What Does An Asthma Attack Sound Like

Side Effects Of Steroid Tablets

Oral steroids carry a risk if they are taken for more than three months or if they are taken frequently . Side effects can include:

• easy bruising
• muscle weakness

With the exception of increased appetite, which is very commonly experienced by people taking oral steroids, most of these unwanted effects are uncommon.

However, it is a good idea to keep an eye out for them regularly, especially side effects that are not immediately obvious, such as high blood pressure, thinning of the bones, diabetes and glaucoma.

You will need regular appointments to check for these.

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• Asthma UK: side effects of asthma medicines

What Is Asthma Anyway

First up, a little anatomy refresher: Your airways, which extend between your nose and mouth and your lungs, have the very important job of carrying air in and out of your body, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute . When you have asthma, triggers like animal fur, pollen, mold, cold air, cigarette smoke, exercise, and respiratory infections like colds cause your airways to get inflamed, according to the NHLBI. That inflammation can cause swelling, which in turn can prompt the muscles around your airways to tighten, making it hard to get air in and out. At the same time, your airways might also expel more mucus than they usually do, making it even harder to breathe.

Experts dont know exactly what causes some people to get asthma when others dont, but its pretty safe to assume that its probably a combination of environmental factors and genetic factors. For example, if someone in your immediate family has asthma, youre more likely to have it too, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Beyond that, the general cause is a stronger-than-normal response from your immune system to certain triggers, which is why you get all that inflammation when people without asthma dont, says the NHLBI.

What Does Asthma Cough Sound Like In Child

Asthma is one of the major illnesses affecting children across the world. It is a chronic disease that not only affects children but also adults despite their gender, race, or nationality. Up to 18% of children in a particular country suffer from asthma. In the United States of America, around 9 million kids are living and battling asthma, while at least 18 million were told to have asthma. The sound of cough in asthma children is similar to the cough we used to hear. The only thing is that asthma might have other symptoms that may accompany the cough such as noisy breathing or in medical terms is also known as wheezing. Doctoroncall is a platform where you can learn more about asthma or any other diseases.

The number of new cases of asthma especially among children is increasing in certain countries including China. Certain factors are identified to be the culprit behind the increasing new asthma cases. The factors are:

• Increase exposure to an indoor allergen
• Air pollution
• Climate
• Toxic agents in the environment

Entertainment via television, computers, tablets, and other modern gadgets are holding children more indoor sitting without enough physical activity. This lack of activity and hours of sitting affects lung function and capacity. Indirectly, a sedentary lifestyle may cause more children to suffer from asthma.

The symptoms of asthma are:

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How Do I Handle An Asthma Flare

If you feel like a flare-up is about to happen, stay calm. Let people around you know what’s going on. Then remember your asthma action plan. That’s the written plan that tells you what to do next.

Stay calm and focus on what your asthma action plan says. Your doctor probably told you to use your quick-relief medicine, so do that first.

If you can figure out what triggered your symptoms , remove the trigger or yourself from the area. Sometimes that’s all you need to get your asthma under control again.

If a flare-up is more severe, you might need to get help.

Asthma Is A Complex Condition

Occasionally, people with asthma experience what are known as silent symptoms. This is where the signs of the tightening of the airways dont result in the familiar asthma sounds of wheezing and coughing. If you or someone you live with, work with, or care for experiences silent symptoms, it is important they consult a doctor for an ongoing Asthma Action Plan. People around the person with asthmasuch as co-workers, school teachers or daycare educators should know about the silent symptoms so they can respond if needed. Asthma can start at any age, and can be more of a problem when it starts in older adults. Dont assume if you never had asthma as a child that its not possible to develop symptoms now. Being breathless is not a normal part of getting older, it should always be checked out by a doctor.

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Avoid Allergens And Illness

Exposure to allergens can cause the body to produce more mucus than normal. Allergens can include animal dander, pollen, dust mites, fragrance, certain foods, and much more. If you have allergies, avoiding these things can help reduce excess mucus production. Additionally, getting sick with a cold can cause mucus to build-up in your throat and sinus cavities. As the common cold season is approaching, wash your hands frequently, support your immune system, get enough sleep, and keep your distance from others.2

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What Happens During An Asthma Flare

During a flare-up, you might have:

• trouble breathing
• a whistling sound when you breathe
• a cough

Flare-ups happen when the in the lungs get more irritated and swollen than usual. Your lungs might make a sticky mucus, which clogs the airways. The muscles around the airways will also tighten up, making them really narrow. This clogging and narrowing make it tough to pull air in and push air out.

