What to do if an asthma attack

One of the main reasons why we should know more about asthma is to help us make good decisions during an asthma attack. If you feel short of breath or wheezing with breathing, the worst thing you can do is panic. The panic over difficult to breathe and take appropriate decisions. It is best to act calmly to restore normal breathing.
The first step to relieve an asthma attack is to use your fast-acting bronchodilator (eg albuterol). The usual dose is two slow deep breaths. In a sudden and severe crisis of breath, can use up to four aspirations than once without any problems.
Under normal conditions, we recommend that you not use your quick-relief bronchodilator more than 4 times a day. To treat an asthma attack, however, use the bronchodilator, safely, every 20 minutes during a period of two hours, if necessary. If you have a compressor nebulizer at your fingertips, you can use the same way, every 20 minutes for several doses. The main side effects you can expect are tremor and palpitation. The best way to handle an asthma attack depends in part on how severe the attack. Sometimes you can recognize an acute attack by their symptoms. You may have a severe attack if short of breath even when walking slowly on level ground, if you have to interrupt your conversation for air, or if you are sweating and can not lie because he feels breathlessness. At other times your airways may be very narrow but it is difficult to determine based on symptoms - or may not want to recognize the severity of the situation. The use of a experómetro is useful is right now. You can tell how severe is your asthma attack and measure whether the treatment is improving. If a peak is less than your best value, is having a severe attack. In most people, a smaller maximum volume of 200 liters per minute indicates a severe attack. The bronchodilators for quick relief only treat one part of an attack asthma, the constriction of the muscles surrounding the bronchi. The other part, the inflammation of the lining of the bronchi and mucus overproduction, requires a treatment of anti-inflammatory corticosteroids. If you have a relatively mild attack that is responding to quick-relief bronchodilators, inhaled corticosteroids can take. Some examples (brand names) are Aerobid ®, Azmacort ®, Beclovent ®, Flovent ®, Pulmicort ®, and Vanceril ®. If you use any of these medicines daily as preventive medicine, double up (take double the regular aspirations) during the attack. If you have a severe attack , you should take prescription steroid tablets such as prednisone or Medrol ®. The typical starting dose is 30-60 mg. Steroid tablets regularly take 6 or more hours to take effect. Meanwhile, should continue to use quick-relief bronchodilator up to every hour, if necessary. severe asthma attacks can be dangerous. If you are not improving despite following your plan of action, seek help immediately.

Symptoms of Asthma

Asthma symptoms vary in individuals, and are mild in some and severe in others. Even within the same family, two people with asthma may experience different symptoms or suffer a symptom more often than another.

Asthma severity can vary from one person to another. A crisis may begin abruptly, with numerous severe symptoms that occur at a time, or learn more slowly, with a gradual increase in respiratory distress. Typical symptoms of an asthma attack are progressively worsening shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing and chest tightness, or a combination of these symptoms. Some people may also wake up at night with these symptoms
The most common symptoms in asthma are:

• Wheezing . It is the most characteristic symptom, although in the first years of life some other diseases may wheeze. 
  People call it many names: whistling, hissing, jija, fatigue ... These terms people use to say what happens to their children easily corroborate the examination (auscultation) by the doctor with a stethoscope (stethoscope), although often wheezing is audible without needing any device.
  
• Cough . A persistent cough during the night and cough that occurs during or after the exercise, sport or effort are clear examples of asthmatic cough. But because the cough is a common symptom in childhood, for colds, etc, is exceptional use of cough in the absence of wheezing, as the sole criterion for diagnosis of asthma. When a child coughs it is easier to think you have a cold to asthma.

Important:

                           

In a short and relatively severe crisis, the strong and dry cough sounds. Acute attacks may be accompanied by an acceleration of the heartbeat (tachycardia) and frequency of abnormally rapid breathing (tachypnea) that is becoming more labored, sweating and causing much anxiety and distress. The patient may have wheezing, noisy, and sometimes is unable to speak more than a few words without stopping to catch his breath.

of cytokines and leukotrienes (oral agents), to "inhibit" or delete the action of leukotrienes.

Classification of asthma severity in terms

Asthma can be classified into mild, moderate and severe , depending on certain parameters such as frequency and intensity of asthma attacks that occur, the symptoms that occur between crisis and crisis response to different drugs, of exercise tolerance or pulmonary function
The following table presents a classification guide to the severity of asthma, hosted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute :

	Symptoms	Symptoms Night	Pulmonary Function
STEP 1 Intermittent	Less than once a week. Asymptomatic between attacks.	Twice a month or less.	FEM and / or FEV1> 80% predicted. Variability <20%.
STEP 2 Mild persistent	More than once a week but not daily	More than twice a month but not every week.	FEM and / or FEV1> 80% predicted. Variability 20-30%.
STEP 3 Moderate persistent	Every day. The symptoms affect normal daily activity.	Every week at least one night.	FEM and / or FEV1 60-80% predicted. Variability> 30%.
STEP 4 Severe persistent	Continued symptoms.	Daily	FEM and / or FEV1 <60% predicted. Variability> 30%.

