Show r Asthma season coming I up By Cindy Ward Cindy Ward is guest presenter of the article this week She is a pharmacy student and will be he working atthe at atthe atthe the clinic for the next six weeks A friend of mine has recently been having episodes when he has trouble breathing and then he starts coughing and wheezing His doctor has told him that he has asthma What is asthma and what can be done to help him Asthma is a respiratory disease characterized by an increase in sensitivity of the windpipe and lungs to such things as pollen dust mold and pollutants these are called allergens Respiratory tract infections emotional stress fatigue and sudden weather changes can also cause asthma Bronchial Attacks During a bronchial asthma attack there is is' isa a sensation of tightness in the chest difficult or and-or painful breathing and coughing and wheezing occur and become more severe over time Attacks which often occur in the middle of the night can ean last from a few minutes to a few hours Status is the term used to denote attacks which may persist for several days before subsiding Bronchial asthma can be managed by prophylaxis prevention and by active treatment Prophylactic treatment calls for identification identification iden iden- of the offending allergens and taking steps to avoid them If asthma is caused by allergies present in the patients patient's diet or environment then the toe offending substances should be eliminated or avoided as mu much h as possible which usually produces spectacular results Active treatment is made up of two phases 1 symptomatic symptoms tic management of acute attacks and 2 12 interim therapy to prevent attacks from oc oc- oc- oc Phase one can be achieved by administration of epinephrine adrenalin which is a hormone and is used in asthma to constrict constrict constrict con con- strict blood vessels to cause expansion of the lungs and to cause a reduction in fluids responsible for the allergic symptoms Most the over-the-counter OTC bronchial inhalers contain epinephrine or some of its its derivatives which are arc effective in treating patients with mild asthma without concurrent cardiovascular cardiovascular car car- disease Inhalers must be used a at t the first signs of asthma attack such as wheezing coughing and shortness of breath The action of the epinephrine in the inhalers is r rapid pid and gives dramatic relief within a minute However the effect is short term and after a while the pa patient tient will no longer respond to the drug This is known as tolerance Side effects of inhalers include tremor nervousness nervousness ner nero restlessness insomnia insomnia insomnia in in- somnia rapid heart beats heals dryness of the throat and bronchial irritation If these symptoms occur the dosage should be reduced by decreasing the number of frequency of inhalations Gastric irritation as well as dryness of the mouth can be prevented by rinsing the mouth and throat with water after inhalation Proper use of these inhalers is essential for act achieving eving good therapeutic effects The patient must hold the aerosol upside down close the lips and teeth around the mouthpiece forcefully forcefully for for- expel as much air as possible then deeply inhale through the mouthpiece Shortly after inhalation begins the bottle should be pressed down to activate the spray and inhalation should continue The patient should then pause for a afew afew afew few seconds and slowly exhale |