The past few years have seen an increasing variety of asthma medications that your health care provider may prescribe for the treatment of asthma. These include Controller Asthma Medicines, Quick Relief Asthma medicines and Steroids.
Controller Asthma Medicines are also called “preventative asthma medicines,” and are taken every day to help prevent asthma symptoms and asthma attacks.
Quick Relief Asthma Medicines reduce asthma symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and trouble breathing. Quick relief asthma medicines are also called “rescue medicines.”
Steroids pills are sometimes taken by people with chronic lung diseases, including asthma. Steroid pills (such as prednisone or methylprednisolone) are strong medicines that decrease swollen airways.!
The past few years have seen an increasing variety of asthma medications that your health care provider may prescribe for the treatment of asthma. These include Controller Asthma Medicines, Quick Relief Asthma medicines and Steroids.
Controller Asthma Medicines are also called “preventative asthma medicines,” and are taken every day to help prevent asthma symptoms and asthma attacks.
Quick Relief Asthma Medicines reduce asthma symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and trouble breathing. Quick relief asthma medicines are also called “rescue medicines.”
Steroids pills are sometimes taken by people with chronic lung diseases, including asthma. Steroid pills (such as prednisone or methylprednisolone) are strong medicines that decrease swollen airways.! [link text][1]
The past few years have seen an increasing variety of asthma medications that your health care provider may prescribe for the treatment of asthma. These include Controller Asthma Medicines, Quick Relief Asthma medicines and Steroids.
Controller Asthma Medicines are also called “preventative asthma medicines,” and are taken every day to help prevent asthma symptoms and asthma attacks.
Quick Relief Asthma Medicines reduce asthma symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and trouble breathing. Quick relief asthma medicines are also called “rescue medicines.”
Steroids pills are sometimes taken by people with chronic lung diseases, including asthma. Steroid pills (such as prednisone or methylprednisolone) are strong medicines that decrease swollen airways.!
Adhatoda works as a bronchodilator and mild expectorant. Adhatoda also works by increasing the viscosity of mucous to assist with expectoration. Key constituents of Adhatoda leaf are the quinazoline alkaloids (0.5–2%). The major alkaloid is vasicine present at levels of 45–95% and is the original source of the drug bromhexine, which is often still used to assist expectoration.
The medical community is uncertain as to the mind-body connection between asthma, anxiety and depression. Both anxiety and depression alter the body's healthy balance of hormones and brain chemistry, and this alteration may somehow set the stage for disease. Once a person has been diagnosed with asthma, feelings of sadness or worry can cause subtle physiological changes that may play a role in further asthma attacks.
Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo tested this theory by showing the movie ET: The Extraterrestrial to a group of children with asthma. During the sad parts, the children's heart rates and blood oxygen levels became erratic. Such physiological changes may leave the asthmatic vulnerable to further adverse physiological changes that could lead to the symptoms of asthma.
Depression can also contribute to a higher incidence of asthma symptoms by suppressing the immune system. People suffering from depression report more frequent viral and respiratory infections. Once such an infection takes hold, it can inflame the airways and trigger an asthma attack.
Asthma patients who feel depressed might not monitor their breathing and take medications as promptly as when they feel normal and emotionally healthy. Treatment aimed at resolving depression and anxiety may improve the effectiveness of preventative asthma medicines and decrease the occurrence of asthma attacks.
The medical community is uncertain as to what the mind-body connection between asthma, anxiety and depression are. Both anxiety and depression alter the body's healthy balance of hormones and brain chemistry, and this alteration may somehow set the stage for disease. Once a person has been diagnosed with asthma, feelings of sadness or worry can cause subtle physiological changes that may play a role in further asthma attacks.
Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo tested this theory by showing the movie ET: The Extraterrestrial to a group of children with asthma. During the sad parts, the children's heart rates and blood oxygen levels became erratic. Such physiological changes may leave the asthmatic vulnerable to further adverse physiological changes that could lead to the symptoms of asthma.
