What kind of disease is asthma and what are the symptoms?
Asthma is a chronic (chronic) lung disease that causes narrowing of the intrapulmonary airways and progresses with exacerbations (attacks). The reason for this narrowing in the airways is the swelling of the airway wall due to a non-microbial type of inflammation. The disease manifests itself with symptoms such as recurrent shortness of breath, wheezing / wheezing / whistling sound that occurs while breathing, chest pressure and cough.
How common is asthma?
It is estimated that there are approximately 300 million asthmatic patients in the world. In our country, approximately one in every 12-13 adults and one in 7-8 children has asthma. The incidence of asthma has been increasing over the years.
What are the risk factors for asthma?
The factors that contribute to the emergence of asthma are called risk factors. Why asthma is seen in some individuals but not in others can be explained by these risk factors. These factors are in two groups, related to the person and the environment. Heredity, in other words genetic makeup, gender and obesity, can be counted among personal risk factors. Environmental risk factors play a role in the occurrence and severity of asthma in hereditary predisposed individuals. These are allergens, recurrent lung infections, exposure to cigarette smoke, some drugs, indoor and outdoor air pollution and diet.
What is an Asthma Attack?
An asthma attack is defined as the occurrence of complaints of increased shortness of breath, cough, wheezing or chest pressure in an asthmatic patient, and the accompanying disorders that can be corrected with medication in the respiratory function test.
In Asthma Attack;
- Correcting airway obstruction as soon as possible and returning respiratory functions to normal.
- Correct oxygen deficiency
- Preventing later attacks with patient education and appropriate and adequate preventive treatment
- It is important to enlighten the patient about how the patient should behave during the attack, what medications he should use, and when he should apply to the hospital.
How is asthma diagnosed?
It is established by examination and breath measurement tests performed in patients whose complaints are compatible with asthma.
Can asthma be cured?
The aim of asthma treatment is to control the disease and to maintain this condition. As in the world, there are all kinds of drugs and materials required for the treatment of this disease in our country. With appropriate medication, asthmatics can continue their daily life, including work and school, without any restrictions due to illness. Most of the asthma medications are the drugs used by inhalation, and in this way, they produce the desired therapeutic effect directly in the airways with fewer side effects. They are supplied with special devices. When starting treatment, the use of these special devices should be shown to the patients.
What does it mean to have asthma under full control?
A patient with asthma does not have asthma complaints during the day, does not wake up from sleep due to asthma at night, does not need fast-acting breathing medications frequently while using medications that treat and control the disease, normal breathing measurement tests and can perform daily tasks without hindrance, the disease is under full control. shows.
Can the disease be controlled in all asthmatics?
Unfortunately, the number of patients whose asthma is completely under control is still not at the desired level both in the world and in our country. Currently, one out of 4 asthma applies to the emergency room once a year due to an asthma exacerbation (attack). Factors that make asthma control difficult include not using drugs with the correct technique and regular use, as well as exposure to triggers such as cigarette smoke, allergens and chemicals, and obesity. It has been reported that more than 10% of asthmatic patients in our country are still smoking and 30-40% of them are obese. Studies have shown that quitting smoking and losing weight by obese patients facilitates the control of asthma.
