How is Asthma Treated?

There’s no cure for asthma, but the condition can usually be managed and flare-ups can be prevented. Asthma is treated in two ways, by avoiding potential triggers and with medication.

Avoiding triggers that make asthma symptoms worse is important. They can’t always be avoided (like catching a cold), but you can control your exposure to some triggers such as pet dander, for example.

Each person with asthma is treated differently because each person has a different severity level and a different set of triggers. There are a variety of treatment medications doctors can choose from. Most asthma medications are inhaled (which means that a person takes the medication by breathing it into the lungs), but asthma medications can also take the form of pills or liquids. They fall into two categories:

• Rescue medications - are taken as needed and act quickly to halt asthma symptoms once they start.
• Controller medications - prevent symptoms from occurring in the first place.

Many people with asthma need to take medication every day to control the condition overall. Controller medications (also called “preventive” or “maintenance” medications) work differently from rescue medications. They treat the problem of airway inflammation instead of the symptoms (coughing, wheezing, etc.) that it causes. Controller medications are slow acting and can take days or even weeks to begin working. Although you may not notice them working in the same way as rescue medications, regular use of controller medications should lessen your need for the rescue medications. Doctors also prescribe controller medications as a way to minimize any permanent lung changes that may be associated with having asthma.

The best way to control asthma is prevention. Although medications can play an essential role in preventing flare-ups, environmental control is also very important. Here are some things you can do to help prevent coming into contact with the allergens or irritants that cause your asthma flare-ups:

• Keep your environment clear of potential allergens.
• Pay attention to the weather and take precautions when you know weather or air pollution conditions may affect you. You may need to stay indoors or limit your exercise to indoor activities.
• Don’t smoke (or if you’re a smoker, quit). Smoking is a bad habit, especially for someone who has asthma.
• Exercise, but be careful. If you’re prone to exercise-induced asthma attacks, talk to your doctor about how to manage your symptoms.

Preventing asthma symptoms may be difficult to do during an emergency situation. A disaster can stir up a variety of irritants into the air. Take precautions by attempting to avoid areas (outdoors or indoors) where there are high levels of irritants. Wearing a dust mask may also help to cut down on exposure. It is also important that prescribed medications be continued. Interrupting or stopping medications can cause an increase in airway inflammation, leading to coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and more frequent asthma attacks. Overuse of fast acting or relief medications can also cause them to lose their effectiveness.

How do Doctors Diagnose Asthma?

In diagnosing asthma, the doctor will study your medical history and also perform a physical exam. Your doctor may perform some tests including spirometry and peak flow meter tests. These tests measure how well your lungs are performing. Your doctor may also recommend allergy tests to see if allergies are causing your symptoms or special exercise tests to see whether your asthma symptoms may be brought on by physical activity.

What Causes Asthma?

The exact cause of asthma is not known, but it is believed to be a combination of environmental and genetic factors. It isn’t contagious. Asthma symptoms can be triggered by many things. What causes symptoms in one person might not bother another at all. The following are some of the common triggers:

• Allergens
• Airborne irritants and pollutants
• Exercise
• Weather
• Respiratory tract infections

There are other things that can trigger symptoms, even laughing, crying, and yelling can sometimes cause the airways to tighten in sensitive lungs, triggering an asthma attack.

What are the Symptoms of Asthma?

Most people with asthma only have difficulty breathing every so often. When it does happen, it is known as an asthma flare-up or an asthma attack. A person having an asthma attack may cough, wheeze (make a whistling sound while breathing), be short of breath and feel an intense tightness in the chest. Many people say it feels extremely hard to get air in and out of their lungs, like they are breathing through a small straw. An asthma attack can last for several hours or longer if a person doesn’t use asthma medication. Afterwards, the person usually feels better.

Asthma

Asthma is a lung disease that causes you to have difficulty breathing. More than 20 million Americans suffer from asthma. People with asthma may have airways that are inflamed. This means that they swell and produce large amounts of thick mucus. They are also overly sensitive to certain things like dust, cigarette smoke or even exercise, which are called triggers.

This sensitivity causes the muscles that surround the airways to tighten up. The combination of airway inflammation and muscle tightening narrows the airways and makes it difficult for air to move through. This is what happens to a person’s lungs during an asthma attack.