Medicines and Prevention Guide For Asthma
Over the last few years, medical science has discovered many new drugs to prevent attacks, as well as to control attacks when they occur.
The first step that a physician takes is to assess the patient's asthma.
This can be done by tests that measure the actual amount of air in the lungs.
The usual medicine offered is termed a: Bronchodilator - because it dilates or widens the narrowed air passages by relaxing the muscles in their walls.
Medicines must be carefully selected for individual patients.
Bronchodilators may be given by mouth, by inhalation, by injection or in a saline-type drip.
Getting rid of the plugs of phlegm that block the bronchi requires the patient to take in as much fluid as possible - by drinking, by breathing moist air, or by means of a saline-type drip.
With excess phlegm, chest physiotherapy may help.
The patient is positioned in such a way that the mucus is encouraged to flow out, loosened by skillful tapping on the back and front of the chest.
The best technique of preventing an attack, in theory, is to avoid the allergens to which a patient knows himself to be sensitive, which of course, applies only to asthma that has an allergic basis.
Both allergic and non-allergic asthma can be prevented by certain medicines which can actually prevent the "defensive reaction" taking place in the bronchi.
A child who is prone to exercise-induced asthma can prevent himself getting an attack by taking his dose of this type of medicine prior to indulging in physical exercise.
Particularly among young children, the emotional atmosphere surrounding the asthmatic is an important factor.
This is influenced not only by his parents and his brothers and sisters, but also by teachers, classmates and other children he plays with.
Asthmatic children can, and should, lead normal lives, being encouraged to learn normally and to take part in sports (swimming especially is a useful form of exercise).
They should in no way be separated from their classmates, or made to feel in any way "abnormal".
Virtually all asthmatics can lead ordinary lives.
The first step that a physician takes is to assess the patient's asthma.
This can be done by tests that measure the actual amount of air in the lungs.
The usual medicine offered is termed a: Bronchodilator - because it dilates or widens the narrowed air passages by relaxing the muscles in their walls.
Medicines must be carefully selected for individual patients.
Bronchodilators may be given by mouth, by inhalation, by injection or in a saline-type drip.
Getting rid of the plugs of phlegm that block the bronchi requires the patient to take in as much fluid as possible - by drinking, by breathing moist air, or by means of a saline-type drip.
With excess phlegm, chest physiotherapy may help.
The patient is positioned in such a way that the mucus is encouraged to flow out, loosened by skillful tapping on the back and front of the chest.
The best technique of preventing an attack, in theory, is to avoid the allergens to which a patient knows himself to be sensitive, which of course, applies only to asthma that has an allergic basis.
Both allergic and non-allergic asthma can be prevented by certain medicines which can actually prevent the "defensive reaction" taking place in the bronchi.
A child who is prone to exercise-induced asthma can prevent himself getting an attack by taking his dose of this type of medicine prior to indulging in physical exercise.
Particularly among young children, the emotional atmosphere surrounding the asthmatic is an important factor.
This is influenced not only by his parents and his brothers and sisters, but also by teachers, classmates and other children he plays with.
Asthmatic children can, and should, lead normal lives, being encouraged to learn normally and to take part in sports (swimming especially is a useful form of exercise).
They should in no way be separated from their classmates, or made to feel in any way "abnormal".
Virtually all asthmatics can lead ordinary lives.
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