Asthma is a chronic ongoing lung disease marked by acute flare-ups or attacks of difficulty while breathing. It is a common disease that can happen at any age but most often occurs during childhood and can continue into adulthood. Asthma includes shortness of breath, cough, chest tightness, and the hallmark wheezing sound, a whistling noise that occurs with respirations.
Asthma is a disease of a lower respiratory tract. Characteristics of asthma include inflammation of the airways in the lungs. These include the bronchioles, small hollow passageways that branch off the main airway from mouth to nose. Air & oxygen pass through the bronchioles into alveoli, tiny hollow structures in the lungs where oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream. In asthma, bronchioles and alveoli become inflamed, irritated and swollen, blocking the flow of air into the lungs.
Asthma is often associated with allergies, & most people with asthma also have allergies. In these people, the disease is often known as allergic asthma or allergy-induced asthma. Other types of asthma include occupational asthma, which is caused by breathing irritating or toxic chemicals work. Cough-variant asthma is a form of asthma in which a dry, irritating cough is most prominent symptoms.
Common asthma triggers include:
Sign & Symptoms
Symptoms may occur during the day or at night & Wheezing is most common symptoms of an asthma attack.
· Cough with or without sputum(phlegm) production
· Congestion or pulling in of the skin between the ribs when breathing(intercostals retractions)
· Breathlessness that gets worse with exercise or activity
· Wheezing which:
o Comes in episodes with symptom-free periods in between
o Maybe worse at night or in the early morning.
o May go away on its own
o Gets better when using drugs that open the airways (bronchodilators).
o Get worse when breathing in cold air.
o Gets worse with exercise
o Get worse with heartburn (reflux).
o Usually begins suddenly
· Bluish color to the lips & face.
· Decreased level of alertness, such as severe drowsiness or confusion, during an asthma attack
· Extreme difficulty breathing
· Rapid pulse.
· Severe anxiety due to shortness of breath
· Sweating
· Aspirin and other no steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) provoke asthma in some patient.
· Many people with asthma have a person or family history of allergies, such as hay fever (allergic rhinitis) or eczema. Other have no history of allergies
· Most people with asthma have attacks separated by symptom-free periods. Some people have long-term shortness of breath with episodes of increased shortness of breath. Either wheezing or a cough may be the main symptoms.
· Asthma attack can last for minutes to days and can become dangerous if the airflow is severely restricted.
Treatments:
Asthma is a chronic disease that is not curable, but with regular medical care and consistent patient compliance with treatments, asthma attacks can successfully be minimized in occurrence, length, and severity. This includes minimizing the use of rescue medications and getting a jump on symptoms before they develop into severe execrations that result in emergency room visit & hospitalizations. This includes keeping a log or record of asthma symptoms, such as a type of symptoms, when they occurred, what seemed to trigger them, how long they lasted, how severe they were, and what treatment was needed to resolve symptoms.
Prevention
You can reduce asthma symptoms by avoiding known triggers & substances that irritate the airways.
o Cover bedding with “allergy-proof” casings to reduce exposure to dust mites.
o Remove carpets from bedrooms & vacuum regularly
o Use only unscented detergents & cleaning materials in the home.
o Keep humidity levels low & fix leaks to reduce the growth organisms such as mold.
o Keep the house clean & keep food in containers and out of bedrooms—this helps reduce the possibility of cockroaches, which can trigger asthma attacks in some people.
o If a person is allergic to an animal that cannot be removed from the home, the animal should be kept out of the bedroom. Place filtering material over the heating outlets to trap animal dander.
o Eliminate tobacco smoke from the home. This is the single most important thing a family can do to help a child with asthma. Smoking outside the house is not enough. Family members & visitors who smoke outside carry smoke residue inside on their clothes and hair.—this can trigger asthma symptoms.
o A person with asthma should also avoid air pollution, industrial dust and other irritating fumes as much as possible.
In conclusion asthma can be described as a chronic respiratory condition which can be identified by breathing difficulty, wheezing, cough and chest tightness. Physical examinations, pulmonary function tests, blood tests and chest X-rays are also used to determine asthma. Inhalation or ingestion of allergens and pollutants, exposure to cold weather, exercises, infections and occupational factors such as dust and chemicals can be considered asthma's risk factors, and healthcare professionals need to spread awareness in order to prevent and minimize asthma attacks.
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