ASTHMA

Asthma Treatment in Jumeirah, Dubai

The narrowing of the airways and production of excess mucus refers to asthma. It is a life-threatening condition, especially when it is an attack since one gets difficulty in breathing, wheezing and a cough. It has no cure; it needs to be controlled to ensure the symptoms do not flare up.

Asthma Diagnosis

To diagnose asthma, your doctor will discuss your medical history with you and perform a physical exam. You may need a lung function test and maybe other tests, such as a chest or sinus X-ray. If you or your child are having problems breathing on a regular basis you should see the asthma doctor immediately to seek the treatment.

Signs and Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of asthma include:

• Chest pain and tightness
• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty in sleeping
• Wheezing sound which occurs when exhaling air
• Wheeze attacks

If you observe any of these signs and symptoms then you need to see a family doctor or an asthma specialist to seek the immediate treatment for asthma.

Causes of Asthma

The main cause of the condition is unknown, but the condition is related to genes and environmental exposure. There are various factors that can trigger the condition and they vary among different people. Triggers include infections in the respiratory system such as a cold, substances in the air including mold, mite dust, pollen and pet sprays, exercise, air that is cold, pollutants such as smoke, drugs such as ibuprofen, aspirin and beta blockers, stress, strong emotions, gastro esophageal reflux disease and preservatives.

Asthma Treatment

Asthma is treated with two types of medicines: long-term control and quick-relief medicines. Long-term control medicines help reduce airway inflammation and prevent asthma symptoms. Quick-relief, or “rescue,” medicines relieve asthma symptoms that may flare up.

What You Can Do

• Asthma treatment usually involves learning to recognize your triggers, taking steps to avoid them and tracking your breathing to make sure your daily asthma medications are keeping symptoms under control.
• If one is asthmatic staying away from triggers that can exacerbate the condition.
• Regular check up to determine the condition progress.
• Checking one’s history to determine the chances of one developing the condition.
• Follow the set action plan by the physician. An action plan is a well-detailed plan of how to manage an asthma attack.
• Vaccination of pneumonia and influenza since they are among the triggers to the asthma attacks.
• Breathing monitoring. By monitoring breathing, one can determine and see signs of an impending attack. Lung function goes down before an attack and one can note using breathing rate. Hence the knowledge of breathing and how it varies is important in getting ready to manage an attack.
• Get attacks early and manage them as soon as possible.
• Keep on track with the prescribed medications.

What We Can Do

Asthma Treatment at SHAMMA Clinic includes:

• A physical examination to exclude other lung and chest infections such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• Pulmonary function tests need to be done to determine the lung function. Examples of pulmonary function test include peak flow and spirometer. It is done after one takes a bronchodilator such as albuterol to determine the effectiveness of the drug on one’s asthma.
• Methacholine challenge to determine if one has asthma. It is a trigger used to determine if one has asthma.
• Nitric oxide test, it is a test which determines the amount of nitric oxide in a breath. Higher than normal levels of nitric oxide indicate asthma.
• Imaging tests to determine the possibility of infections in the chest and their extent.
• Allergy test to determine asthma triggers. An allergy test is done using blood or skin of a client.
• Medications to manage the condition are given. Bronchodilators which are short-term acting drugs such as albuterol. Long term medications to maintain the action of the short-acting medications.

To know more about the causes of asthma & its treatment, contact our highly trained asthma doctors at SHAMMA Clinic in Dubai.