How To Reduce Asthma Problem

How To Take And Store

A member of your healthcare team and/or your pharmacist should go over the proper way to use your inhaler when it is first prescribed. Using your inhaler correctly is essential to ensuring you get a full dose of medication.

Albuterol inhalers are relatively easy to operate. A spacer is recommended as it ensures the medication goes deeper into the throat rather than being dispersed in the mouth.

If youre using the inhaler for the first time or have not used it in the past 14 days, you will need to prime it by shaking the canister and pressing it down four times to clear the opening.

Then, follow these five steps:

Be sure to clean your inhaler at least once a week to prevent clogs and contamination. Just remove the canister from its holder, rinse the holder under warm water for 30 seconds, and then allow it to dry overnight.

• Visual changes
• Worsened breathing

If used excessively or for long periods of time, albuterol can lead to low potassium levels , which may be serious in people with kidney failure.

Whats An Asthma Attack

When you breathe normally, muscles around your airways are relaxed, letting air move easily. During an asthma attack, three things can happen:

• Bronchospasm: The muscles around the airways constrict . When they tighten, it makes the airways narrow. Air cannot flow freely through constricted airways.
• Inflammation: The airway linings become swollen. Swollen airways dont let as much air in or out of the lungs.
• Mucus production: During the attack, your body creates more mucus. This thick mucus clogs airways.

Natural Asthma Remedy Risks

As you consider the different types of natural asthma remedies, itâs very important to carefully balance your desire to breathe easier with the possible dangers of the treatments, which may be unknown. Keep these things in mind:

• Never use any dietary supplement before checking with your doctor.
• Some natural herbal products, such as bee pollen, may trigger an asthma attack if youâre allergic to the specific plant.
• Never stop using your asthma drugs without your doctorâs knowledge. If you donât follow your treatment plan, the results can be very serious and even deadly.

If youâre not sure about the claims on a natural dietary supplement product label, call your doctor before taking it. They can check the product to let you know if it has any health benefits.

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Will Medicine Help Me Sleep Better

Yes, if you have nighttime asthma symptoms. Many people wake up with asthma symptoms such as coughing or wheezing. You can control nighttime symptoms by taking asthma medicines as directed by your doctor.

Removing triggers where you sleep may help you sleep better. Many people are allergic to dust mites and mold found in bedding materials. Using mattress or pillow encasements can help contain those allergens. Dehumidifiers can also be helpful to reduce the humidity in your home that dust mites and mold need to exist. Using air cleaners in your bedroom may also help reduce your exposure to allergens and irritants .

Preventer Medication For Asthma

Preventer medication makes the airways less sensitive and reduces inflammation and swelling. It needs to be taken as prescribed, over the long term, to be most effective in reducing the risk and severity of any flare-ups.Most preventer medication for asthma is inhaled corticosteroid. Because the medication goes straight to your lungs where it is needed, the risk of side effects from taking inhaled steroids is very low.

Most adults with asthma can achieve good control of their asthma symptoms with a low dose of inhaled corticosteroid.

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Dosage Of Turmeric For Treating Asthma:

The dosage for adults will depend upon the form of turmeric they are using, their health status and the tolerance levels of the particular person. So its always better to consult your doctor before using these methods.

Here covers the detailed dosage of turmeric in different forms for treating asthma.

• Turmeric root 1.5 to 3 grams per day
• Dried or powdered root 1 to 3 grams per day
• Curcumin powder 400 to 600 mg for thrice a day
• Fluid extract 30 to 90 drops per day
• Turmeric tincture 15 to 30 drops 4 times per day

Turmeric is not good for children or pregnant women.

Triggers And Lifestyle Changes

What causes your airways to become inflamed, swollen, and easily irritated? A trigger is anything that causes the airway to tighten or twitch. It can be an infection, irritants such as smoke or air pollution, allergens in the air, strenuous exercise, or strong emotions. Each persons asthma is unique and reacts to different triggers.

In most cases, triggers are found in the air we breathe especially allergens, which can cause an allergic reaction that increases inflammation and sets off asthma symptoms. By knowing the allergens that you react to, you can take actions to avoid them and prevent your airways from becoming inflamed and swollen.

Reducing exposure to your asthma triggers is the first important step in keeping your airways open and managing your asthma. Following are the most common things that trigger asthma. Dont be intimidated by the full list most asthma patients react to a few, not all of them.

