Know More About Asthma

I am Dr. MC Gupta, a respective physician practising in Faridabad for the last 40 years. My talk is on Asthma.

Asthma is a very common disease involves 3-10 % of the population and the prevalence is gradually increasing due to increased pollution in the industrialization and environmental and occupational problems. It is characterized by chronic inflammation of the air tubes that carry oxygen and air from and into the lung. Due to chronic inflammation of the air tubes, there is a hyper responsiveness of the air tube that means if there is any trigger they react, constrict, there is an increase inflammation and that lead to the attack of asthma.

Asthma by symptom is characterized by shortness of breath, chest tightness, cough. These are the main three symptoms. Asthma is usually variable. One we have an asthma attack and the patient may go into dimensions when there are no symptoms at all.

There are many risk factors and if we control the risk factor we can avoid or control the asthma attack. The risk factors are a family if any one of the parents is having asthma then there are twenty-five percent chances of children getting asthma or if both the parents are having asthma then fifty percent of children can develop asthma. Other risk factors are repeated viral infections, stress obesity, rhinitis, reflex, some medicines which can aggravate the symptoms of asthma, even in some exercise can induce asthma which is called exercise induced asthma. Tablet aspirin commonly taken as disprin and in some persons can induce the attack of asthma.

The diagnosis very simple usually on the basis of symptoms the patient is suffering supported by pulmonary function tests, x-ray test, haemogram and total IGE and rust test for lse.

Treatment of asthma depends upon the character of asthma, rather it just mild intermittent or it is persistent. In persistent is mild moderate and severe. If the asthma is just mild and intermittent one needs only rescue medicine that shorts acting beta 2 taken during the time of the attack and after that, the patient usually goes into remission and does not require the treatment. In persistent asthma, in mild asthma long acting beta 2 with an inhaled corticosteroid in minimum doses that control asthma and keep under control. Moderate asthma and severe asthma the bowls of inhaled corticosteroid can be increased from 800mg to 2000 microgram and it should be given in a combination of long acting beta 2. In the fourth stage of asthma, these inhaled corticosteroid plus long acting beta 2 agonists may be added with LAMA that is long acting muscarinic acids agents or taken orally or steroids. The oral steroids should not be taken continuously for the treatment of asthma because they can cause osteoporosis diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

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