Asthma Attack Blog


Asthma Attack Triggers

Although in asthma the underlying airway inflammation is always there, an asthma attack can be triggered or worsened by a number of factors. There are two types of asthma attack triggers;

Allergens and Irritants

* Common asthma allergens include pollen, animals and house-dust mites.
* Common asthma irritants include cold air, cigarette smoke and chemical fumes.

An allergen is a substance that causes asthma attack symptoms by bringing about an allergic reaction. An irritant is a substance that precipitates an asthma attack by aggravating the airways.

Keeping a diary of the times and circumstances that precipitates your asthma attack or causes your asthma to worsen can help you and your doctor pinpoint exactly what your asthma triggers are. Once you have identified your asthma triggers, you can take steps to deal with them.

Showing posts with label Signs Of Asthma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Signs Of Asthma. Show all posts

Sunday, 5 August 2012

Best Remedies For Your Asthma

Asthma is a very serious and difficult condition to deal with. It can keep you from having your wonderful life. However, most symptoms related to asthma can be controlled easily if you know how to use some effective ways to manage your asthma. In this article, you will find some effective methods to treat your asthma.


1. Clean your pillow case and bed linens regularly


Some allergens, such as pollen, dust, mites, insects, and many other things can build up on your pillow case and bed linens. Make sure that you wash them with hot and soapy water at least once a week to remove all of those allergens. By doing so, you are able to control your asthma effectively.


2. Use de-humidifier in your house


You should use de-humidifier in your house to keep the air dry and clean. It is the greatest way to alleviate your asthma symptoms. By controlling your moisture levels in your house, you also limit the amount of allergens that can grow in your house.


3. Visit your doctor regularly


If you know that you have asthma problems, you have to visit your doctor more often to control your asthma. The asthma symptoms are not as obvious as the other disease. You have to be very careful with your asthma because it can be very dangerous for you. When you notice that your asthma starts causing you to have trouble breathing, you may want to visit your doctor as soon as possible. He can tell you if you have an asthma attack and if there is a medication that you need to take in. Your doctor can tell you if there is something you can do to prevent asthma in the future.


4. Avoid smoking


If you suffer from asthma, it is very important that you quit smoking cigarettes. Many people understand that smoking is bad for everyone. However, the effect of smoking is worse for an asthma patient because the smoke from cigarettes can reduce the amount of oxygen supplied to your lungs. This condition can trigger an asthma attack.


5. Always bring your inhaler along with you


If you have asthma problems, it is very important that you always carry your inhaler with you. This inhaler provides immediate relief from your asthma symptoms. Always bring your inhaler at all time. You can put this inhaler in many places, such as your desk, car, purse, lunch box, or backpack before doing your daily activities.


Those simple tips above are really helpful for you to control your asthma. Come to this site if you want to know how to use home remedies for asthma from your own house. Read this article before you visit your allergy doctor to discuss about your asthma problem. Providing quality reviews, articles and writings on asthma online.

Thursday, 19 July 2012

Why Is It Complicated To Diagnose Children With Asthma

It is always a very complicated task to diagnose someone with asthma but diagnosing a baby is much more difficult than an adult. Most of the doctors almost never diagnose asthma in babies under 2 years of age because they can't do any scientifically proven tests which could confirm this diagnosis. Only some advanced medical institutions carry out that kind of tests but most of them still have experimental status.


The methods of diagnosing your child will be different depending on how old he is. If your child is still an infant then prepare yourself for a lot of questions about his and your medical history as well as his symptoms but if your kid is more than 4 years old then it is easier to make a more precise diagnosis by the help of different tests.


There are some asthma specialists who can try to diagnose babies with asthma even if they are under 1 years of age. Even though an infant is not able to tell us about how he feels, most of the usual symptoms are clearly noticeable such as wheezing and coughing, however, there are a few problems:


Babies have small and weak airways, so they often suffer from respiratory illnesses which have very similar symptoms to asthma;
The symptoms are not the same in all asthma cases - you can even have this disease without wheezing which is usually considered as the most common sign of asthma and also you can experience wheezing without having asthma.


In short, besides the lack of testing methods, there are a lot of other factors which make this whole thing more complicated, so that is the reason why you should trust the task of diagnosing your baby to a doctor who specializes in childhood chest problems. By taking a look at the symptoms, doing physical examination and analyzing family's medical history the specialist should be able to make a precise diagnosis. In some cases it may not be possible but you have to accept that and make sure you do everything to cure your baby's health problems regardless if he has asthma or some other respiratory disease.


The usual methods that are used for diagnosing asthma are peak flow and respiratory tests but, unfortunately, it is almost impossible to successfully undergo these tests for children younger than 4 years of age. As your child grows older he will be able to take more precise lung function tests which can confirm if the earlier diagnosis was correct, so diagnosing asthma in pre-school children is much easier than in infants. If your child is already around 6 years old then you shouldn't worry about a possible inaccurate diagnosis anymore.


