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There are some signs shown by your body before an asthma attack. The only thing is to know what are the signs, and knowing this would be beneficial to us and we could take appropriate actions to avoid such asthma attack or at least get help before the situation gets worse. The condition is deteriorating if:

• You observe that you have wheezing persistently.
• You have to frequently use asthma inhalers.
• Not getting relief from Bronchodilator drugs, the situation seems to be unchanged.
• You get tired very fast.
• Because of the uneasiness or difficulty in breathing you have to use Bronchodilator very frequently.

These are some of the signs or condition of deterioration in asthma, if the conditions are not stabilized then one have to call for emergency asthma treatment without wasting any more time.

As we all now know what is the cause of asthma and what actually happens when you come across an asthma attack. You need to take proper medicine to keep the asthma attack away from you. Inhalers is the medication given to asthma patients. By using such inhalers, small amount of medicine is passed into the body directly into the lungs. This medicine helps the muscles to relax. There are two main types of asthma medicine available: Reliever inhaler & Preventer inhalers.

Reliever Inhalers:
Reliever Inhalers are available in blue color. Reliever Inhalers need to be used only you come across any asthma symptom. Reliever Inhaler is the type of medicine which is passed into the lungs and helps the muscles to relax. Reliever Inhalers are not to be used on regular basis, they are sort of mild type of medicine given to patients who complaint about breathing problem and show some symptoms of asthma. If at all you have to take this medicine for around a month then you need to consult your doctor and get the medicine changed. In this case you may have to go for higher dose like preventer inhalers.

Preventer Inhalers:
Preventer Inhalers are the medicine containing corticosteroids. These steroids helps to calm the inflammation present in the breathing pipe. This also helps in blocking the blood vessels from leaking. This medicine is available in multiple colors. This medicine needs to be taken everyday. If at all you missed taking it some day please take your daily dose at the very same moment you get remind off. This medicine needs to be continued till you find that all the asthma symptoms are gone. Some people wash their mouth with water after taking the dose of asthma medicine, this helps to reduce the side-effects of the medicine.

Please note that you should not select the medicine on your own. It needs to be prescribed by the doctor, and while taking consulting from the doctor, don’t forget to discuss your allergies with your doctor. Mainly if you have any allergy from medicine or food.

Asthma Inhalers

Metered dose inhaler: The medicine with this inhaler is mixed with an organic solvent and sealed in canister. The medicine needs to be sprayed in the plastic case. Then breath the medicine from the plastic case and hold your breath for around 10 seconds, then exhale. Wait for few seconds and then take another deep breath with the medicine.

Autohaler: Autohaler comes with the lever on the top of the case. This inhaler contains pressurized aerosol in the case. So when the person starts breathing through the case the lever automatically shifts and the medicine is passed while breathing. The person needs to keep on breathing otherwise the medicine would be vaporized / lost instead of passing it to the lungs.

Spacer devices: This device is mainly used for children, who are unable to manage the inhalers. In spacer devices the medicine remains in the spacer device and once the 1 cycle of breathing is done, one can wait for few seconds and continue with second breathing cycle. The advantage with spacer device is the medicine is not wasted, which actually happens with metered dose inhalers and autohalers. Need to take care that the spacer device is cleaned every time before use.

Dry powder inhaler: Dry powder inhaler works quite differently then other inhalers. You need to put the medicine capsule in the inhaler and the person can start breathing. Once the person starts breathing, the inhaler punctures the capsule and the powder from the capsule gets filled in the capsule, this powder is then inhaled and passed it to the lungs when you breath.

Nebulizer: In case of asthma attack if the medicine needs to be given to asthma patient in emergency the best way to give asthma medicine is through nebulizer. The reason why this method is used during emergency is because it is easy to give medicine to the asthma patient and easy for the patient to consume it. The drug comes in a liquid form which gets converted into fine powder. The breathing can be done through mouth piece.

The elements listed below doesn’t cover the complete list of triggering elements causing asthma, and these elements are the potential allergens of causing asthma, the behavior of these elements may vary from person to person.

• Pollen, animal fur, house dust mite, chalk dust, wood dust, flour, cigarette smoke, fly sprays, air fresheners are some of the airborne allergens and airborne pollutants that may trigger asthma.
• Alcohol, flu, sinusitis, viral infection, colds, cosmetics, tea, emotional changes like emotional upset or emotional excitement though this problem is mainly observed in small children, exercise, temperature changes and humidity changes.
• Milk, eggs, wheat, cheese, yeast, corn, pork, peanut, pea, soya, currants, food allergens like food color, food preservatives, antioxidants, flavor enhancers, garlic, oregano, rosemary, mint, are some of the food allergens which can cause asthma.
• Insect stings, latex, exposure to chemicals, fumes, vapors, dust, gases, dyes, PVC, soldering fumes, glycols, wood dust etc because of the occupation, is also one of the reasons why people suffer from asthma.
• Strong perfume smell, household cleaners smell, paints, varnishes, strong smelling flowers can also cause asthma to trigger.
• There are some medicines which can trigger asthma so while consuming it you need to be very careful:
  • Aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, beta-blockers, HRT ( hormone replacement treatment ), contraceptive pills which contain oestrogen.

There is a large possibility of having sinusitis if you are already suffering from asthma. Sinusitis may trigger because of cold or because of any potential sinusitis allergen like cigarette smoke or pets etc.

Sinusitis Symptoms

• Coughing.
• Sore throat
• Blocked nose or stuffy nose or postnasal drip.
• Pain around cheeks and eyes.
• Headache and earache.
• Loosing the sense of smell and taste.

From studies it is found that in UK approx 80% of children develop the symptoms of asthma before children cross the age of 5. Because of this parents can easily make out signs like:

• The child has less stamina.
• The child gets tired very quickly and finds difficult to breath.
• While breathing they breath with noise, otherwise their breathing is quiet.
• They start to cough if they fell short of breath. It can be caused because of exercise, cigarette smoke or allergens like dust, pollens and pets.

There is lot of confusion between bronchitis and asthma, many times the diagnose is done in-correctly in case of children. Children with asthma in early days of their childhood is found to be minimal during their adult hood, but still there are some exceptions. Some children develop asthma and as they grow the problems related to asthma also grow and become more severe asthma. In childhood the wind-pipe is small and this wind-pipe could be blocked very easily due to deposition of mucus on the walls of the wind-pipe.

The common triggers to asthma in children could be exercise or viral infection. Children fall sick when they go through the asthma attack. During the asthma attack the children fell short of breathing, their lungs become tight because they are not able to push the air out of the body, and this puts pressure on the stomach. Because of these reasons children fall sick and complaint about problems faced during asthma.

Asthma Treatment

Small children find taking metered dose inhalers difficult, so doctors prescribe them with asthma syrup instead of asthma inhaler.
Need to take extra care if the doctor have prescribed a course of steroids. Because there is a possibility that the asthma may get triggered because of a potential allergen. The care is needed because the body becomes more sensitive to asthma potential allergens. This care need to be taken for at least a year.

Asthma precautions

• Take medicine on time.
• Keep medicine which are easily accessible to the asthma suffering child and other members of the family.
• Keep the teachers and school staff aware about the asthma problem which your child is suffering from.
• Keep the teachers informed about the medicines to be taken and procedure to follow to take the medicine.
• Keep the contact numbers with the school staff along with the teacher, so that in emergency the person can contact parents immediately.