- There are 4,000 deaths due to asthma each year, many of which are avoidable with proper treatment and care.
- The annual cost of asthma is estimated to be nearly $18 billion.
- Hispanics may have an elevated risk for exposure to air pollution since a disproportionate number (80%) live in areas failing to meet one or more national standards for air pollutants.
- Asthma is the #1 cause of children missing school accounting for more than 14 million total missed days of school.
- African American women have the highest asthma mortality rate of all groups, more than 2.5 times higher than Caucasian women.
- Asthma is more common among adult women than adult men, but it is more common among male children than female children.
- More than 17 million people in the US have been diagnosed with asthma.
- Asthma affects more than 4.8 million children, making it the most common serious chronic disease among children.
- African Americans are three times more likely to both be hospitalized from asthma and die from asthma.
- Asthma accounts for 25% of all emergency room visits in the U.S. each year, with two million emergency room visits.
- Every day, thirty thousand Americans have an asthma attack.
- Asthmatics with a near fatal episode have an increased likelihood of having a fatal attack in the future. This is why very close contact with your doctor is essential.
- Most asthmatics who suffer a near fatal attack are severe asthmatics, mild or severe asthmatics who didn’t take their medicines as prescribed, delay in seeking treatment, and those who are taking large amounts of beta agonists regularly.
- Fatal Asthma does not care how old you are, nor what sex, nor what color or race or creed.
- Mild asthmatics can die of fatal asthma, but mostly due to improper care or delayed treatment.
- There is no evidence that Albuterol increases the risk of a fatal asthma attack.
- Use of Albuterol as the sole treatment may possibly contribute to fatal asthma, but probably due to lack of inhaled corticosteroids to manage chronic inflammation.
- Boys are twice as likely to develop asthma than females, but the exact reason is unknown. Studies show boys are more likely to have a positive allergy test, to show more bronchial hyperresponsiveness and appear to have different patterns of airway function development.
- Socioeconomic status and asthma fatality are inversely related. Or, poverty and asthma fatalities are linearly related.
- African Americans have an increased incidence of asthma than whites. Socioeconomic status may be a factor, but recent studies show higher IgE serum levels and prevalence fo bronchial responsivemenss in blacks as compared with whites.
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For the Asthma Guidelines category
The key to proper asthma control is to focus on persistently managing the condition, rather than simply wait for the arrival of symptoms, and then get hassled for the need for relief. So simply follow some elementary do’s and don’ts to keep asthma in control:
Do’s for asthma:
- Remember to be in touch with a doctor to take care of emergencies; and take medications on time and regularly.
- Keep all “controller medications” within reach. These include inhaled corticosteroids, bronchodilators and leukotriene modifiers. You may be required to take such medicines regularly even if feeling well.
- Try to identify and control your asthma attack triggers. Once identified, avoid exposure to the trigger.
- Also learn to recognize the early signs of an attack. Many people benefit from measuring their lung function daily with a peak flow meter which measures the greatest amount of air one can exhale. This helps identify when breathing problems are starting and when to take medicine to prevent a full-fledged attack.
- Do maintain proper cleanliness inside your house. Regularly wash bedding, including pillows, quilts, bedspreads. Try to keep moisture minimum.Ensure a high level of ventilation by opening windows where possible
- If pregnant, and also prone to asthma, be extra careful to keep asthma well-controlled so as to ensure adequate oxygen for the foetus. An asthmatic woman should be in constant touch with her doctor.
- Control your environment – environmental triggers, such as dust mites and pet dander, can be hazardous if you have asthma. Learn from various study material on the internet or from the library on how to avoid triggers.
- Certain practices, such as meditation or yoga especially pranayam exercises which involve deep breathing help control asthma to a large extent. One can try them out.
- Take care of your diet. Foods such as dairy products, shrimps, shellfish, certain nuts which trigger asthma should be avoided. Citrus fruits, particularly the grapefruit, is of great benefit as it aids in clearing the accumulated mucus in the bronchial tube; and also in bringing new mucus forming elements to the tubes by the blood-stream.
- There is no special diet for disease, but the best is two to three light meals a day with the simplest combination of fruits, vegetables, whole-grain cereals and milk. This diet should definitely include citrus fruits, berries and melons, but white sugar should be strictly avoided and brown sugar to be used sparingly.
- Make it a point that if you have asthma, your lungs get plenty of fresh air. However, it is important that you avoid chilling. Warmth of the body is important to prevent an internal congestion that may aggravate an attack. Clothing should be loose at all points.
