Asthma How does asthma effect the body? An asthma attack has many effects on the body. Asthma affects the body by limiting the flow of air into the lungs. It causes airway inflammation, bronchial restriction and irregular airway obstruction. Airway inflammation is how the body reacts to something that is irritating the airways. When happening your lungs begin swelling, your breathing passageway becomes restricted and mucus is secreted. Bronchial restriction happens when the muscles in your airways tighten around the breathing tubes in your lungs. (Bronchial tubes). Mucus or fluid that is accumulated by the reaction can obstruct your airway and make it very difficult to breathe properly. Asthma in children limits their physical activities. …show more content…
Some people only experience asthma symptoms during physical activity. A person who suffers from exercise-induced asthma does not have to limit his/her athletic goals. Cough-induced asthma is one of the most difficult asthmas to diagnose. The doctor has to eliminate other possibilities, such as chronic bronchitis, post nasal drip due to hay fever, or sinus disease. In this case the coughing can occur alone, without other asthma-type symptoms being present. The coughing can happen at any time of day or night. If it happens at night it can disrupt sleep. Occupational Asthma This type of asthma is triggered by something in the patient's place of work. Factors such as chemicals, vapors, gases, smoke, dust, fumes, or other particles can trigger asthma. It can also be caused by a virus (flu), molds, animal products, pollen, humidity and temperature. Another trigger may be stress. Occupational asthma tends to occur soon after the patients starts a new job and disappears not long after leaving that …show more content…
You should be working with your doctor to treat other conditions that can interfere and worsen your asthma and help manage. Always avoid things that will make your asthma worse (asthma triggers). However, one trigger you should not avoid is physical activity. Physical activity is very important in a healthy lifestyle. Work with your doctor to create an asthma action plan. An asthma action plan helps guide you to take your medicines properly and on time, avoid asthma triggers (except physical activity), track your level of asthma control, respond to symptoms, and seek emergency care when needed. Asthma is treated with two types of medicines: long-term control and quick-relief medicines. Long-term control medicines help reduce airway inflammation and prevent asthma symptoms. Quick-relief, or "rescue," medicines relieve asthma symptoms that may flare up. Your level of asthma control can vary over time and with changes in your home, school, or work environments. These changes can alter how often you're exposed to the factors that can worsen your asthma. Your doctor may need to increase your medicine if your asthma doesn't stay under control. On the other hand, if your asthma is well controlled for several months, your doctor may decrease your medicine. These adjustments to your medicine will help you maintain the best control possible with the least amount of medicine
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. It is a reversible airway obstruction, occurring 8 to 10% of the population worldwide. According to a study in 2005, asthma affects over 15 million Americans, with more than 2 million annual emergency room visits. Asthma patients have a hyper-responsiveness in their airways and generally and increase in their airway smooth muscle cell mass. This hyperplasia is due to the normal response to the injury and repair to the airway caused by exacerbations. The main choice of therapy for asthma patients is β2- adrenergic agonists. Racemic albuterol has been the drug of choice for a short acting bronchodilator for a long time, but since the development of levalbuterol, there is the question of which drug is a better choice for therapy. Efficacy and cost of treatment must both be taken into consideration in each study of these therapies to determine which is best for the treatment of asthma.
First of all, people may feel anxious when they suddenly have an asthma attack. It is a quite frightening experience because people with asthma have very sensitive airways. If something irritates the airways of a person with asthma, the airways become red and swollen, and this may be even more difficult for air to pass through the airways into the alveoli and out again . People became breathless and breathed more frequently that make them feel more anxious.
There are two forms of bronchodilators, a short acting and a long acting form. Short acting relieves or stops asthma symptoms and is very helpful during an attack. They are also called ‘rescue’ medications because they are best for treating sudden or severe asthma symptoms. Long acting bronchodilators are used to control asthma, they take longer to work but they also last longer, up to 12 hours, whereas a short acting would only last for about 4-5 hours. Ventolin is a short acting form, it is the recommended medication to use 15-20 mins before exercising.
Imagine a young child competing with his or her fellow classmates during recess and immediately losing the ability to breathe normally. He or she stops in the middle of the competition and falls to the ground while holding his or her chest trying to find air. When you are young, being able to keep up with your peers during recess and sporting events is very important, however, having asthma restricts this. Asthma has a significant impact on childhood development and the diagnosis of asthma for children 18 years and younger has dramatically increased over the years. Asthma is known as a “chronic inflammation of the small and large airways” with “evident bronchial hyper-responsiveness, airflow obstruction, and in some patients, sub-basement fibrosis and over-secretion of mucus” (Toole, 2013). The constant recreation of the lung walls can even occur in young children and “lead to permanent lung damages and reduced lung function” (Toole, 2013). While one of the factors is genetics, many of the following can be prevented or managed. Obesity, exposure to secondhand smoke, and hospitalization with pneumonia in the early years of life have all been suggested to increase children’s risk of developing asthma.