Miks is a 22 year old student and he loves writing articles about different health topics. You can take a look at his latest article about asthma in babies if you are interested in finding out more about the usual symptoms, triggers and treatment options. Providing quality reviews, articles and writings on asthma online.

Monday, 16 July 2012

A Holistic Approach to Asthma

Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the lungs. It often involves narrowing of the airways which makes breathing difficult. It is also common for asthma sufferers to have other symptoms such as coughing, wheezing and chest tightness. People with asthma often use inhalers to help relieve their symptoms. It is common for them to use prescription drugs to help as well. Prescription drugs often have adverse side effects. Chiropractic has been found to be an effective solution for many asthma sufferers.


There are several possible causes for the onset of asthma symptoms. Weather has been commonly associated with asthma such as when there are extremes in temperature, either hot or cold. Allergies can also trigger asthma symptoms such as from pollens. Certain foods have also been found to trigger allergies that lead to asthma attacks. However, this is not as common. Some cities are known to have more asthma sufferers than others. This is probably because of the weather patterns and environment being more prone to trigger asthma symptoms. Certain infections have also been associated with asthma. People that perform strenuous exercise can be more prone to asthma. Some asthma sufferers must avoid certain sports and activities. Asthma sufferers must be careful of dust accumulation in the home as this can also trigger symptoms.


Chiropractic has been found to be effective in helping people that suffer from asthma. The science behind this has to do with the relationship between chiropractic adjustments and the autonomic nervous system. This part of the nervous system is made up of nerves that control visceral functions in the body for example digestion, breathing and heart rate. Chiropractic adjustments help to remove nerve irritation including stress on the autonomic nerves.


These nerves are often irritated from misaligned spinal bones. There are nerves that exit out of the spine to control other systems in the body including the autonomic nervous system. This nerve irritation will result in loss of function in whatever the nerves are controlling, for example the lungs or respiratory system. Chiropractors are specially educated to locate and correct these problems in the spine.


Many report excellent improvement with their asthma symptoms following chiropractic care. They report being able to breathe much better and have reduced asthma symptoms. Some people respond very quickly to chiropractic treatment while others show gradual improvement. Chiropractors perform a thorough exam to rule out other causes. They will often refer the patient to another physician if problems are out of their scope of practice. Chiropractors don't treat asthma but many report great improvement of asthma symptoms with chiropractic care.


Most people seek chiropractic for treatment of musculoskeletal problems such as neck or back pain. However, many healthcare professionals are referring people to chiropractors for other problems because of the good success that they have with other problems. Chiropractors help the body function optimally by removing nerve interference. The body is then able to heal itself. Chiropractic helps the body obtain overall wellness and breathe easier. Providing quality reviews, articles and writings on asthma online.

Friday, 6 July 2012

Salon Chemicals Air Purifier: 5 Most Important Features To Have In Your Cleaner

Daily exposure to the chemical fumes that off gas from products used in beauty and nail salons make you more susceptible to the short and long term effects of breathing these VOCs (volatile organic chemicals)


Getting these chemicals out of the air consistently and efficiently is a must to preserve the health of those frequent your salon. Here are the 5 most important features to select in the air cleaner for your shop.


Carbon Filter---Carbon is the best type of filter to use to remove airborne chemicals. It has proven itself to be effective at being a able to gaseous pollutants such as odors, gases, and chemicals. But even carbon filters need help when it comes to trapping VOCs such as formaldehyde and other chemical vapors that off gas from all too many beauty products.


Potassium Iodide continues to prove to be effective at enhancing carbon's ability to effectively filter and remove airborne chemicals from salons. And whereas a filter with just carbon can remove some, a filter with this additive is much more efficient.


Wheels---Most cleaners work by pulling in air that is closest to it first, filtering the air and sending it back into the room displacing more air. This process repeats again and again until all the air that is available to open to the cleaner has been filtered.


Choosing a cleaner with sturdy wheels or casters gives you the ability to roll the cleaner closer to a station where a particularly smelly procedure is to occur. This means that the fumes from that procedure will be the first to be pulled into the cleaner. This will lessen the overall smell and help prevent it from spoiling air quality all over the salon.


24 Hour Operation---Once chemicals evaporate into the air, some of them hang there for hours. Without continuous filtration, you will find that you walk into the salon in the morning still smelling the chemicals from procedures that were done the previous day. This stale air is no way to start the day and is certainly not the first impression you want customers to have when entering your salon.


A purifier with a split capacitor motor is necessary if you are to be able to trust the unit to run 24 hours a day. This type of motor is designed to run continuously with high revolutions per minute (RPM) and long life duty. Without this feature, you may be restricted to running the cleaner for limited time during the day.


