Asthma
Treatment Options for Common Symptoms
The feeling of not being able
to breathe can be frightening; and as many as 300 million people
worldwide know that feeling all too well. Those 300 million suffer
from asthma, a chronic illness that occurs when your lungs don’t
receive an adequate amount of air because your airways (bronchial
tubes) are constricted and inflamed. When your bronchial walls tighten,
your airways begin to produce more mucus which then blocks your
airways. The good news is that there is an asthma treatment right
for all those 300 million sufferers.
Although no asthma treatment is a cure, it can help control symptoms
like shortness of breath, audible wheezing when exhaling, trouble
sleeping due to shortness of breath and wheezing, tightness in the
chest, and more. When these symptoms begin you should contact your
physician immediately for an asthma treatment. Generally, though,
a common asthma treatment is avoiding triggers that bring on asthma
attacks. These are a few asthma treatment options people take depending
on their type of asthma:
- Most of the people who suffer from persistent
asthma tend to use a combination of long-term and quick-relief
medications. An example of a quick-relief medication is an inhaler.
- If you suffer from airborne allergies, you
will probably also need to take an allergy treatment as well
as an asthma treatment.
- You may need to take different medications
before you find the right one for you.
- Asthma tends to change over time, which
is why it is important for a doctor to monitor your symptoms
and provide you with the right asthma treatment for your symptoms.
If you have to take a long-term
asthma treatment, it would likely be medications like long-acting
beta-2 agonists which are inhaled to help reduce inflammation; leukortriene
modifiers which are also inhaled and help open airways by decreasing
mucus production; and theophylline, which is a daily pill that relaxes
the muscles around the airways to reduce inflammation. Quick-relief
medications usually include short-acting beta-2 agonists, which
are also inhaled and act temporarily to reduce inflammation for
four to six hours, and ipratropium an inhaled anticholinergic that
immediately relieves symptoms by relaxing the airways. Anybody who
needs an allergy treatment along with an asthma treatment will likely
take something like Anti-IgE monoclonal antibodies given through
injection that help reduce the immune system’s reaction to
allergens.
Consult your physician today to find out which of these asthma treatments
is right for you, or if there is an alternative asthma treatment
you can take.
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