What’s an Asthma Attack All About?
Asthma is an increasingly common health condition in modern society. No doubt you’ve heard about it. But if you’ve never experienced an asthma attack, you probably don’t know what goes on during one. If you suspect you have asthma, or just want to know more about it, here’s some important information.
There are several typical symptoms of an asthma attack. These include coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. This is a severe condition, and can be fatal if you don’t learn to manage it.
What causes an asthma attack? It can vary depending on the individual. Some of the most common triggers are allergens such as dust, pollution, pollen, cigarette smoke and perfume. Indeed, allergies and asthma often go hand in hand. Things like a change in the atmospheric pressure, cold air, exercise or a common cold virus can also trigger asthma symptoms.
An asthma attack takes place within the air passage to your lungs. The opening and closing of your airways are controlled by a specific muscle. You don’t have any control over this muscle; it’s totally automatic. But allergens or the other factors that were pointed out above can cause it to constrict. If you suffer from asthma, the muscle tends to overreact to the irritants, and you’ll experience an asthma attack.
When the muscle tightens, the airway narrows. As well, a build up of mucus takes place, and at the same time the lining becomes inflamed and starts to swell. Normally, mucus in the airways is perfectly natural since it assists in the movement of air into the lungs. But when you’re experiencing an asthma attack, the production of mucus increases, thereby filling the air passages.
This sticky mucus makes it very difficult to breathe. The asthma attack won’t end until the mucus is cleared away. That’s why it’s so important to treat your symptoms immediately with a prescribed medication.
Attacks are often only a few minutes in duration. However, a severe attack can last for hours or even days. There will be intervals where you might not experience any symptoms, but they will soon return if you don’t receive the proper medication.
If you suspect you might have asthma, it’s essential that you visit your doctor immediately. Tests will be run in order to make an accurate diagnosis. As well, they’ll try to figure out what’s triggering the attacks. Once you know what your triggers are, it’s essential that you avoid them as much as possible. In order to avoid asthma attacks in the future, close medical supervision and a strong commitment to using the proper asthma treatment are essential. Never ignore the symptoms, because an asthma attack can be life threatening.
7 Easy Ways To Ease And Prevent Allergies
If the body makes contact through the mouth, skin or nose the allergen as it is called makes the body release antibodies. To fight the allergen the body produces antihistamine. The histamine may then however go on to cause one or more of the following annoying symptoms to varying degrees of severity:
Sneezing and possibly a blocked nose, an itchy feeling in the eyes, nose or throat, watery eyes, dry coughing, a skin rash and even conjunctivitis.
Of course finding the cause of the symptoms is of paramount importance in order to discover what the allergen is and to prevent contact with it in the future. This is generally done in one of three different ways:
Firstly, an intradermal test may be performed, This is when a potential allergen is injected into the top layer of the skin. Directly over that area an irritation may occur if the subject is allergic.
Secondly the common patch test can be performed. Very simply the substance thought to be the allergen is placed under a plaster and stuck tightly to the skin. Normally 48 hours is allowed to pass by before the plaster is removed to see if their has been any inflammation or reaction.
Thirdly, a tiny drop of the potential allergen is simply dropped on to the skin to see if a reaction occurs. Often it will happen within twenty minutes if it to do so at all.
There are a variety of relatively easy things that can be done to prevent allergic reactions. Try any or all of the following simple methods to see which helps ease your symptoms:
Make your-self aware of the content of the food that you are eating. Keep an eye on the days you are particularly worse and your diet. Allergic reactions may well also be caused by chocolate and wheat.
Try to use an air filter which can lessen the impact of air pollutants, especially true in built up industrial areas.
Try spending time with all the windows and doors closed to see if this eases the symptoms.
Home dehumidifiers can reduce the moisture in the air and therefore help reduce the spread of dust mites and other allergens. Nowadays there are specifically designed home dehumidifiers and even portable air dehumidifiers that can quickly and easily reduce humidity levels where you feel the need to do so, this will also reduce the risk of mold growth which is well known to produce allergic reactions in some people.
Of course, frequently wash and dry your bed sheets and clothes, you may wish to try a new powder to ensure this is not the problem as well.
garlic and onion are commonly suggested by herbalists as an effective treatment as they contain an ingredient called Quercitin which stifles the production of histamine.
Green tea extract whilst being a highly recommended drink which includes antioxidants also contain plentiful phytonutrients that prevent against cellular level attacks and bacteria.
Making sure you are getting sufficient calcium could aid some people becuase helps to equalise the acid to alkaline ratio which may lessen some peoples allergies and may also decrease the construction of the histamine.
The above simple guidelines can stop you from suffering. It is also useful to keep a track of when the reactions are good and bad to try to establish any patterns or reasons why.
Appropriate prescriptions can be gained from your doctor if the problems persist and if it is necessary. Make sure you speak to your doctor for advice. Prescribed medicine may come in the form of nasal sprays which attempt to reduce the inflammation. They may also recommend antihisthamines which can considerably lessen the symptoms for some people too.
In summary then, try to pursue some of the simpler mehtods first, record your responses before progressing to any medications. Clean air through the use of air filters and dehumidifiers and portable dehumidifiers should also be looked into as a serious option.