Do I Have Asthma?
What is asthma?
Asthma is a lung disease that affects the airways, It causes obstruction of the airways. Airways plays a very important role as it is responsible for carrying air in and out from lungs. If a person suffering from asthma the muscles surrounding the bronchi constrict, impeding the outward passage of stale air. When your breathing stale air you are not getting oxygenated properly.
What causes asthma? We don’t know there is some genetic and environmental factors to cause asthma usually early on in life. These factor include your Parents have asthma, Certain respiratory infections during childhood.
Contact with some airborne allergens or exposure to some viral infections in infancy or in early childhood when the immune system is developing.
What causes an asthma attack well it is causes by what we call triggers and trigger can be from a variety of different things but here are some examples.
1. Animal dander
2. Dust mites
3. Chemical
4. Strong smells (bleach is a huge trigger, also perfume)
5. Tobacco smoke
What happens during an asthma attack?
When you have an asthma attack the airways can close so much that vital organs do not get enough oxygen as needed. An asthma attack is constriction and inflammation process the combination of these two things working against your normal breathing process.
What are signs and symptoms of asthma?
1. Coughing from asthma often is worse at night or early in the morning, making it hard to sleep.
2. Wheezing is a whistling or squeaky sound that occurs when you breathe.
3. Chest tightness, this may feel like something is squeezing or sitting on your chest.
4. Shortness of breath
5. When someone is having an asthma attack their cough is high pitched and they may also vomit up large amount of phlegm due to the inflammation.
How Can Asthma Be Prevented?
Currently, asthma can’t be prevented you can take steps to control the disease and prevent its symptoms.
Learn about your asthma and how to control it.
Use medicines as your doctor prescribes.
Identify and try to avoid things that make your asthma worse (asthma triggers).
Get regular checkups for your asthma.
This is a brief description of asthma, If you think you have asthma you should make an appointment with your physician for treatment. Read the rest of this entry »
Asthma Myths
I have suffered from asthma for some 10 years now and over that time period have learned a lot about asthma… what triggers it in me, the symptoms which are manifested and my learning curve in discovering how to cope while getting on with living a normal life.
In all that time I have made extensive enquiries into the whole subject and have tried to disentangle the truth from all the hearsay, old wives tales and general disinformation about the subject. Needless to say, I learned a lot about asthma, both from personal experience of it and from my investigations. My asthma is now under control, but it occurred to me that there are millions of people out there who could possibly benefit from what I have discovered.
I suppose to those who first are diagnosed with asthma, it can be a frightening experience. So I have tried in this article to put together some thoughts, separating facts from fiction, truth from doubt, in the hope that this will help everyone afflicted with the disease. To start with I want to set out some basic facts which may explode received wisdom about asthma.
Myth 1… Once your daily medication works, don’t change it. Wrong… the aim of treatment is to control airway inflammation and preserve lung function with the lowest level of medication possible. It is important to see your doctor regularly to see whether your control medication can be reduced or stepped down.
Myth 2…Everyone can tell when their asthma is getting worse. Wrong… Some people can but some can’t, particularly if the reaction occurs at night when you are asleep. Sometimes an attack occurs quickly, so the regular use of a peak flow meter is a must. This monitors how well air is flowing through the airways and will alert you to any deterioration in function.
Myth 3… Drinking Alcohol does not cause asthma. Wrong… Beer and wine contain a substance called sulfites, which occur naturally or are added as a preservative. These can trigger an attack or lead to a severe allergic reaction in some asthma sufferers. Read the rest of this entry »