A chronic lung disease ‘Asthma’ directly affects airways by narrowing it down, triggering shortness of breath, chest pain, cough and recurrence of wheezing. If any of such asthma symptoms you witness, it means you have to take treatment before it becomes a serious health problem.
Clinically, asthma is classified as per the frequency of symptoms such as extreme expiratory flow rate and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). Furthermore, it is divided into atopic and non-atopic, which are directly related to the hypersensitivity reactions responsible for the respiratory problems. The recent data estimates about 300 million people worldwide are affected by asthma; only the US has more than 22 million of asthma patients.
Symptoms of asthma:
Asthma patients feel irritation in the airways that further creates trouble for inhaling and puffing air out. The swollen muscles around airways could be due to genetic and environmental factors.
Recognizing asthma symptoms is as important as its treatment. Some of its specific symptoms include:
- Coughing and wheezing
- Shortness of breath
- Immediate fatigue
- Anxiety
- Chest pain or tightness
- Chronic coughing
- Difficulty in concentration
- Trouble sleeping
Symptoms of asthma could go worse during the physical workout and then become a cause of cold and high stress. Three levels of asthma symptoms–mild, moderate and severe–are found in the patients. Under the mild level, patients get maximum two attacks of asthma in a week; in moderate level, daily attacks happen, while under severe level, serious coughing and wheezing make your life worse, and it can happen anytime in day and night. The severe stage is most dreadful, so you have to diagnose it as early as possible.
Causes of asthma:
Asthma often starts in the teenage, but it shows serious signs in 30s and 40s. There are some common causes of asthma, such as:
- Respiratory infections
- Physical workout leads exercise-induced asthma
- Pregnancy
- Work in harmful conditions
- Cold air
- Obesity
- Stress
- Air pollutants and irritants, such as dust and smoke
- Carbon dioxide and other poisonous gases
Allergy could be another reason behind asthma, as antibodies, causing allergic reactions lead inflammation in the airways, thus causing respiratory problems. Certain allergies are directly linked with asthma. Heredity effects are also responsible for asthma as it can descend from your parents or grandparents.
Also Read: Asthma Care Plan- A must for you
Treatments for asthma:
Since there are several asthma symptoms, treatment is provided as per the pattern of signs. Once a symptom of asthma is identified, it becomes important to take the remedy. Otherwise, it can soar from mild to a severe level.
Two types of medication are commonly prescribed as – controllers and relievers. Controllers are taken in severe stage, and it’s a long-term medication. You have to continue this medication even if you have controlled all the asthma symptoms. On the other hand, relievers are very good to alleviate the mild level of asthma. Certain symptoms like coughing and chest pain can effectively be treated with relievers.
Some important stes that you have to follow for treating asthma include:
• Consult doctor
You must consult the doctor and present your complete medical history along with the health conditions and smoking habits of your family members. You have to undergo various breathing tests. The spirometry test is a must; it tells you how smoothly your lungs are functioning.
• Follow the prescribed action plan
There is a full course of asthma medication, so you have to take medicines prescribed by the doctor over a certain period. Some specific medicines are designed to diagnose asthma with certain symptoms. Follow the prescribed asthma plan to prevent the recurrence of asthma symptoms. The Proper action plan will help you control asthma so that you can live a healthy life.
• Avoid unhealthy environmental
It’s better to stay away from the harmful environment as it can worsen the health condition. Do the regular physical exercise, but not the hard workout, along with medication; it would enhance the effects of medicines.
• Oral Corticosteroids
There are some anti-inflammatory Corticosteroids easily available in the market. They may require a few days or a few weeks to alleviate the signs of asthma. The oral corticosteroids are supposed to be safe, and they have low or no health risk and no side effects as such.
• Beware of allergy
Many people find it unable to resist allergies, and then they become a victim of asthma. It’s advised you to ask your doctor to perform intensive allergy testing; it’ll help you recognize what kind of allergy handles causing asthma symptoms, so it would be easy to avoid that.
Also Read: Asthma risk factors
Conclusion:
Scientific research has found that the deterioration in the environment and fast-paced lifestyle, both are primarily responsible for inviting any asthma symptoms. This health problem was not as serious in the ancient age, as people were closer to the natural lifestyle, and there was a sense of purity. But still, you can defy asthma to a great extent by doing some adjustments in your living manner. Try to live with nature; such health problems will become trivial.
