Sunday, February, 12, 2012

Asthma

Table of Contents

  • You take them when you are coughing, wheezing, having trouble breathing, or having an asthma attack. They are also called "rescue" drugs.
  • They also can be used just before exercising to help prevent asthma symptoms that are caused by exercise.
  • Tell your doctor if you are using quick-relief medicines twice a week or more to control your asthma symptoms. Your asthma may not be under control, and your doctor may need to change your dose of daily control drugs.

Quick-relief drugs include:

  • Short-acting bronchodilators (inhalers), such as Proventil, Ventolin, and Xopenex
  • Your doctor might prescribe oral steroids (corticosteroids) when you have an asthma attack that is not going away. These are medicines that you take by mouth as pills, capsules, or liquid. Plan ahead. Make sure you do not run out of these medications.

A severe asthma attack requires a check-up by a doctor. You may also need a hospital stay, oxygen, breathing assistance, and medications given through a vein (IV).

ASTHMA CARE AT HOME

  • Self-care skills that are important in taking care of your asthma are
  • Know the asthma symptoms to watch out for
  • Know how to take your peak flow reading and what it means
  • Keep the phone number of your child's doctor or nurse with you.
  • Know which triggers make your asthma worse and what to do when this happens.
  • Children with asthma need a lot of support at school. They may need help from school staff to keep their asthma under control and to be able to do school activities.

Asthma action plans are written documents for anyone with asthma. An asthma action plan should include:

  • A plan for taking asthma medications when your condition is stable
  • A list of asthma triggers and how to avoid them
  • How to recognize when your asthma is getting worse, and when to call your doctor or nurse

A peak flow meter is a simple device to measure how quickly you can move air out of your lungs.

  • It can help you see if an attack is coming, sometimes even before any symptoms appear. Peak flow measurements can help show when medication is needed, or other action needs to be taken.
  • Peak flow values of 50% - 80% of a specific person's best results are a sign of a moderate asthma attack, while values below 50% are a sign of a severe attack.

Support Groups

You can often ease the stress caused by illness by joining a support group, where members share common experiences and problems.

See: Asthma and allergy - support group


Expectations (prognosis)

Review Date: 05/01/2011
Reviewed By: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)