Depression can also contribute to a higher incidence of asthma symptoms by suppressing the immune system. People suffering from depressionreport depression report more frequent viral and respiratory infections. Once such an infection takes hold, it can inflame the airways and trigger an asthma attack.
Asthma patients who feel depressed might not monitor their breathing and take medications as promptly as when they feel normal and emotionally healthy. Treatment aimed at resolving depression and anxiety may improve the effectiveness of preventative asthma medicines and decrease the occurrence of asthma attacks.
A diagnosis of asthma is based on a physical examination, personal history, and lung function tests. The physical examination looks for common asthma symptoms such as wheezing or coughing, and the personal history provides additional information, including allergies, exposure to second hand smoke, and/or a familial tendency towards asthma.
When the bronchi become irritated and/or infected, an asthma attack may be triggered. The attack may be acute onset and happen suddenly, or develop gradually over several days or hours. The main symptoms that can signal an impending asthma attack are as follows:
Wheezing is the most common symptom of an asthma attack. Wheezing is defined as a whistling noise in the chest during breathing when the airways are narrowed or compressed. Not all asthmatics wheeze, and not all people who wheeze are asthmatics.
The characteristics of wheezing include:
Current guidelines from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) and its Expert Panel Report 2 (EPR 2) have set forth the grading of asthma severity into the following four categories based on frequency of daytime and nocturnal symptoms, peak flows, and as-needed use of inhaled for the care of people with asthma including:
Mild intermittent asthma:
This includes asthma attacks no more often than twice weekly and nighttime attacks no more than twice a monthly, with attacks lasting no more than a few hours to a few days. The severity of attacks may vary, but there are no symptoms between attacks.
Mild persistent asthma:
This includes asthma attacks more than twice weekly, but not daily and nighttime symptoms that may occur more frequently than twice monthly. Sometimes the asthma attacks are severe enough to interrupt regular activities.
Moderate persistent asthma:
This includes daily attacks and nighttime symptoms more than once weekly. In addition, more severe attacks occur at least twice weekly and may last for days. Asthma attacks require daily use of quick-relief (rescue) medication and interrupt some daily activities.
Severe persistent asthma:
This includes frequent, severe attacks, continual datime symptoms, and frequent nighttime symptoms daily. Asthma symptoms limit daily activities.
People with mild and moderate asthma are susceptible to the occurrence of asthma attacks. The severity of asthma may change over time, either for better or for worse.
When to seek medical care for asthma symptoms
If you think you or your child may have asthma, make an appointment with your health-care provider to determine the cause of your symptoms. Some clues pointing to asthma may include the following:
An important part of any healthy lifestyle is good nutrition. Good nutrition includes choosing healthy foods that can work to heal and repair your body and make it more disease resistant.
Breathing exercises for asthma
Since asthma is a breathing disorder of the respiratory system, poor breathing habits may aggravate the symptoms of asthma. Breathing exercises involve manipulation of the breathing pattern, and include deep breathing, relaxation sessions, and other exercises. If done regularly and properly, and when combined with medicine and other treatment guidelines suggested by your health care provider, they may provide some additional relief from asthma symptoms, as well as bring about greater mind-body balance in concurrent conditions such as depression and anxiety.
Breathing exercises, while not commonly given as part of an asthma treatment or action plan, have proven beneficial by many asthmatics, especially those with intermittent and mild asthma.
You can acquire the necessary control of the respiratory muscles which will assist in controlling the symptoms of bronchi-spasm and muscle constriction, as well as increase your PEF (peak expiration force) scores, which is one way that many people with asthma monitor their condition between visits to their health care provider.
The aim of breathing exercises for asthma are:
Yoga breathing exercises, Kapalabhati pranayam, is also known as "skull shining breath," due to it's reputation for opening the nasal passages, and thus making the head clear. It is used as a “cleansing” breathing exercise. The breathing technique uses a forced exhalation with the premise of ridding the lower lungs of “stale” air, allowing the intake of oxygen-rich air, thereby purifying the body. A passive inhalation is followed by forceful exhalation through the nostrils, as if attempting to blow out a candle through one’s nose. It is recommended that one should gradually increase to an active breath at a rate of 45 to 60 exhalations per 30 seconds.