Classification of Asthma in terms of age

• Asthma in infants . The vast majority are of viral origin, by the same viruses that cause bronchiolitis. In this type of asthma can not be demonstrated eosinophilic infiltration of the mucosa, so that if asthma is not by definition.
• Asma school age . It mainly affects boys (2:1 to 4:1, depending on age groups), and is associated with allergy to pneumoallergens in most cases.
• Asthma in adolescence . It is characterized by the denial of symptoms and treatment regimens, and is the age range with higher mortality.
• Adult asthma .

Send your child a smoke-free message

No parent wants their child to start smoking, but is particularly important to discourage this behavior in children with asthma. If your child has asthma, the fact that smoking may nullify the effect of any drug "control" you are taking. It is also possible that your child needs the drug most frequently used "rescue", seek medical emergency care and consultation of the doctor more often and miss more classes because of asthma attacks.

Asthma

Asthma is a Greek word meaning "panting or shortness of breath."

It is a chronic respiratory disease caracterizadapor difficulty breathing due to narrowing of the bronchi and bronchioles is commonly seen in people with allergies. 

Flare-ups often occur in spring and fall or adverse weather conditions and when there are only a few storms and cold air can cause this evil.

It is sometimes caused also by hyperventilation, certain drugs or chemicals, strenuous exercise, hypoglycemia, respiratory infections (bronchitis) , intense and emotional emotions (panic or anxiety , worries and anxieties), the fur of animals (cats , dogs, rabbits, etc..) snuff smoke, dust in the house or commercial food additives ( metabisulfite, monosodium glutamate, sodium caseinate and calcium).

The most common symptoms of asthma are:

• Rapid pulse, more than 90 beats per minute.
• Cough and expectoration.
• Difficulty breathing.
• Wheezing when exhaling the air and when inhaled.
• Disnea o Fatiga

Clearly, asthma should be subject to medical monitoring. However, there are some natural remedies for asthma, used in antiquity, and can be used in a complementary way if the doctor deems appropriate.

Children with asthma who live with smokers

• have asthma attacks more often
• are more likely to need to go to a medical emergency department following a flare- grave
• more missing school because of asthma
• has to take medication to treat asthma more
• your asthma is more difficult to control, even with medication.

Even children without asthma have more risk of health problems if their parents smoke. These children are more likely to get infections of the upper respiratory tract and developing lung disorders, including asthma. The mere fact that a child is exposed daily to smoke 10 cigarettes increases your risk of developing asthma, even though previously've never had respiratory problems.
And here's the best reason of all for you to quit smoking: the children of parents Smokers are much more likely to smoke when they grow up.
do not have to try to quit on your own. Ask your doctor to indicate possible strategies, from support groups to medication. If you continue to smoke, never do in your home or car.
If your child has asthma, explain to your friends, family and caring for him to snuff the smoke can trigger an asthma attack . Other ways to keep your child breathe in the smoke of other people who smoke snuff include:

• Do not allow guests to smoke in your home or car.
• Avoid restaurants and parties where people smoke. Choose non-smoking area is not enough to protect your child.
• Ask friends and family not to smoke around your child.
• Choose not to smoke or babysitters, if they smoke, ask them not to smoke with your child.
• Encourage other family members to stop the snuff.

Classification of Asthma

There are different guidelines for classifying asthma . In this section we classify asthma into the most universal classifications

The extrinsic allergic asthma

There is talk of extrinsic asthma or allergic when symptoms appear as a result of contact between the organism and environmental elements, such as pollen, mites, fungi, etc.., through inhalation, ingestion or skin contact.
In these cases , is the person's immune system which reacts in an exaggerated, as if it were dangerous, to what actually constitutes no real threat. This overreaction causes the production of a large number of antibodies, immune system cells that try to eliminate the foreign substance molecules. These antibodies cause the chain activation of other cells in this system and the release of mediators of inflamción, such as histamine, in what is called "inflammatory cascade". These processes are responsible for the mucus in the bronchi are inflamed and smooth muscle to contract, thus hindering the passage of air.
Often asthma is also accompanied by allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis , which would be the consequence of similar processes previous action of substances such as histamine into the nasal mucosa and conjunctiva.

Intrinsic Asthma

His name is because you can not associate the symptoms with the presence of any external element, or more exactly, immune sensitization to any specific substance.
At times, it has been suggested that this type of asthma appropriate, Actually, those cases where you can not identify the item before which the body reacts .
It is postulated that the origin of this type of asthma is the presence of high or hyper "sensitivity" of the bronchi , so that react a number of different nonspecific stimuli such as strong odors, cold, dry air, excessive moisture, physical exercise, strong emotions, and so on. This excessive bronchial hyperreactivity would result in an excess of sensitivity of nerve receptors in the bronchial mucosa that result from the contraction or spasm of smooth muscle fairly easily.
Through skin reactivity tests (observing the reaction of the skin against contact with a number potential allergens) and bronchial provocation tests (measuring the extent to which declines in lung function after inhaling a bronchoconstrictor substance) can know the type of asthma that presents a person (allergic or intrinsic), and the degree of bronchial hyperreactivity.

Frequently, both types of asthma occur together . Thus, although initially a person can manifest asthma only in the presence of pollen, for example, progressively and as a result of repeated inflammation of the bronchial mucosa, can produce a sensitization of the bronchi to other nonspecific stimuli such as above (cold, dry air, exercise, strong odors, etc.)..