- Moderate exercises are beneficial. No specific exercises are required, but all active sports that the patient can indulge in will do – especially general setting-up exercises that involve deep breathing and use of the arm and chest muscles should be used. Heat by any continuous means to the upper spine or the upper chest also give relief. The drinking of an abundance of hot water is relaxing and often helps to abort or shorten an attack.
Don’ts in asthma:
- Do not deny the fact that you have asthma. Accept it and take medications to control it. Asthma is a chronic disease, not to be neglected – do not forget or refuse to take the medications that can control it.
- Not following an asthma treatment program is not a good choice. If people don’t take their medications it can lead to asthma flares and may even endanger their lives. In fact, deaths from asthma have actually increased in recent years. This is mainly because many people, especially teens avoid using inhalers or other medications.
- Don’t abandon life-saving tools like daily preventive medicines and peak flow meters if they’re a part of your treatment plan, even if you’re feeling absolutely fine with no symptoms. Remember, asthma is like a dormant volcano, which can erupt any time without a warning. So, its best to be prepared.
- Avoid mucus-forming foods – All mucus-forming foods such as dairy foods, chocolates, refined white flour, bread, cakes, and white sugar are best avoided in asthma. This is because excess mucus further blocks the airways and thus aggravates the condition.
- Do not smoke. Cigarette smoke is a common cause of asthma aggravation not only for yourself, but maybe for someone around you. Secondhand smoke is a common trigger of asthma attacks. If someone in your family smokes, talk to him about quitting.
- I t is necessary to avoid cold applications until considerable general improvement has been secured. Many attacks have been aggravated by cold applied to the chest or upper back.
If you have been diagnosed with asthma, it isn’t your fault. It can be easily controlled, you just need to be a bit cautious, alert and regular. With a well managed asthma, a person’s quality of life can be as good as that of a normal person
If you suffer from asthma you already know that an attack can happen at the most inopportune moment. It is very important that you know how to effectively deal with an asthma attack in the event that one happens. This
Below are ten different steps that will help you deal with an asthma attack.
1. If you notice that you’re coming down with an asthma attack, it is very important that you stop what you are doing immediately, no matter how important you think it is. There is no such thing as an unimportant asthma attack.
2. Remember to remain calm. If you begin to stress out, this will only make the attack worse.
3. If you are in the company of other people take the time to explain to them what is going on. If they have never experienced an asthma attack, they may become excited and cause you to stress out more than you already are.
4. If the attack happens while you are at home, try to avoid as much stress in the background as possible such as heavy traffic, loud dogs in the background, and any other loud noise that may be going on.
5. If at all possible, drink a lot of water. Extremely cold water will actually make your attack worse, so remember to drink lukewarm water whenever possible.
6. Do not run or walk fast in order to get to a particular place. This will only speed up your metabolism and make your asthma attack worse.
7. As soon as you make it home, make sure that the first thing that you do is sit down and relax. If possible ask someone to grab the medications that you need.
8. Talk as little as you possibly can because talking is hard work on the neck muscles, and may cause them to tense up.
9. Remember to stay warm if it is cold outside. An extra undershirt or jacket is never a bad idea if you are especially prone to asthma attacks.
10. If it’s hot outside, drink a lot of fluids and stay as cool as possible. Overheating your body will only heighten the chance that you will come down with an asthma attack.
Child-Onset Asthma
Asthma that begins during childhood is called child-onset asthma. This type of asthma happens because a child becomes sensitized to common allergens in the environment – most likely due to genetic reasons. The child is atopic – a genetically determined state of hypersensitivity to environmental allergens.
Allergens are any substances that the body will treat as a foreign body, triggering an immune response. These vary widely between individuals and often include animal proteins, fungi, pollen, house-dust mites and some kind of dust. The airway cells are sensitive to particular materials making an asthmatic response more likely if the child is exposed to a certain amount of an allergen.
Adult-Onset Asthma
This term is used when a person develops asthma after reaching 20 years of age. Adult-onset asthma affects women more than men, and it is also much less common than child-onset asthma.
It can also be triggered by some allergic material or an allergy. It is estimated that up to perhaps 50% of adult-onset asthmas are linked to allergies. However, a substantial proportion of adult-onset asthma does not seem to be triggered by exposure to allergen(s); this is called non-allergic adult-onset asthma. This non-allergic type of adult onset asthma is also known as intrinsic asthma. Exposure to a particle or chemical in certain plastics, metals, medications, or wood dust can also be a cause of adult-onset asthma.
Exercise-Induced Asthma
If you cough, wheeze or feel out of breath during or after exercise, you could be suffering from exercise-induced asthma. Obviously, your level of fitness is also a factor – a person who is unfit and runs fast for ten minutes is going to be out of breath. However, if your coughing, wheezing or panting does not make sense, this could be an indication of exercise-induced asthma.
