Asthma
asthma; wheeze; chest; inhaler; cigarettes; smoking; tobacco; smoke; breath; breathe; wheeze; wheezing; exercise; puffer; medication; reliever; preventer
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Contents
Asthma is common and it can be serious. About 1 in 7 teenagers and 1 in 10 adults have asthma. Asthma can really interfere with your life if you are not managing it well, but most people with asthma can be well most of the time, and have very active lives.
Asthma first aid
If a person is short of breath and wheezing from asthma, follow the person's 'Asthma Management Plan' or look at Asthma First Aid.
Step 1
Sit the person upright, remain calm and help him stay calm. Do not leave him alone.
Step 2
Quickly give 4 puffs of a reliever puffer (blue puffer), one puff at a time. This is best given through a spacer, but use a puffer on its own if no spacer is available.
Step 3
- Wait 4 minutes. If there is little or no improvement, repeat steps 2 and 3.
Step 4
- If there is still little or no improvement, call an ambulance immediately (000 in Australia).
Continue to repeat steps 2 and 3 while waiting for the ambulance.
People with asthma can become seriously ill quickly. Asthma needs to be taken seriously. A person with a serious asthma attack may not sound wheezy. She may be pale, quiet and breathing quickly with shallow gasps.
The Asthma First Aid Plan is published on the Asthma SA website.
http://www.asthmasa.org.au/
This information is not intended to replace individual medical advice.
What is asthma?
- People with asthma have sensitive or 'twitchy' airways (bronchi and bronchioles). When they are exposed to certain 'triggers' such as cigarette smoke, the airways become narrowed and this makes breathing difficult.
- The main ways the airways become narrow are:
- The lining inside the airways becomes red and swollen
- The muscles around the airways tighten
- Extra mucus may be made.
- Symptoms of an asthma attack include wheeze (noisy breathing when breathing out), a dry cough (often at night, early morning and during exercise or play), chest tightness and shortness of breath.
What
causes asthma?
- It is not yet clear why some people get asthma, but asthma, eczema and hay fever tend to run in families.
- A person is more likely to get asthma if a parent, brother or sister has asthma, hay fever or eczema.
- Some research has shown that exposure to cigarette smoke before birth or soon after birth makes it more likely a child will develop asthma.
- Asthma can occur for the first time at any age.
Trigger factors for asthma
- Colds and 'flu (viral infections) are the most common triggers of asthma attacks
- Exercise can trigger it - see Asthma and exercise below
- Breathing in allergens is a trigger for some people with asthma, eg pollens, moulds, house dust mite droppings, animal hair and skin flakes
- Dust
- Smoking or passive smoking (see the topic 'Passive smoking'). Smoke irritates the airways
- Chemical fumes and strong smells, eg household paint, sprays, perfumes
- Changes in air temperature, eg going out into cold night air
- Some foods, food additives and colourings, and some medications (eg aspirin)
- Emotional reactions, such as laughing
Asthma may be triggered by several of these factors in one person, or the triggers may never be known.
Asthma and exercise
- Breathing harder with exercise or sport may trigger an asthma attack - in fact this may be the only time some people have asthma attacks.
- People who cough, wheeze or become breathless with exercise should be seen by a doctor to check whether they have asthma.
- If you have asthma it is important to exercise or take part in sport, in order to strengthen your chest muscles.
- Using reliever medication before exercise will reduce symptoms for most people who have asthma when they exercise.
Asthma management
- The most important parts of asthma management are:
- Learning as much about your asthma as you can.
- Getting the right preventive medicine, and reliever medicine to use if you have an attack.
- Working out what triggers your asthma and avoiding the triggers as much as possible.
- Recognising asthma symptoms and treating them early.
- Using asthma medications correctly.
- An asthma management plan needs to be worked out specially for each person - what medications are used and the way they are used depends how bad the asthma is, what triggers it and how often you get an attack.
- If you need 'Preventers', they need to be taken daily even when you are well. They may take a few weeks to work.
- 'Relievers' are used to treat attacks, as well as sometimes being useful to prevent symptoms, for example with exercise induced asthma.
- If you need relievers more than about 3 to 4 times a week, you need to be checked by a doctor, as preventers may help control your asthma.
- Other medications that might be recommended include symptom controllers and combination therapy. Steroids may be needed during a severe attack,
- Using a spacer means that more of the medication gets down into your lungs.
- Make sure that someone around you knows your asthma management plan, so that they can help you during an attack.
Reducing your risk
- Find out and control or reduce your trigger factors if possible
- Reducing exposure to household dust may be helpful (get someone else to do the vacuuming when you are not at home!!)
- Do not have a pet, or keep pets outside if your asthma is triggered by exposure to a pet. You could choose a pet that does not trigger asthma, such as fish or a lizard!
- See the topic 'House dust mites' on the Parenting and Child Health site for more information about reducing triggers in the home.
- Keep your home and car smoke free.
- Watch for signs of asthma when you have a cold and be ready to start the asthma management plan as soon as symptoms appear.
- Check with the doctor whether management needs to be improved or changed if you are unwell, tired and not full of energy.
- There is some evidence that having a balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables can reduce asthma symptoms. So check out the topic Healthy eating to learn about this.
Managing
your parents!
- If you have had asthma for a long time, it is going to be hard for your parents to 'back off' and let you manage your life, including your asthma. Be gentle with them, they do want to be helpful.
- All parents can be intrusive into the life of their 'child' even when that adult does not have asthma… it is part of becoming an adult to want your parents to relate to you in a more equal way, acknowledging that you can manage, but that you still value their concern and interest. There is a topic written for parents called 'Asthma in adolescence' which might be helpful here.
South Australia
Online resources in other languages
- NSW Multicultural Health Communication web site (Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Khmer/Cambodian, Korean, Lao, Macedonian, Portuguese, Russian, Serb, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese) educational resources on-line, plus in PDF format.
http://www.mhcs.health.nsw.gov.au/
References
Asthma SA Information and fact sheets, including 'Asthma facts', 'Asthma first aid', 'Managing asthma' and 'Medications'
http://www.asthmasa.org.au/
Burns, J. et al. 'Low Dietary Nutrient Intakes and Respiratory Health in Adolescents' Chest, Jul 2007: 238–245
Guilbert T, Krawiec M 'Natural history of asthma' The Pediatric Clinics of North America 50 (2003) 523-538
http://pediatric.theclinics.com/
Infante-Rivard, Claire. 'Heavy maternal smoking may be tied to childhood asthma', Amer. J. Epidemiology 1999, 150, 528-531.
The information on this site should not be used as an alternative to professional care. If you have a particular problem, see a doctor, or ring the Youth Healthline on 1300 13 17 19 (local call cost from anywhere in South Australia).