthma is also said to be more harmful to senior citizens as their lung capacity goes down with age.

Not only that, even due to the fact that their immune systems take a battering with time, it becomes very difficult to diagnose these symptoms as they are often mistaken for lung or heart diseases.

To add insult to injury, senior citizens are also more prone to suffering the side effects of asthma medicines and they also simply cannot undergo aggressive therapy. The fact that older people are more likely to have other diseases means that special and constant attention must be paid to their condition.

Allergies that can trigger asthma attacks

Health, Fitness, AllergySome people get asthma attacks due to some allergens present in the environment. Allergens are substances which are harmless and do not often react to human body but, when they do react they lead to allergies. Written below are some allergies that can trigger asthma attacks:-

Respiratory problems – if a person is suffering from respiratory problems then a normal cold or influenza may lead to an asthma attack

Tiny particles in air-micro particles can enter the respiratory system of a human during inhaling oxygen which can irritate the air passages and cause a reaction that can narrow the air passage. For example, pollen grains of plants may enter the lungs of a person.

Pollution-air and soil pollution are major causes behind asthma attacks due to pollution. Contaminated air contains harmful gases such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide to a much higher level than it is naturally available, as such the victim of asthma faces problem while breathing.

How safe are Controller Medicines for Asthma?

Health, AsthmaAsthma is related to the breathing problems. An asthma attack will not let the person suffering the attack breath properly. This happens because the attack causes the respiratory organs to narrow thereby causing chronic breathing problems. Several medicines are available in the market that claim to help you. Some go to the extent of claiming of permanent cure for asthma.

The question is how safe are such drugs. While people with chronic asthma should not use anything except those prescribed by their physician, they still think that there is no harm in trying out these products. After all, the ingredients required to cure asthma are available in form of these drugs. The most common vitamins that help are a mix of C, A, D and E. Also, the presence of magnesium and glucosamine helps.

If you want to try out the products, you need to know what all counters an asthma attack. Check out the label for the vitamins and minerals mentioned above. If you find them on the label, you may try the product. But the best method is to get regular checkups done while using the medicines prescribed an experienced asthma doctor.