As with other types of asthma, a person with exercise-induced asthma will experience difficulty in getting air in and out of the lungs because of inflammation of the bronchial tubes (airways) and extra mucus.
Some people only experience asthma symptoms during physical exertion. The good news is that with proper treatment, a person who suffers from exercise-induced asthma does not have to limit his/her athletic goals. With proper asthma management, one can exercise as much as desired. Mark Spitz won nine swimming gold medals during the 1972 Olympics and he suffered from exercise-induced asthma.
Eighty percent of people with other types of asthma may have symptoms during exercise, but many people with exercise-induced asthma never have symptoms while they are not physically exerting themselves.
Cough-Induced Asthma
Cough-induced asthma is one of the most difficult asthmas to diagnose. The doctor has to eliminate other possibilities, such as chronic bronchitis, post nasal drip due to hay fever, or sinus disease. In this case the coughing can occur alone, without other asthma-type symptoms being present. The coughing can happen at any time of day or night. If it happens at night it can disrupt sleep.
Occupational Asthma
This type of asthma is triggered by something in the patient’s place of work. Factors such as chemicals, vapors, gases, smoke, dust, fumes, or other particles can trigger asthma. It can also be caused by a virus (flu), molds, animal products, pollen, humidity and temperature. Another trigger may be stress. Occupational asthma tends to occur soon after the patients starts a new job and disappears not long after leaving that job.
Nocturnal Asthma
Nocturnal asthma occurs between midnight and 8 AM. It is triggered by allergens in the home such as dust and pet dander or is caused by sinus conditions. Nocturnal or nighttime asthma may occur without any daytime symptoms recognized by the patient. The patient may have wheezing or short breath when lying down and may not notice these symptoms until awoken by them in the middle of the night – usually between 2 and 4 AM.
Nocturnal asthma may occur only once in a while or frequently during the week. Nighttime symptoms may also be a common problem in those with daytime asthma as well. However, when there are no daytime symptoms to suggest asthma is an underlying cause of the nighttime cough, this type of asthma will be more difficult to recognize – usually delaying proper therapy. The causes of this phenomenon are unknown, although many possibilities are under investigation.
Steroid-Resistant Asthma (Severe Asthma)
While the majority of patients respond to regular inhaled glucocorticoid (steroid) therapy, some are steroid resistant. Airway inflammation and immune activation play an important role in chronic asthma. Current guidelines of asthma therapy have therefore focused on the use of anti-inflammatory therapy, particularly inhaled glucocorticoids (GCs). By reducing airway inflammation and immune activation, glucocorticoids are used to treat asthma. However, patients with steroid resistant asthma have higher levels of immune activation in their airways than do patients with steroid sensitive (SS) asthma.
Furthermore, glucocorticoids do not reduce the eosinophilia (high concentration of eosinophil granulocytes in the blood) or T cell activation found in steroid resistant asthmatics. This persistent immune activation is associated with high levels of the immune system molecules IL-2 (interleukin 2), IL-4 and IL-5 in the airways of these patients.
New information and treatment considerations for Asthma….
Dec 06
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By adminNo Comments(VISIT: mhlnk.com Promo Link. Proven Natural Treatment for Asthma. Effective Natural Asthma Remedy. Asthma Mist is a Natural homeopathic spray fortified with ingredients long used by homeopathic scientists to alleviate symptoms associated with asthma. These symptoms include affections of……
A two part activity on asthma action plans from the Respiratory and Allergic Disease Foundation. Dr. Alan Goldsobel discusses asthma action plans and we meet a patient, Rachel, who describes her action plan to us. This activity is part of RAD’s “Snapshots for Success” series, which can be found at This was made possible through an educational grant from Genentech/Novartis….
A two part activity on asthma action plans from the Respiratory and Allergic Disease Foundation. Dr. Alan Goldsobel discusses asthma action plans and we meet a patient, Rachel, who describes her action plan to us. This activity is part of RAD’s “Snapshots for Success” series, which can be found at This was made possible through an educational grant from Genentech/Novartis….
A patient (who recently moved to Hillview Surgery) explains how a change in his asthma inhaler has dramatically changed his life. Wetry to ensure that our videos are accurate, up to date, and as helpful as possible. However we cannot be held responsible for any opinions, inaccuracies and omissions. We hope our videos increase your ability to access the range of healthcare provided by Hillview Surg…
Are You Suffering From Asthma? This is Natural Asthma Treatment – Don’t try any more treatment and drugs. Complete Asthma Relief Guide….