But unlike COPD, the episodes are reversible. It is characterized by episodes of coughing and shortness of breath due to excessive responsive airways. Extrinsic asthma is the most common form and it is caused by allergic reactions to agents in the air such as dust, animals, and pollen. These cause an allergic response due to heightened activation of IgE antibodies which trigger an inflammatory response. Intrinsic asthma appears similarly to extrinsic, but it is more genetically associated and is triggered by things like increased emotional stress. The best treatment for asthma is inhaled corticosteroids, which reduces the inflammatory
Take all the measures you can to lessen your coughing at night. You’ll be better off tackling your day with a full night’s rest.
Born on the first of August, in a dainty town, Amelia is quite down to earth and loveable. She is determined and strong, yet soft and squishy. She enjoys being around those she loves, but mostly loves her sister Lynsia. Although optimistic and kind hearted, she has a short temper and in turn causes a loud mouth, later causing regret and hurt to those around her. Cursed by exercise-induced asthma, Amelia is required to carry around a quaint inhaler. She is 5’3 and weighs just under 150 lbs, making her overweight, although not in an unhealthy way. Amelia eats a healthy, balanced diet and exercises yoga regularly, but just can’t lose the weight. However, she is not burdened by the fact and remains to be happy.
The European Respiratory Society performed a study and found, ?Recent research from Finland has shown that passive smoking plays a role in the development of adult asthma. Researchers found that subjects exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace were twice as likely to develop asthma as those who were not exposed.
Asthma symptoms can range from mild to very severe. A person may experience only occasional severe episodes one time and then experience frequents mild episodes. According to the book, Living Well With Asthma, there are four main symptoms of an asthma attack. Since an attack can be so overwhelming and frightening, it may be difficult to know what’s going on inside of a persons body. Here are the major elements of an asthma attack:
Management of asthma will be custom tailored to each patient. Treatment may include reliever medication, control medication, and avoidance measures (2011, p. 4). Avoidance measures include avoiding certain allergens that cause flare-ups of asthma. Treatment may include reliever medication, control medication, and avoidance measures (2011, p. 4).
In these cases, the corticosteroid does not do the trick to help the child recover from the extreme exacerbations. Shein informs us by telling us that continuous albuterol and two to three doses of nebulized ipratropium bromide are given to the child to help control the attack (Shein 168). This is one way to help control the extreme exacerbations, but still the corticosteroid will be usable in these types of situations. Inhaled corticosteroids are still the primary way to prevent exacerbations. The main purpose of using the inhaled corticosteroids are still to make sure the child is able to be like normal. It is just a matter of how the inhaled corticosteroid, is used to prevent the asthma attack. If caught early enough the asthma attack won’t be as severe and need to be taken to the hospital. Overall the inhaled corticosteroid, is the most effective way to prevent a severe asthma
Imagine you are out to lunch one day with your son and someone lights up a cigarette. All of a sudden you notice that your child is not breathing properly, he begins to wheeze, and tells you that he feels like he cannot breathe, and his chest feels tight. You and your son are rush to the nearest emergency, where the doctors discovers that your son has just had an asthma attack triggered by the cigarette smoke. Asthma is condition that affects the lungs. The airways of the lungs swell and the muscles in surrounding airways tighten, leading to a decrease of the flow of air that is able to get to the lungs. Signs and symptoms of asthma include but are not limited to: shortness of breath, tightening of the chest, wheezing, and coughing. Asthma is lifelong condition that can be treated a controlled through a variety of ways. One way to treat an asthma attack with an inhaled cortical steroid, this is a long term treatment. Other forms of long term treatment are long-acting bronchodilators, Leukortriene inhibitors, and Cromolyn sodium. In a national survey conducted in 2012 states that 14% or approximately 10 million U.S children have been diagnosed with asthma. According to an article published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, asthma is the leading chronic illness among
Even though there is no cure for asthma, there are two main types of medication used for the treatment of it. The first is long term medication that aids in decreasing the inflammation of a person’s airways and also serves as a preventative measure for symptoms and asthma attacks. These medicines are usually anti-inflammatory drugs that are taken daily to reduce future symptoms, but do not act as a quick fix...
Asthma is a condition in which a person’s airways become inflamed, narrow and swell, and produce extra mucus, which makes it difficult to breathe. Asthma is classified according to the frequency of symptoms, forced expiratory volume in one second, and peak expiratory flow rate. It can last for a few years or it can be lifelong. Other serious conditions occur with asthma include gastro-esophageal reflux disease, rhinosinusitis, and obstructive sleep apnea. Some of the symptoms are difficulty breathing, chest pain, cough, and wheezing. Some people experience coughing at night. Some of the causes might be allergies, irritants in the air, respiratory illness, and the weather. Some of these asthma episodes can happen a few days a week or a few
Depending on when the initial presentation began, it can be called child onset or adult onset asthma. Child onset asthma is the most common type and can happen any time after birth. It is possible for childhood asthma to become less noticeable or non-active later in life. It can be caused by allergies or not, while adult onset can be diagnosed anytime in adulthood and is most likely brought on by allergens. Exercise induced asthma is brought on by long periods of physical exertion, such as walking or running especially in cold environments. Cough induced asthma can be a nonproductive, dry cough that can continue until the person is out of breath or gagging. Cough induced asthma can also be associated with Nocturnal asthma because of the horizontal position when lying down, as well as air conditioning or gastroesophageal reflux