Tips for Asthma

All asthmatic patients know that exercise can lead to a crisis, however, physical activity is essential for healthy living and breathe better. Therefore it is important to exercise, but taking some precautions: taking medication (usually inhaled bronchodilators) before starting, make controlled heating and progressive, dose interval exercise, avoid maximal exercise intensity, and have always hand medication.

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• Chest physical therapy: includes a series of exercises that help you breathe better and improve respiratory mechanics. They are very useful in crises or exacerbations.

• Periodic reviews: Patients with asthma should attend periodically to the respiratory ward, where they performed spirometry to see the evolution of the disease and response to treatment.

Medication is essential to take the medication every day (usually inhaled), although the patient is well. Thus, inflammation is controlled, thereby preventing the occurrence of relapses.

Warning Signs

There are some warning signs that these patients should be aware and appear in crises or exacerbations.

1.      Shortness of breath when sitting or walking slowly
2.      Difficulty speaking
3.      Fatigue that is not relieved despite repeatedly use the inhaler
4.      Onset of symptoms at night often
5.      Bluish lips and fingertips

In these cases you have to go to the ER for a correct assessment by the physician and to receive appropriate treatment. You may need admission to the hospital in serious situations

Related Post to Asthma:

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• eMedicine Health: Asthma in School Children - Consumer health resource center providing general asthma information. Includes an education slideshow for asthmatic children.
• eMedicine: Asthma - Article covering clinical information, diagnosis, and treatment. Includes prescribing information.

Treatment of asthma

Treatment of asthma 

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Asthma has two possible treatments: prevention to prevent its occurrence, and control of symptoms when prevention fails and it is inevitable that a crisis is more or less intense.
 
 
Treatments of asthma: Non-pharmacological measures

The goal of these treatments is to avoid as far as possible, the causes or cause the disease.

Pollens: windy days, dry and sunny, which is when there is a higher concentration of pollen, it is better not to go out unless absolutely necessary, and if staying outdoors as soon as possible, avoid going out into the field and do outdoor exercise, traveling with the car windows closed and use the pollen filter air conditioning, wear sunglasses with side shields to prevent contact with eyes pollen, and ventilating the house for 15 minutes in the morning, for the rest of the day remain closed.

Dust mites: reduce, wherever possible, the humidity, avoid carpets, rugs, curtains, upholstery and decorative excess, as all these elements accumulate dust, choose furniture that is easily cleaned with a cloth damp wash bedding at least twice a week, using controlled vacuum cleaning the filters, and use mite covers for mattress and pillow.

Fungi: no wetlands stroll in autumn and winter after leaf fall, regularly ventilate the rooms dark and damp in the house, remove any water stains on the walls, ceilings and windows and use anti-rust paints, avoid excess plants inside the home and not visit barns, cellars, basements, or similar places where these organisms can thrive.

Animals: remove the animal from the shelter and then perform a thorough cleaning. If this is not possible, prevent the animal into the bedroom, and wash it once a week. There are also products that diminish the "allergic load" improving symptoms.


Drugs: about 10% of people with asthma have intolerance to acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) and its derivatives, so you should avoid uptake. 

Medical treatment of asthma

The two major groups of medications for asthma are anti-inflammatories and bronchodilators.

Anti-inflammatory medications: are the most commonly used corticosteroids (beclomethasone, budesonide, fluticasone), decrease inflammation of the bronchi. There formulations by inhalation or orally or intravenously in case of severe exacerbations. Other anti-inflammatory drugs are the chromones, used inhalants (cromolyn and nedocromil sodium) and leukotrienes, which are taken in pill form (montelukast and zafirlukast).

Bronchodilators: are used beta 2 agonists (salbutamol, terbutaline, salmeterol and formoterol), anticholinergics (ipratropium bromide) and methylxanthines, and their function is to increase the diameter of the bronchus. Inhaled are administered (by spray) as well as many drug reaches the lungs, with fewer side effects to the organism. There are several types: pressurized cartridge, spacer or dry powder.

