This World Asthma Day, Breathe Easy

Asthma is a respiratory disorder that a lot of people have heard of but don’t really know much about. While it is a common problem, in most cases people who do not have this ailment aren’t aware of how painful and disturbing this can be.

At RMC, we believe that a lot of the problems associated with most disorders can be brought under control just by becoming a little more aware about it and becoming sensitive toward it. In this blog, we are attempting to help you understand the causes, symptoms, and solutions to Asthma.

The world observes World Asthma Day on the 7^th of May each year to ensure that more and more people can become aware about the perils of this disease. Asthma is a chronic respiratory disorder.  It isn’t curable and can be extremely painful for the ones suffering from it if not attended to carefully.

 

What happens to the body during an asthma attack?

Our airways are usually enough to let in the amount of oxygen that we need to survive. However, when asthma is developing, the airway of the patient becomes extremely sensitive toward a stimulus and swells up. This swelling makes it constricted. This sort of sensitivity causes the muscles controlling the airways very tight. It further leads to an overproduction of mucus in the tract which makes breathing extremely difficult.

Each year over 250,000 people dies because of asthma. It is not a curable disease but one can take certain precautionary measures to ease the symptoms and to help the patient live a fuller and healthier life.

 

Types of Asthma

While asthma is essentially a respiratory disorder, it can still be classified in different types based on what caused it to the patient.

Childhood Asthma

Some children have an under-evolved and underdeveloped airway right from childhood. Children usually have episodes of intermittent asthma which keeps the severe attacks away. In most cases, this is a development caused by something that causes an allergic reaction to them.

Occupational Asthma

This Asthma type surfaces because the patient is in a particular kind of a job at a particular kind of a workplace. The stimulus could be something that they inhale repeatedly because of their profession and it causes their airways to develop sensitivity toward it. Industries which are associated with occupational asthma include laboratory work, brick kilns, baking, chemicals, etc.

Seasonal Asthma

This is a type of Asthma caused by the changing seasons. Some patients only suffer through the symptoms of asthma during a particular season. This could be because a particular type of allergen is only present in the air during a particular time of the year. The pollen season is often one of the worst for asthma patients.

 

 

What causes Asthma?

There are any numbers of reasons that can result in the manifestation of Asthma in the patients. However, these are the top few:

Allergies

This is the most common reason. When a patient develops an allergy towards any particle that he or she inhales, it can result in constricted airways, which make the patient asthmatic. 65% of patients suffering from Asthma suffer from this disorder owing to an allergy.

Smoking Tobacco

Tobacco smoke is also one of the biggest contributors to major respiratory disorders including Asthma, wheezing, respiratory infections and death from asthma. If the patient is already suffering from asthma, smoking can make its symptoms worse.

Environmental factors

Pollen is something that a lot of people can develop allergies against. This is why certain seasonal manifestations of asthma happen during a particular time of the year when there is increased pollen content in the air.

 

 

Prevention and Care

Living with asthma is a challenge. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be very difficult. With proper care and timely medication, you can make life a lot easier for the people suffering. At RMC, we always promote living a healthy life by actively trying to change your lifestyle to something better.

Of course, regular checkups can go a long way in helping you understand exactly what your body is going through. But apart from that bringing about a few changes like wearing masks during movement in polluted areas, protecting yourself during the pollen season and taking the medication on time, will go a long way in helping you live better.

Prepare a proper asthma plan that includes everything that needs to be done in order to live without the fear of constricted breathing. Speak to your doctors at RMC to help you come up with this plan and to guide you on how you can stick to it for a better lifestyle.