Since this breath emphasizes exhalation, it has been found useful for reducing wheezing in asthmatic patients.
Breathing exercises for asthma
Since asthma is a breathing disorder of the respiratory system, poor breathing habits may aggravate the symptoms of asthma. Breathing exercises involve manipulation of the breathing pattern, and include deep breathing, relaxation sessions, and other exercises. If done regularly and properly, and when combined with medicine and other treatment guidelines suggested by your health care provider, they may provide some additional relief from asthma symptoms, as well as bring about greater mind-body balance in concurrent conditions such as depression and anxiety.
Breathing exercises, while not commonly given as part of an asthma treatment or action plan, have proven beneficial by many asthmatics, especially those with intermittent and mild asthma.
You can acquire the necessary control of the respiratory muscles which will assist in controlling the symptoms of bronchi-spasm and muscle constriction, as well as increase your PEF (peak expiration force) scores, which is one way that many people with asthma monitor their condition between visits to their health care provider.
The aim of breathing exercises for asthma are:
Nutrition management for asthma
An important part of any healthy lifestyle is good nutrition. Good nutrition includes choosing healthy foods that can work to heal and repair your body and make it more disease resistant.
An important part of any healthy lifestyle is good nutrition. Good nutrition includes choosing healthy foods that can work to heal and repair your body and make it more disease resistant.
Asthma and food allergies
6-8 % of children and 2-4% of adults suffer from food allergies, in a landmark survey of asthmatic in the U.K., 66% said that they experience exacerbation of asthma symptoms with certain foods. The most common foods that produce allergies in sensitive individuals are given below.
For Children:
For Adults:
General nutrition tips for asthma
The USDA and the US Department of Health and Human Services have redeveloped the Food Guide Pyramid to educate Americans about healthy eating. You may be familiar with the old Food Guide Pyramid, or its predecessor the Four Basic Food Groups. The new symbol, called "MyPyramid", represents a personalized approach to eating a healthy diet and staying active through physical activity.
While the new food guidelines emphasize a personalized approach, here are some additional tips:
Include a variety of foods in your diet. Each of the food groups provides nutrients that are important to you, and foods in one group can't replace those in another. Try to include each of the food groups in your daily diet.
Choose a variety of foods within each food group and eat small amounts of fats, oils and sweets, and include essential fatty acids (EFAs) from flax, sesame oil and fish in your diet.
Talk with your health care provider about your specific nutritional needs. Eating a healthy diet can help you feel and breathe better.
The past few years have seen an increasing variety of asthma medications that your health care provider may prescribe for the treatment of asthma. These include Controller Asthma Medicines, Quick Relief Asthma medicines and Steroids.
Controller Asthma Medicines are also called “preventative asthma medicines,” and are taken every day to help prevent asthma symptoms and asthma attacks.
Quick Relief Asthma Medicines reduce asthma symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and trouble breathing. Quick relief asthma medicines are also called “rescue medicines.”
Steroids pills are sometimes taken by people with chronic lung diseases, including asthma. Steroid pills (such as prednisone or methylprednisolone) are strong medicines that decrease swollen airways.!
The past few years have seen an increasing variety of asthma medications that your health care provider may prescribe for the treatment of asthma. These included include Controller Asthma Medicines, Quick Relief Asthma medicines and Steroids.
Controller Asthma Medicines : these are also called “preventative asthma medicines,” and are taken every day to help prevent asthma symptoms and asthma attacks.
Quick Relief Asthma Medicines : this type of asthma treatment reduces asthma reduce asthma symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and trouble breathing. Quick relief asthma medicines are also called “rescue medicines.”
Steroids and Nutrition: Some pills are sometimes taken by people with chronic lung diseases, including asthma, take steroid pills on a regular basis. Steroid pills (such as prednisone or methylprednisolone) are strong medicines that decrease swollen airways.!