Limited cleaning is like limited heating or cooling of the air in your salon. It just doesn't make the salon a pleasant or healthy place to be.


Long Life Filter - A filter that lasts for a long time is important for 3 reasons. First, if the filter in the cleaner is working properly without any attention from you, it allows you to use your time in ways other than maintaining the filter.


And secondly, since maintenance usually means an interruption in its operation, your air is being filtered without interruption. And third (my personal favorite), if the filter last a long time you spend less money on replacement filters.


Be sure to check the technical specifications online or in the owner's manual to see how long the filter is expected to last. If the filter life is only 6 months or even a year, leave it on the shelf.Frequent filter changes significantly add to the cost of operating the unit.


Instead choose a cleaner that not only has a filter life of 5 years, but one that offers a warranty on the filter in case it does not last that long. A pro-rated filter warranty is one of the best ways to insure that your filter will last.


Substantial Purifier Warranty - Make sure that the cleaner you choose has more than a 6 month or one year warranty. Should anything go wrong after this time, you are likely to have to pay for expensive repairs or buy a new unit. Either of these scenarios send the cost of the unit through the roof.


Instead, choose a cleaner that is guaranteed to last for 5 years, and one that the manufacture is willing to repair even after the warranty period is over. This means you are more likely to be able to get the parts that may be necessary for any repair, but it also indicates that you will probably never have to use the service.


A manufacture couldn't make money if they had to continually repair their units. So a long warranty is probably one of the best indications you can have that the cleaner is well built and will last far beyond the warranty period. Providing quality reviews, articles and writings on asthma online.

Sunday, 1 July 2012

Looking Out For Asthma Signs And Symptoms

Asthma is a very common condition among adults and children alike. Asthma signs and symptoms can range from the very mild to severe. In fact, most people think that they just have a cold or some allergic reaction to something. What they do not know is that they have asthma, and undiagnosed asthma could lead to very serious complications that could be life-threatening.


Asthma is a condition where the bronchioles swell and narrow, causing a difficulty in breathing. This "swelling and narrowing" may be caused by a variety of triggering factors: pollen, dust, smoke, exercise, and other nonspecific causes. There are a lot of misconceptions that surround asthma, and the best way to clear all those would be to consult with your doctor.


Familiarizing yourself with the signs and symptoms of asthma will be a great way to spot the disease early. The earlier you get treatment, the greater are your chances of controlling the disease. As I have stated earlier - complications can be life-threatening. Outlined below will be some of the most common asthma signs and symptoms:


• Coughing that gets worsens at night. It could also be triggered by exercise and exposure to cold air.


• Shortness of breath when exerting effort.


• Tightness in the chest area. A patient once even likened it to a vise that prevents your chest from fully expanding and taking in a healthy amount of oxygen.


• Wheezing is considered to be the tell-tale sign of asthma. It is a sound that is made when exhaling and is almost like whistling or hissing. In some cases, it can only be detected by listening to the lungs through a stethoscope. In other more serious cases, you can easily hear it.


For some people, they might just exhibit milder forms of the condition, while others would need immediate medical attention. It is important to get diagnosed as early as possible so that you will be given the needed medication to control your symptoms.


In diagnosing asthma, you doctor will be looking into your family history for anybody who is experiencing asthma. It is a hereditary condition, so if one of you family members has asthma, there is a great possibility that you will have one too. On top of that, you will have to undergo a physical exam and a series of lung function tests. The physical exam will involve testing for allergies since allergies can trigger asthma attacks.


As mentioned earlier, asthma complications can be life-threatening. This condition is called status asthmaticus. In the event of status asthmaticus, the patient no longer responds to the usual round of bronchodilators and even steroids. This is considered as a medical emergency and can lead to cardiac or respiratory arrest.


A lot of people seem to think that asthma can be outgrown and that is it a condition limited only to children. This is not only false but also inaccurate. Asthma cannot be outgrown. The symptoms may be controlled for some time but once the medication is stopped, triggering factors and allergens could cause the onset of asthma again.


If you seem to think that you may have asthma, it is very important to have it checked immediately.


For more information on Different Types of Diseases, Symptoms and Diagnoses, Please visit: Asthma Signs and Symptoms and Asthma Diagnosis. Providing quality reviews, articles and writings on asthma online.

Monday, 25 June 2012

Asthma Treatments That Won't Leave You Breathless

What Is Asthma?


Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs that impedes breathing. It affects more than seventeen million people in the United States. Overall, the figures are impressive. Statistics show that over sixty percent of all those who suffer from disease does not have it under control.


