Tips for Treating Asthma Symptoms
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 8:39Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the airways, the tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. Asthma is a serious illness; it’s also very common, and millions of individuals throughout the world suffer from it. And the number of sufferers climbs continually.
Although there isn’t a cure for asthma, there are a variety of asthma treatments to help prevent or relieve the condition. It can be managed to the place where they can go about their lives in a normal fashion without experiencing constant asthma symptoms.
Treatment
Prevention is the preferred method of treating an asthma attack. Find out the specific triggers for your symptoms and stay away from them. However, there will still be times when an asthma attack is unavoidable. So knowing how to treat an asthma attack is essential.
Bear in mind that not all asthma attacks are alike. At times, your symptoms might be more severe than others. And in a severe asthma attack the airways can close up so much that not enough oxygen gets to the vital organs in the body. This is classified as a medical emergency. A severe asthma attack can even result in death. So if you are one of the millions of asthma sufferers you need to realize just how serious your condition is.
Medication
Typically, the most effective way to manage an asthma attack is with medication. It can help asthma sufferers keep their condition under control and ward off an attack before it becomes serious. Asthma remedies are taken either orally or inhaled as a vapor using a metered dose inhaler.
There are actually two different kinds of medication that can be used. A bronchodilator will help out by keeping spasms in check. Anti-inflammatory medications reduce airway inflammation. If your asthma is particularly severe, your doctor may suggest that you use a combination of both.
There are a number of highly effective medications that your doctor can prescribe, such as:
*Accolade and Singulair, which are leukotriene inhibitors
*Serevent and Famoterol, long lasting bronchodilators, and
*Theophylline or Aminophylline.
Visit your doctor to find out if these medications are right for you, or to explore natural asthma remedies.