Some flare-ups are mild, but others are serious. If the flare-up is severe, a person might:

• struggle to breathe or have fast breathing even when sitting still
• not be able to speak more than a few words at a time without pausing
• have retractions while breathing in

Flare-ups can happen suddenly. They also can build up over time, especially if you havent been taking your asthma medicine.

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How Do They Affect Each Other

Its not yet clear why reflux and asthma occur together or if one causes the other. However, it is known that they can affect each other, making each condition worse in something of a vicious circle.

In some cases, acid may be stimulating the nerves in your esophagus. This may trigger the nerves to tell your esophagus and larynx to protect itself from the acid. Mucous production may increase and a cough reflex may also be triggered. In other cases, acid directly injures the lining of your throat, airway, and lungs, which makes breathing difficult and causes a cough, or causes an inflammatory reaction in the lower airway, creating an asthma attack, Dr. Kessler said.

On the other hand, it is possible for asthma medicines to make your symptoms worse. This is most likely to occur with the asthma drug theophylline. Inhaled steroids used for asthma may increase symptoms that are similar to LPR.

I Cough So Much That I Can\’t Catch My Breath

Coughing can definitely make you short of breath. Especially when you are trying to cough out any mucus that is in your lungs. It\’s hard work having to cough hard enough to clear it all out which can lead to being short of breath. Also, coughing due to that insatiable tickling feeling down in your lungs can lead to shortness of breath as well.

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After An Asthma Attack: Changing Your Asthma Management Or Asthma Attack Treatment

After an asthma attack evaluation, your doctor may want to step up treatment, step down treatment, change treatment, or increase your doctor visits, said Bernstein.

Some signs that your treatment plan may need to change include:

• Frequent asthma attacks
• Needing to take more asthma medication than prescribed
• Waking up at night with asthma symptoms
• Daytime activity limited by asthma
• Continued , congestion, and mucous production
• Poor peak flow rates

Knowing what to do after an asthma attack is part of learning how to manage your asthma. Each asthma attack is a chance to learn more about your asthma triggers and your asthma medications. Sharing this information with your doctor gives you and your doctor the opportunity to make the right adjustments to your asthma action plan â and that could mean fewer asthma attacks in your future.

What To Do During An Asthma Attack

Given that the symptoms of an asthma attack may crop up quickly, it helps to be prepared. If this occurs, you may experience:

• The need to use your inhaler every two to three hours
• An increase in chest tightness, shortness of breath, wheezing, or coughing
• Being woken at night due to asthma symptoms

Now that you know the answer to the frequently asked question, what does an asthma attack feel like? if you or someone youre with is experiencing it, call an ambulance or head over to the nearest clinic.

If you notice the fingertips turning blue, rapidly debilitating asthma symptoms, difficulty breathing, or not improving from the use of an inhaler, you should call for emergency assistance.

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People On Your Asthma Healthcare Team May Include:

• Your doctor you may have a family doctor and a respirologist
• Your nurse
• Your pharmacist
• Your certified asthma educator or certified respiratory educator : Certified asthma educators and certified respiratory educators are respiratory therapists, nurses, pharmacist, or physiotherapists who have special training to teach people about asthma. They are experts at explaining how asthma affects you and what you can do about it. To find a Certified Asthma Educator or Certified Respiratory Educator, ask your local Lung Association or your doctor. Or look for an asthma education clinic near you search our online database of asthma programs and clinics.

/9how Asthma Attack Feels Like

Remember how it feels like when you are stuck in a small space with no ventilation? The uneasiness, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest, makes you feel that you are going to pass out. Well, that is not even half of what patients feel like during an asthma attack.

Every asthma patient has their own experience and something new to describe how an attack feels like. The only similarity is that it is equally traumatizing for all. It can be a dull ache in the chest or puffiness or tightness in the chest. Some describe it as if the air is squeezed out of their lungs, while as per others it is like breathing through a squashed straw.

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Really Gross Wet Cough

Your childâs had a cold for a week now, and itâs getting worse. His cough is wet and phlegmy, and his breathing seems to be faster than usual.

The Likely Cause: Pneumonia, in which a virus or bacterium invades the lungs, causes them to fill up with fluid. âBecause the child is trying to get the fluid out of his lungs, a pneumonia cough tends to be pretty ugly,â says Dr. Lonzer. âThis is the hacking-up-goobers one.â

Pneumonia Treatment: Your pediatrician may be able to diagnose pneumonia with a physical exam but might need to send your child for an X-ray. She may do an oxygen-saturation test to check for a low oxygen level. If the doctor determines from the test results that the pneumonia is bacterial, sheâll prescribe antibiotics viral pneumonia has to run its course. Pneumonia can usually be treated at home, but if itâs severe, your child may need to stay in the hospital for a few days.