Immunotherapy: used only in patients sensitive to an allergen, which was not achieved an adequate response of asthma, despite following drug treatment and enforce appropriate avoidance measures. It is administered in the hospital by specialized personnel.

Antihistamines:do not control asthma but are useful to reduce allergy symptoms such as itchy nose, sneezing, red eyes ...

Symptoms of asthma

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Symptoms of asthma

Asthma symptoms vary from person to person, both in kind and in its severity and frequency of occurrence. Patients usually present with asymptomatic periods, followed by others in which the symptoms are intensified, and whose intensity can be very serious.




The most common symptoms are:

• Coughing:  is generally irritating, with little mucus, and sometimes quite dry. Usually occurs in the form of coughing, especially at night and with exertion. 

• Shortness of breath or dyspnea: usually during exercise. In severe exacerbations may appear to speak, or even at rest.

• Wheezing: wheezing you hear with a stethoscope to examine the patient, and are produced by the passage of air through the airways narrower.

It can also cause tightness in the chest, which costs expel thick mucus and nasal symptoms such as itching, sneezing, stuffy ...

Causes of Asthma - Asthma Triggers

Causes of Asthma

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the bronchial tubes, which causes clogging and these are very sensitive to a large number of environmental stimuli. Bronchial inflammation causes increased mucus production, which will be more viscous, so it is ejected with difficulty.

Via: umm.edu - Asthma Triggers

The increased sensitivity of bronchial hyperreactivity and called bronchi causes close to certain stimuli such as exercise, cold air, viral infections, snuff smoke, the smell of paint, etc..

When talking about causes of asthma is necessary to distinguish between the causes of asthma themselves or etiological factors, and triggers that cause disease if not, can trigger an attack in someone who previously suffered from asthma.





Etiological Factors

•      Genetic component: many patients have family members with asthma.
•      Exposure to inhalant allergens: are substances that can cause allergies, in particular respiratory symptoms. The most important are: dust mites, pollen from plants (grass, Parietaria, olive, banana ...), pets (hair and skin flakes as the dog, cat or hamster), microscopic fungi (domestic or not, grow damp areas), environmental and labor (snuff, powdered wood, metal ...).

Asthma Triggers

The most important are those related to climate (cold, wet, snow ...), intense physical exercise, polluted environments, especially snuff smoke, respiratory infections, and certain drugs such as aspirin and derivatives.

What is asthma?

The cold, exercise, or certain allergens can cause shortness of breath, coughing and chest tightness characteristics of this chronic disease that affects over 300 million people worldwide.

What is asthma?

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease, characterized by increased airway reactivity smaller gauge called bronchi. This means that to different stimuli such as cold, exercise, or certain allergy-producing substances, bronchial tubes become inflamed and decrease its diameter reversibly closing. This is the main difference between asthma and chronic bronchitis, in which diminish bronchial gauge irreversibly. Asthma is a very common disease in children.

Via: Asthma.co.uk - What is Asthma

Its most common symptoms are shortness of breath or dyspnea, coughing, tightness in the chest and "self-listening" of wheezing called wheezing.


When symptoms occur worsen an asthma attack, which can last several days depending on the severity of the disease. Between exacerbations or crises there is often asymptomatic periods in which patients are well or with mild symptoms.

Who is affected by asthma

It is estimated that asthma affects about 5% of the world's population, some 300 million people. In the case of children is even more common, with a prevalence greater than 10%.

Although it can occur at any age, it most often begins in childhood stage that is usually related to an allergic component. Other factors that influence the development of childhood asthma include history of asthma and parental smoking, especially in the mother.

In adults it is more frequently associated with sinusitis (inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the cavities in the bones around the nose called sinuses), nasal polyps, and sensitivity to anti-inflammatory aspirin or aspirin-related. It is also common connection with certain occupational exposures (in the workplace) as wood dust, plastic resins or organic dusts.