Life as a Medical Anomaly Part Seven

There are many things people do not realize about various health conditions, one is how serious certain health conditions can be, even with managing it with health care there are times our health conditions can take us by surprise. Many think that asthma is just something that can go away easily, and what people don't realize is that it is a disease. There are times the asthma will seem to disappear, but that doesn't happen to every person that has it, and sometimes certain medications don't do enough. That doesn't mean to give up hope or to stop trying.

            Asthma is a chronic disease that affects “makes breathing difficult. With asthma, there is inflammation of the air passages that results in a temporary narrowing of the airways that carry oxygen to the lungs. Even though there are seemingly miraculous treatments for asthma symptoms, asthma is still a serious even dangerous disease that affects more than 22 million Americans and causes nearly 2 million emergency room visits ever year” (http://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/what-is-asthma).  Considering that these numbers are only for The United States imagine how many more must be affected around the world and how many go to the hospital if they have them in their country.  Asthma attacks, in my experience, can be very scary to say the least, from dealing with headaches that can turn into migraines, chest pain from the amount of coughing and the chest tightness that comes from the attacks, and the tiredness that comes from coughing and wheezing that come from asthma attacks.  All these experiences are part of the different asthma symptoms that come from a common asthma attack.

            It is important to note that currently there is no cure for asthma there are various things you can do to help your symptoms as well as lessen your amount of attacks.  It is important, of course, to use the various treatments that we have available to us for asthma such as:  inhalers, breathing treatments, herbs, exercise, and etc. to help reduce your amount of attacks and stays in the hospital.  Asthma can still find a way to be an anomaly, or at least this is true in my case.  I have been through many different treatments, tests, and other things making doctors wonder why mine is even more different than your usual individual asthma.  There is no true reason on why people get asthma and why other people don’t and this can be a difficult issue to comprehend when one is suffering with asthma or know many who do.

            People are able to still live very full healthy lives with asthma as long as they keep what is called a trigger down, a trigger is what can cause someone with asthma to have a flare up and therefore have an attack.  Some of the triggers include:  “allergies, exercise, heartburn, smoking, sinusitis and other upper respiratory infections, infections, medications, irritants, weather, and strong emotions” (http://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/asthma-triggers).  There are times, however, that someone will have a flare up without no direct correlation to what caused it, and this seems to happen to me most of the time.  It is important to be considerate to those that have asthma, this is something that no one asks for, and it can be very frustrating emotionally, physically, and mentally.  This is especially true if they have had asthma for a long time, and have had difficulties getting relief from treatment options.  Be supportive of those that you know with asthma no matter if they have mild, moderate, or severe asthma, even those with mild asthma can have frustrating days.

            If you are in any sort of care giving position with an asthmatic be sure to be aware of the triggers, the medications, other treatments, and what to look for on rather or not someone is having an asthma attack.  It is important to take notice of how many asthma attacks someone is having in a set period of time and it is important to make note of the signs of when that person might need to go to the emergency room or call the doctor.  Be sure as someone who has asthma, or if you are someone who cares for someone with asthma that you know the three features of asthma, these features are:  Airway Obstruction, Inflammation, and Airway Irritability (http://www.webmd.com/asthma).  From being asthmatic I can tell you that these three factors can happen very quickly, especially if you feel that you cannot stop coughing.  When this is happening it is important to give the person, or have that person take their fast action inhaler, which for many is a type of albuterol mostly in the form of either Pro Air or Ventolin. 

            May this information help you or someone that you love that has asthma.  In the next part I will go over more information on asthma, including the various types of asthma one can have.   Remember that even though the scary and serious moments of asthma that as long as you have faith in the Lord you will find untold strength in Him.  He will give you the strength when you feel you have no more left and will give you peace when there seems to be no answers.