How Is Cat Asthma Diagnosed

Chest x-rays, listening to breaths with a stethoscope, and collecting samples are methods the vet uses to determine if asthma is the cause of your cats symptoms.

However, cat asthma is usually only diagnosed when other conditions are ruled out10. Some conditions that may have similar symptoms include:

• Feline Heartworm
• Lungworm
• Foreign Bodies

The vet may administer special tests to see if any of these conditions are the cause of the symptoms. Taking a video of your cat coughing can help your vet determine if asthma is the cause.

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Control Of Polymeric Mucin Production

The induction of Muc5ac in allergically inflamed mice is dependent upon two important signaling pathways: the IL-13/IL-4 receptor-α complex and the epidermal growth factor receptor . The functional dominance of these signaling pathways, however, does not translate into a simple intracellular pathway for Muc5ac gene activation. The principal signaling molecule activated by IL-13 is signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 . STAT6 signaling in mouse airway Clara cells is necessary and sufficient for Muc5ac induction and airway hyperreactivity in response to IL-13 . STAT6 binds to a canonical motif, 5â²-TTCN4GAA-3â², but this motif is not present in the conserved promoter regions of any mammalian MUC5AC orthologs . One indirect mechanism that may explain IL-13-mediated Muc5ac promoter activation is STAT6-dependent downregulation of forkhead box a2 . Foxa2 is a critical negative regulator of Muc5ac expression, and genetic deletion of Foxa2 in mice leads to constitutive Muc5ac overproduction resembling mucous metaplasia .

Transcriptional control of Muc5ac production gr2

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How Does Asthma Affect The Lungs And Airways

The airways inside your lungs look like an upside-down tree. The respiratory system is in the chest and is made up of several different parts:

• Upper respiratory system This is the nose, sinuses, and the parts of the airway called the pharynx and the part of the larynx above the vocal chords.
• Lower respiratory system This is the portion of the larynx below the vocal chords, the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles

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Life Expectancy For Cats With Asthma

In cats, asthma is considered to be an incurable and often progressive condition, which means that cats with asthma are likely to experience periodic flare-ups that can vary in intensity from mild to life-threatening.

That said, with the help of appropriate medications and a little extra care from pet parents, asthma in cats is manageable. By keeping a watchful eye on your cat’s respiratory effort, looking out for the symptoms listed above, and intervening with medication when needed, you can help your cat to live a happy life for many years.

How Do I Treat My Child’s Asthma Attack

You will need to use the blue inhaler with a plastic tube called a spacer.

• give 2 puffs of the blue inhaler, one puff at a time, using the spacer, every 4 hours
• for each puff of the blue inhaler, your child will need to take 6 breaths through the spacer

If your child is still not improving:

• you can give up to 6 puffs of the blue inhaler every 4 hours

You need to take your child to your family doctor, or an after-hours clinic, or the hospital:

• if you need to give the blue inhaler more often than every 2 hours
• if there is no improvement 30 minutes after giving 6 puffs of the blue inhaler

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When To See A Doctor Urgently

Keep your child sitting up and give them 6 puffs of the blue inhaler through the spacer and see a doctor urgently if your child has any of the following symptoms:

• is breathing fast, wheezing and having to use extra effort to breathe
• is breathless at rest

• has blue lips and tongue
• has periods of stopping breathing

In severe asthma, it is usually better to dial 111 within New Zealand and ask for emergency medical help, rather than drive your child in your own car to the hospital.

While you are waiting for the ambulance, keep giving your child 6 puffs of the blue inhaler through the spacer every 5 minutes.

What To Do If You Dont Have An Inhaler

If you have been diagnosed with asthma and have been prescribed a rescue inhaler, one of the most important things you can do is keep the inhaler within arms reach at all times. Rescue inhalers for asthma are designed to alleviate asthma symptoms so that an individual can breathe more normally once again.

Patients who believe they are having an asthma attack but do not have access to a prescribed rescue inhaler should seek emergency medical help. Urgent care centers and emergency rooms should have access to an inhaler and/or breathing treatment that can help expand a patients airways and ease their breathing during an asthma attack. In the seconds and minutes it may take to obtain medical help, patients without an inhaler can do three things:

How an Asthmatic Can Be Better Prepared for Future Asthma Attacks

Asthma can have a trickle-down effect for patients, meaning that not only does it affect how they live their lives, if left unmanaged it may also result in:

• Repeat asthmatic episodes

• Listing what medications are currently being taken
• Identifying the next steps to take if symptoms do not improve with a rescue inhaler
• Listing actions to be taken in an asthma emergency

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