chronic asthma

Get to Know Your Asthma Doctor

If you’ve already done the research or live with an asthma patient, you probably already know that asthma is a debilitating chronic condition that impacts the body – specifically the lungs and their ability to process air flow. With air passages constricted, breathing is labored and also subject to environmental sensitivities. In certain cases, asthma can also be a fatal disease.

Naturally we look to the medical community for help with acute care and in managing chronic asthma. Choosing a good asthma doctor is a necessary first step if management efforts are to succeed.

General Practitioners vs. Asthma Doctors

Whether to stay with your family doctor or pediatrician is a personal decision. Most medical doctors have a good understanding of asthma and asthmatic symptoms. Locating a patient-friendly allergy specialist or even a pulmonologist need not be a big challenge. Your primary doctor can and should assist you in this process.

The main thing is if you have questions – ask them; if you are new to the area ask for a referral or referral list. Resource groups, yellow pages, online search engines can all assist in the process of finding a suitable asthma doctor. Even among asthma doctors there are different specialists and it might take a little time to find the right one for your situation. However, it is well worth the search.

Allergy practitioners are a great resource and are generally very competent in critical areas that impact asthma patients. Their particular niche keeps them abreast of what the current challenges are within a particular area or geographic location. And as they are familiar with environmental complications that asthma sufferers are encountering throughout the year (seasonal allergies, outbreaks of flu, pollen blooms, pollution alerts, etc), they hold a frontline position in the army of asthma doctors and practitioners.

Alternative, Holistic and Naturopathic Approaches

It used to be that if an asthma doctor was called in that was it. However, that is not so these days. A whole team of practitioners can produce very positive effects if working in harmony. Natural methods, adjustments to diet, exercise and lifestyle changes in general are looked at as a good thing now rather than restrictions or limitations on life opportunities.

If we take to heart the idea that the whole world lives on hope, then it also applies here and much is possible where human efforts are concerned. Ask you asthma doctor to come to the place where medicine and hope meet success.

What Do You Understand By Chronic Asthma?

Asthma is a very painful disease. Some reports show that almost a third of all asthma cases today are due to pollution. There are two main stages of asthma – one is the hyperactive response and the second is the inflammatory response. In the first stage, the airway constricts and creates a choking sensation following an allergen or trigger for asthma. In the second stage, the immune system of the body reacts to form thick mucus and swelling of the airways. As a result, there is pronounced distress to the patient.

Chronic Asthma vs. Normal Asthma

Chronic asthma is the asthma that responds only temporarily to treatment. What happens when an asthma attacks occurs? Let us suppose that a person inhales some irritant all of a sudden. The reaction of a healthy body comes in two stages – one, the airway immediately constricts to prevent the irritant getting too deep in the lungs. In the second stage, the airway relaxes so the irritant can be expelled effectively.

In an asthmatic person, the first stage is the same as in the healthy person. In the second stage however, the airway instead of relaxing to expel, suddenly constricts further provoking acute breathlessness and respiratory distress. In ordinary asthma, an inhaler would immediately give relief. However, in chromic asthma, it would take continuous and prolonged intervention before one gets slight relief. In this case, it is very easy for the patient to become serious even at the slightest stimuli.

Some of the triggers/ stimuli that can trigger an attack in patients of chronic asthma are, dust, pollen, exercise, cold air, stress, sudden emotion, sudden scare and so on. It is very difficult to control chronic asthma as compared to the normal asthma. The treatment of the ordinary asthma is relatively easy and relief is fast. On the other hand, patients suffering from chronic asthma will find it very difficult to stabilize once the attack commences. Hence, the best policy here would be to prevent attacks by carefully identifying all the allergens that may trigger an attack and avoiding them at all costs.

It is advisable for these patients to wear a tag with instructions of what can be done if an attack renders them helpless. The card should also have the phone numbers of someone who could be contacted in such a case, and/ or the hospital where the patinet’s doctor practices.