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Show Your Doctor Says... The following is one of a series of articles written by members of the Utah State Medical Association and published in cooperation with your local newspaper. These articles are scheduled to appear every other week throughout the year in an effort to better acquaint you with problems of health, and designed to improve the well-being of th people of Utah. Bronchial Asthma Bronchial asthma is a disease that has been present since history has been recorded, with the onset possible to occur from the first day of life till the last day of life. One person out of every 100 people peo-ple born will have asthma due to materials that they breathe, or eat, or a combination of these. Another group of people including 1 person out of every 100 between the age of 18 and 35 will have asthma that is primarily connected with infec-I infec-I tion. This infection may be in any ' part of the body, but the growth of bacteria within the body is the primary factor concerning this particular group. If you would con-s;ii'r con-s;ii'r the entire population of the !'("! states it is estimated that 1 !(-st 3 nr 4 of the people will bronchial asthma symptoms. symptoms of bronchial as-' as-' 11 ai-p those of difficult breath-ir.i breath-ir.i in which it is difficult for the o i'ient to get air into the lungs but more difficult for him to get it out of the lungs. He, therefore, has a choking, wheezing sensation and a feeling as though there is a tremendous weight on his chest. Patients often have a ballooning of the chest so that they appear to have more air in their lungs than normal. With this difficult respiration respir-ation they will very often cough up excessive amounts of mucus that is very sticky and difficult to cough out of their lungs. Spasm of the breathing tubes is one of the reasons thejr have difficulty in getting the air into the lungs and out pf the lungs. In general then( we can classify asthma into 2 main groups: Those with infection and those without infection. The group without infection infec-tion occurs more early in life and those with infection later in life. Most asthmatics seek a single cause for their asthma and often this brings about articles telling of the relief some people have obtained ob-tained by moving to a certain area. As a result many people move from community to community hoping to find the specific relief. Those that move to a specific area and do get relief often have the' pollen type of asthma where the pollens of the area they lived in are lift behind and are not present pres-ent in the new area. Another group are those that leave u. ' articles of fuXft', t air-borne material type of moving & fS'k.w , often very exAc f requires many moves, n" ' many other reaction, ?ets l that account for bo 2 bents moving and If the asthmatic wm ?, close y how he reacts t'S to his environment, wt H -breathes, and contact ,iS helps to find ome d 'h,1 " of his asthma. A. Jl2 careful observation he S doctor many thin t$ in order to find the ma1"'" ,i his condition. QMeKact Another part of the medial' I tory is aimed at trying oTvT ?erv.6 tension is: -ent. Nerve tension does wl': p many .diseases and with S 1 is obviously present. 'C , 1 w f g!,5TP asthma 1 long to the hay fever nS'l p bronchial asthma. This is , ! I I group in which the asthma s " as simple hay fever. After . -seasons the first attack of J- E occurs. It is for this rea-" the treatment of hay fever i, ; encouraged by the M.D, WW .. patient has told the story t H M-D-andtheM.D.haslooedV fully over this and examirw , S patient to determine the cf-I within the body that are w: i bJ, infection, by asthma, V other -Diseases, then coW-' question of testing to kip i Lot more of the detailed cau4- ne the secondary causes of the ; tient's asthma. This can 0'-- 1 done by very simple tests' other times requires extreme'-" tailed testing. Skin testis reveals many of these t causes. A program can be o;- 1 to the patient for the pun r helping him live in a mam'er is compatible with happine ' permits freedom of living eF eating, breathing or contact various materials that tro--- 1 thma. " L It i3 possible to desens'S ?ho means of injections the pec:" m are sensitive to pollens ands 1 common things they breatii Use Another treatment (and o:' La most asthmatics want quicki: immediate relief. There are"; satisfactory drug3 that docto-l acquainted with to give tBj porary relief. The various t are often in tablet and cr We form and sometimes in 1- j0rs mic form. The use of Corti-' se ACTH to relieve these cc-l-has been hoped to be a cca:'- H; asthma. These drugs o"er s. for temporary periods in sri I but do not affect a pe; : cure of the disease. : Many people ask, "Can l: .80 be cured, and the answer is : tut the asthmatic can be mai-: 1 tor attacks by controlling rj :il -, materials, injection ma:;:!1. 1 infection levels, and his sion factors. Desensitize : 1. in this program very g::: |