If you have asthma, it is in your best interest to find out about your options. One of the most important aspects of managing asthma is getting proper treatment regularly. If you have or think you may have asthma, finding a good local doctor can get you on the path to a healthy life.


Find Out What Is Causing Your Pain?


When you find your asthma triggers, you can breathe easier. Asthma is both atopic and a non-atopic condition. This means that it is triggered by both internal (atopic) such as an infection and external (non-atopic) factors like pollen or smoke. Triggers that can set off asthma attacks include outdoor allergens such as pollen, indoor allergens (dust mites), drugs, stress, excessive exercise, and smoke.


Finding out the cause for your attacks is necessary since it shows how the treatment will go. If you are diagnosed with the disease, a doctor can usually determine the cause after a medical history and physical examination.


Your Doctor Is The Best Source For Information


The right asthma doctor can help you to manage your symptoms. If you want to get valuable information about your asthma, begin by discussing the issue with your physician. Since your doctor is in the business of treating your symptoms, chances are good that questions will be welcomed.


When triggers are identified, doctors have a far better likelihood of finding adequate tools to help you control your asthma. By getting informed about what you are dealing with, you can regain control over your life.


Modern asthma treatments include a management plan to avoid triggers, medications to treat and prevent symptoms, and lifestyles changes to avert breathing issues. Medical treatments and natural remedies are everywhere and finding the right one means taking the time to find out the safety and history of each treatment. Online resources can be helpful, as can your regular doctor.


Asthma medications are prescribed according to the severity of the attacks. Inhalers filled with selective and powerful asthma medications are a popular form of treatment. They're extremely effective and safe to use for the long-term.


Asthma self-monitoring is invaluable for a number of reasons. When you know what triggers an attack, you can be far more effective in alleviating your own symptoms. Being able to anticipate an attack also helps you mentally prepare for the worst moments and ultimately reduce the element of panic entirely.


Ultimately, your long-term goal will be to have a normal life with the least amount of asthma episodes. Your management plan or asthma action plan should include a detailed description of how you can control your asthma symptoms. By keeping yourself fully informed about the details of your own condition, you retain a greater level of control over your life and have far more effective tools for asthma management.


Lynn Versailles is a registered nurse and a life-long sufferer of asthma. She has personally been affected with this chronic respiratory problem and wishes to help others. Through years of research and life experiences, she shares her knowledge on how to properly manage asthma on safetreatmentsforasthma.com. To learn more, download The Ultimate Asthma Management Guide. It is a free online guide on medical treatments and natural remedies to properly manage this illness. Providing quality reviews, articles and writings on asthma online.

Saturday, 23 June 2012

Indoor Asthma Irritants: 5 Indoor Pollutants To Eliminate

Managing asthma effectively means reducing the triggers that cause flare ups. You can raise air quality and your quality of life by reducing these top 5 irritants in your indoor air.


Dust Mites - The presence of these little bugs can lead to the onset of asthma as well as exacerbate an existing condition. No one escapes these little bugs in their home regardless of how good a housekeeper you are.


They thrive in warm, moist, and dark places which makes the bedroom ideal, and more specifically every bed in your home, a perfect target.


Dust - This collection of particles is distinct to each home but generally includes dirt, minute pieces of paper from mail, magazines and other paper products, outdoor particles that get blown in such as pollen and mold and mildew spores, pet dander, and on it goes.


Airborne Chemicals - Unfortunately, these are becoming more prevalent in the products we use for everyday living. Scents from cleaning and personal products, formaldehyde used in building materials, chemicals that off gas from pressed wood furniture, and those used to fire-proof draperies and clothing can really pollute indoor air.


Being vigilant about the products you select to bring into your home can improve your air quality. But often it's difficult to figure out which fumes or combinations are causing the problem.


Smoke - The banning of smoking in public places has resulted in major improvement of air quality in restaurants. But if you live with a smoker who can't stop smoking, or your apartment situation makes you vulnerable to second-hand smoke, you're in a tough spot.


The chemicals, smoke and particles that burning of any kind naturally produce can really cause havoc with asthma. Wood burning stoves and fireplaces can also prove to be irritants and can often push irritant levels to the point of a flare up.


Spores - A natural part of nature, mold and mildew spores as well as seasonal pollens are constantly hitching a ride into your home as doors open and clothes, on packages, in hair, and on pets.


Regardless of how many precautions you take, there is no way to stop some outside air, and all that it contains, from coming indoors.


In fact, the only way to keep all of these airborne triggers continually under control is to filter the air continually with an air purifier that contains filters capable of eliminating both gaseous and particulate irritants.


24 hour filtration is an effective yet non-invasive way to maintain clean air 24 hours every day. And just knowing that the air in your home is not going to sabotage your health provides a physical and emotional haven that you can look forward to enjoying. Providing quality reviews, articles and writings on asthma online.