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Be Aware Of The Relationship Of Fear To The Lungs

Both grief and fear reside in the lungs from an energetic standpoint. This is something that you can work on in a few ways, such as using Bach Flower Remedies or counseling, but we chose to use an emotion code practitioner who has helped us with numerous family traumas and history-type things in the past and it really helped. Stuck energy can manifest physically and the key is to get it moving and out. Louise Hay addressed this in her work, Chinese Medicine recognizes it and energy healers from around the world do as well.

Energy aside, think about how, when scared, your entire body tenses. We often hold our breath or go into shallow breathing when this happens. Emotional blockages are directly connected with our breathing. People, who experience anxiety, depression, fear, nervous tension or a poor self-image, tend to subconsciously hold their breath. Thus their breathing is tense, shallow, and sometimes spasmodic .

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What Happens During Asthma Attacks

Asthma attacks may start as minor but if not managed effectively, can turn dangerous. During an asthma attack, the airways become swollen and constricted more than usual. Breathing properly becomes quite tough. Some signs of an asthma attack are:

• Wheezing while breathing in and out
• Extremely rapid breathing

Read More on Asthma Causes & Triggers

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Remove Mold And Pollen:

Mold and pollen are also the common asthma triggers. How to prevent asthma attacks at home also includes removing mold from your house. So as to reduce it in your house, you need to remove household plants, avoid all the flowers whose pollen can lead to your asthma as well as maintain your house always clean and dry. In addition, you can open the window to get the new fresh air inside your house.

Reducing The Burden Of Asthma

Asthma cannot be cured, but good management with inhaled medications can control the disease and enable people with asthma to enjoy a normal, active life.

There are two main types of inhaler:

• bronchodilators , that open the air passages and relieve symptoms and
• steroids , that reduce inflammation in the air passages. This improves asthma symptoms and reduces the risk of severe asthma attacks and death.

People with asthma may need to use their inhaler every day. Their treatment will depend on the frequency of symptoms and the different types of inhalers available.

It can be difficult to coordinate breathing using an inhaler especially for children and during emergency situations. Using a spacer device makes it easier to use an aerosol inhaler and helps the medicine to reach the lungs more effectively. A spacer is a plastic container with a mouthpiece or mask at one end, and a hole for the inhaler in the other. A homemade spacer, made from a 500-ml plastic bottle, can be as effective as a commercially-manufactured inhaler.

Access to inhalers is a problem in many countries. In 2019, only half of people with asthma had access to a bronchodilator and less than one in five had access to a steroid inhaler in public primary health-care facilities in low-income countries .

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Alternative Therapy To Help Manage Asthma

At present, acupuncture is one of the most popular alternative therapies for asthma and is performed by competent practitioners.

Acupuncture involves the insertion of thin needles into the skin at specified locations to regulate the flow of energy that is believed to control psychophysical function.

What Causes An Asthma Attack

An asthma attack can happen when you are exposed to asthma triggers. Your asthma triggers can be very different from someone elses asthma triggers. Know your triggers and learn how to avoid them. Watch out for an attack when you cant avoid your triggers. Some of the most common triggers are tobacco smoke, dust mites, outdoor air pollution, cockroach allergen, pets, mold, smoke from burning wood or grass, and infections like flu.

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Ways To Prevent Asthma Attacks At Home

What causes his asthma attacks and how you can stop them.

Since most asthma attacks in children are caused by an allergic reaction, theres a lot that parents can do to prevent or reduce asthma symptoms by limiting their childs exposure to allergens. Here are four major steps:

1. Limit dust exposure. Babies and toddlers spend eight to ten hours a day in their rooms, so removing dust from their immediate area is a great place to start. Heres how to cut down on the dust in your childs room.

• Remove carpets and heavy drapes
• Wash all bedding and stuffed animals frequently in hot water
• Purchase allergen-barrier coverings for the pillows and mattresses

2. Protect your child from tobacco smoke. This is a significant asthma trigger. Some people think that smoking in a different room or outside is safe enough, but tobacco smoke gets into your hair and clothes, and your child then inhales it when you pick him up and snuggle with him. Having everyone in your household quit is the best option. If thats not possible, have smokers wear different shirts and cover their hair when they smoke.

3. Reduce or eliminate the pet factor. Many kids are allergic to pet dander. Its best not to keep a pet at home if it triggers your childs reactions. If thats not possible, at least keep the cat or dog out of the babys room.

Healthy Kid

Who Strategy For Prevention And Control Of Asthma

Asthma is included in the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

WHO is taking action to extend diagnosis of and treatment for asthma in a number of ways.

The WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions was developed to help improve NCD management in primary health care in low-resource settings. PEN includes protocols for the assessment, diagnosis, and management of chronic respiratory diseases , and modules on healthy lifestyle counselling, including tobacco cessation, and self-care.

