New York by Ed Hosseinipour , Specialty Pharmacist Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning. Asthma affects people of all ages, but it most often starts during childhood. To understand asthma, it helps to know how the airways work.
The airways are tubes that carry air into and out of your lungs. People who have asthma have inflamed airways. The inflammation makes the airways swollen and very sensitive. The airways tend to react strongly to certain inhaled substances. When the airways react, the muscles around them tighten. This narrows the airways, causing less air to flow into the lungs. The swelling also can worsen, making the airways even narrower. Cells in the airways might make more mucus than usual. Mucus is a sticky, thick liquid that can further narrow the airways.This chain reaction can result in asthma symptoms. Symptoms can happen each time the airways are inflamed.
Cause, The exact cause of asthma isn’t known. Researchers think some genetic and environmental factors interact to cause asthma, most often early in life. These factors include: An inherited tendency to develop allergies, Parents who 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
Causes Asthma Symptoms Many things can trigger or worsen asthma symptoms. Triggers may include: Allergens from dust, animal fur, cockroaches, mold, and pollens from trees, grasses, and flowers, Irritants such as cigarette smoke, air pollution, chemicals or dust in the workplace, compounds in home décor products, and sprays (such as hairspray),Medicines such as aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and nonselective beta-blockers, Sulfites in foods and drinks, Viral upper respiratory infections, such as colds, Physical activity, including exercise
Prevention You can’t prevent asthma. However, you can take steps to control the disease and prevent its symptoms. For example: Learn about your asthma and ways to control it. Follow your written asthma action plan. (For a sample plan, go to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s “Asthma Action Plan.”), Use medicines as your doctor prescribes. Identify and try to avoid things that make your asthma worse (asthma triggers). However, one trigger you should not avoid is physical activity. Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Talk with your doctor about medicines that can help you stay active. Keep track of your asthma symptoms and level of control. Get regular checkups. Ask your specialty pharmacist.
Signs and Symptoms, Common signs and symptoms of asthma include: Coughing. Coughing from asthma often is worse at night or early in the morning, making it hard to sleep, Wheezing is a whistling or squeaky sound that occurs when you breathe. Chest tightness. This may feel like something is squeezing or sitting on your chest. Shortness of breath. Some people who have asthma say they can’t catch their breath or they feel out of breath. You may feel like you can’t get air out of
Diagnosis Your primary care doctor will diagnose asthma based on your medical and family histories, a physical exam, and test results. Your doctor also will figure out the severity of your asthma—that is, whether it’s intermittent, mild, moderate, or severe. The level of severity will determine what treatment you’ll start on. You may need to see an asthma specialist if: You’ve had a life-threatening asthma attack, You need more than one kind of medicine or higher doses of medicine to control your asthma, or if you have overall problems getting your asthma well controlled, You’re thinking about getting allergy treatments
- Baron Pharmacy can help you with an assessment using Spirometer: measures how much air you can breathe in and out. It also measures how fast you can blow air out.
- Spirometers can also be used in Bronchoprovocation tests measure how your airways react to specific exposures. Using spirometry, this test repeatedly measures your lung function during physical activity or after you receive increasing doses of cold air or a special chemical to breathe in.
- Fractional concentration of exhaled nitric oxide tests measure how much nitric oxide is in the air you exhale. This test can be helpful to diagnose or guide asthma treatment in some patients.
Treatment. Asthma is a long-term disease that has no cure. The goal of asthma treatment is to control the disease. Good asthma control will, Prevent chronic and troublesome symptoms, such as coughingand shortness of breath, Reduce your need for quick-relief medicines (see below), Help you maintain good lung function, Let you maintain your normal activity level and sleep through the night, Prevent asthma attacks that could result in an emergency room visit or hospital stay
· Baron pharmacy can help you follow an Asthma Action Plan We can work with you to create a personal asthma action plan. The plan will describe your daily treatments, such as which medicines to take and when to take them. The plan also will explain when to call your doctor or go to the emergency room.
- Use a Peak Flow Meter, This small, hand-held device shows how well air moves out of your lungs. You blow into the device and it gives you a score, or peak flow number. Your score shows how well your lungs are working at the time of the test. Your doctor will tell you how and when to use your peak flow meter. He or she also will teach you how to take your medicines based on your score.
- Your doctor and other health care providers may ask you to use your peak flow meter each morning and keep a record of your results. You may find it very useful to record peak flow scores for a couple of weeks before each medical visit and take the results with you.
· Medications
- your doctor will consider many things when deciding which asthma medicines are best for you. He or she will check to see how well a medicine works for you. Then, he or she will adjust the dose or medicine as needed. Asthma medicines can be taken in pill form, but most are taken using a device called an inhaler. An inhaler allows the medicine to go directly to your lungs.
- Depending on the severity of your asthma, and the age group, your Dr. may prescribe medications inhaled via a nebulizer.Not all inhalers are used the same way. Feel free to ask your specialty pharmacist at Baron Pharmacy to show you the right way to use your inhaler. Review the way you use your inhaler at every medical visit.
As always Baron Pharmacy is available to answer all your questions, you can call 718 406-9196 to make an appointment for a free assessment and consultations.[ENG]