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- What is asthma?
- Symptoms of asthma
- Causes of asthma
- Prevention of asthma
- Risk factors for asthma
- Complications of asthma
- When to see a doctor about asthma
- Diagnosis of asthma
- Conventional treatment of asthma
- Alternative/complementary treatment of asthma
- Living with asthma
- Caring for someone with asthma
Conventional treatment of asthma
Treatment of an asthma attack (especially an emergency)
- Stop all activity - remain calm and try not to move around too much
- Take your medicine - use your blue (or rescue) inhaler inhaler , this is the medication to use in an emergency from a severe asthma attack and wait 5-10 minutes to allow the medication to work on opening up your airways and relieving symptoms
- Sit up - this helps the air passages with better air flow
- Medicine not working - if the blue reliever (or rescue) medication does not work (and does not settle down the symptoms) you need to call the emergency number 000 (or 911 in the USA, 999 in UK) for an ambulance and keep taking the blue inhaler medicine until the ambulance arrives
(derived from recommendations from the Lung Association Canada)
Lifestyle management
Conventional medicine also provides the following asthma management tips to help reduce incidence and severity of symptoms:
- Avoid the allergen(s) - keep your home free from the allergic triggers (allergens such as dust, animal fur, pollen, flowers, plants, etc). This helps to reduce risk of triggering asthma symptoms
- Avoid the asthma triggers - this strategy will help to reduce the likelihood of an asthma attack from occurring. The most common triggers for an asthma attack are cigarette smoke, chemicals, perfume and other environmental substances
- Have an allergy free home - try to live in as dust and allergen-free environment as possible to help reduce the triggers of an asthma attack. Flooring should be hard (wood or tile), furnishing should be natural, cleaning product should be non-allergenic and as natural as possible (organic and free from artificial perfume), cosmetics and face care products should be non-allergenic and as natural as possible (organic and free from artificial perfume)
- Stay home on windy days - try to stay home on days which are especially windy as this may exacerbate symptoms to a high level, but if this cannot be avoided, make sure your medication is handy
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Medication
The medications prescribed for asthma consist of asthma prevention and asthma rescue medications.
Asthma Prevention Medications
Asthma prevention medications should be taken every day, even if there are no symptoms, to ensure lung airways are clear and free from inflammation and mucous. These medications are:
- Inhaled corticosteroids - most common and most effective asthma medication to reduce inflammation in the lung airways and is inhaled. Examples are - Budesonide, Fluticasone
- Corticosteroid tablets - prescribed to reduce really severe airway inflammation, are a much stronger medication than the inhaled corticosteroids and consist of tablets. Examples are - Prednisone, Prednisolone, Dexamethasone
- Long-acting bronchodilators - inhaled medication, which is normally prescribed together with the inhaled corticosteroids for people whose symptoms are not resolved just with the inhaled corticosteroids. Long-acting bronchodilators medication should not be taken alone, as they do not work properly if taken alone. This medication works over a long time-frame (around 12 hours) to open up the airways and reduce inflammation and the risk of an asthma attack. Pregnant women should be careful when taking this type of medication as recent studies suggest there may be a link between using bronchodilators and congenital heart defects in the unborn foetus
- Leukotriene receptor antagonists - a tablet form of medication taken in the evening and which eases the tightening of the muscles around the airways (bronchoconstriction). This medication is usually prescribed for people with mild asthma as their sole medication, but it can also be prescribed for people taking inhaled corticosteroids too to be taken together. Examples are - Zafirlukast, Montelukast
- Theophylline - not a commonly prescribed medication, but will be prescribed if asthma is severe and affects breathing at night. A doctor will need to monitor you when you are taking this medication if others (including over-the-counter medications) are being taken at the same time as they are possibilities of adverse interactions. Examples are - TheoDur®
Asthma Rescue Medications
Asthma rescue medications should be kept on hand and taken only when necessary - during a severe asthma attack (especially if it is an emergency), at times of breathing difficulties, before exercising. Asthma rescue medication will normally help bring breathing back to normal in most cases. These medications are:
- Short-acting bronchodilators - provide relief during an asthma attack and relieve asthma symptoms (chest tightness, coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing), as necessary prior to exercise. Examples are - Ventolin (salbutamol), Bricanyl inhaler (terbutaline sulfate)
Recent research shows that using there is a lot of controversy surrounding the regular use of short- acting beta-agonists (bronchodilators) for the treatment of asthma. Anyone who has asthma should consult their doctor for an appropriate treatment plan to avoid any adverse effects from medication.
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