Reducing tobacco smoke exposure is important for both primary prevention of asthma and disease management. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is enabling progress in this area as are WHO initiatives such as MPOWER and mTobacco Cessation.

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Vacuum Your Home Daily

Much like stuffed animals, floors are a cesspool for possible asthma triggers. Vacuuming can be an extremely important part in keeping the problem under control. Invest in a vacuum with a good filtration system that does not allow for debris and dust to recirculate. Regular replacement and cleaning of vacuum filters is also suggested to maximize suction power to reach deep inset fibers.

Use A Peak Flow Meter

A peak flow meter is an inexpensive handheld gadget. You use it to measure how fast air comes out when you exhale hard after a full breath in. This number is called a peak expiratory flow .

Your doctor may want you to use a peak flow meter to help you recognize signs of trouble. Many asthma symptoms result from not being able to move air out of your lungs. If your PEF goes down, that’s a sign that your asthma is getting worse and that you need to do something.

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Record Your Peak Flow Rates

A peak flow meter is a piece of medical equipment used to measure the speed of inhaled or exhaled air and thus helps in monitoring asthma. The peak flow number lowers when the airways narrow, such as during an attack.

The device can detect these contraction hours or days before the symptoms and thus enables you to take preventive measures and medications.

What Is An Asthma Action Plan

An asthma action plan is created by you and your doctor to help manage your asthma. It includes information about what you must do to stay healthy, and what to do when your asthma is unstable and you need help.There is no standard asthma action plan, as everyones asthma is different. Your plan needs to be developed to deal with your own triggers, signs and symptoms, and medication. It might be based on symptoms, peak-flow readings or both. However, symptom-based plans are more common.

Action plans are available in many different formats, you can also upload it to the Asthma Buddy mobile website.

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Ways To Reduce Asthma Triggers

A little prep can go a long way toward making your home safe for family members with asthma.

1. Track it

Keep a log of when your child has difficulty breathing so you can look for patterns, Dr. Thakur says. Do they have attacks whenever theyre near your cat? Do most flare-ups strike when theyre in bed? Jot down the details, and share them with your doctor to help identify possible causes of asthma attacks.

2. Get tested

If youre having trouble seeing patterns, ask your doctor about allergy testing. Such tests can help pinpoint whether your kiddo is reacting to pet dander or struggling with mold exposure.

3. Make the bed

Stuffed animals, pillows and blankets can collect a lot of dust . Anything that harbors dust can trigger allergies, Dr. Thakur says. Take steps to asthma-proof the bedroom:

• Wash bedding and pillows frequently in hot water.
• Remove stuffed animals from the bed .
• Use hypoallergenic mattress and pillow covers.

4. Tidy up

You dont have to be a perfect housekeeper, but its good to keep dust levels in check. Vacuum rugs regularly. Mop hard floors to clear dust and pet dander. If cockroaches or mice are a problem, keep food securely stored and look into pest control options.

5. Pet-proof your place

6. Skip the smoke

Breathing second or thirdhand smoke even old smoke on someones clothes can increase the risk of asthma attacks, Dr. Thakur says. Family members who smoke should smoke outside and change their clothes when they come back in.

7. Manage mold

How To Help Someone Having An Asthma Attack Without An Inhaler

Trying to help a person struggling through an asthma attack without an inhaler can be a frightening experience, but the most important thing you can do to help is to stay calm. Aside from breathing slowly, staying calm is crucial for the person experiencing an asthma attack and you dont want to add to the stress he is experiencing.

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Keep Your Pets Brushed And Clean

It is important to realize that pets are a common trigger for asthmatic attacks. So you need to take extra caution to make sure that your pets are washed and brushed regularly. This eliminates excess hair and dander scales floating around your home, which are responsible for such attacks. It is also a good idea to keep the bedrooms in your house no pet zones. The best way to avoid an asthma attack is to avoid the allergen.

How Do I Know If A Flare

Heres a good way to see how bad a flare-up is: measure your peak expiratory flow using a peak flow meter. Your doctor can show you how to use a peak flow meter to keep track of your asthma. A peak flow meter costs less than $30, and you only have to buy it one time. First, you find out your personal best peak flow. This is the highest reading you can get on the meter over a two-week period when your asthma is under good control.

Here are some general guidelines you can use to find out how serious an asthma flare-up is:

During mild flare-ups, you may notice shortness of breath when you walk or exercise, but when you sit still, you feel okay. You can usually breathe well enough to talk in complete sentences. You may hear some wheezing, mostly at the end of exhaling . Your peak flow readings will be 80 to 100 percent of your personal best.

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