Asthma is a condition of chronic lung inflammation. Symptoms occur periodically, triggered among other things by colds and allergies. These symptoms include wheezing, cough and respiratory distress.
Significance
Asthma is a significant cause of morbidity and deaths related to lung disease in the United States. Asthma attacks can be prevented with a strategy avoiding triggers and the prompt identification of symptoms.
Features
Asthma prevention involves prevention of exposure to allergens, like cigarette smoke, dust mites and pollen. Treatment of allergies involves avoidance and pharmacological treatment with medicines like montelukast, a stabilizer of cells involved in the allergic response. Nasal steroids can also be used to decrease inflammation in the nasal mucosa caused by allergies.
Effects
Another effect of asthma is the inflammation surrounding the airways. Health providers prescribe inhaled steroids to reduce this inflammation and prevent asthma exacerbations. These steroids are delivered via metered-dose inhalers or nebulizers.
Treatment
When a patient has an asthma attack, it is important to follow the basic principles of basic life support. These include making sure that the patient has an airway, that she is breathing on her own, and that she has a pulse and good vascular perfusion. Once this is established, patients with asthma receive several treatments.
Medicines
Pharmacological treatment of asthma includes systemic steroids, to decrease the inflammation surrounding the airways; and bronchodilators, like albuterol, to open up the airways from the inside. Atropine, a type of inhaled medicine, is used to increase the responsiveness of the constricted muscles surrounding the airways. If symptoms continue without change, magnesium, a smooth muscle relaxant, can also be used.
