Archive for the 'ASTHMA TREATMENT' Category

Despite being at increased risk for influenza-related complications, almost two-thirds of people with asthma in the US are not vaccinated against influenza each year, according to an analysis of data from the 2005-2006 flu season.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended since 1964 that all persons with asthma get a flu shot, because they’re prone to complications if they do catch influenza.

The vaccine coverage rate did improve if patients had experienced asthma problems. Among those with an asthma attack in the previous 12 months, 38 percent had a flu shot, as did 42 percent of those who had had to go to the emergency room or seek urgent care for asthma.

Vaccination rates increased with the individual’s age: in pediatric patients, rates did not exceed 30 percent, while in patients 65 years and older, rates did not fall below 80 percent.

The respondents were more likely to get the vaccine if they had insurance coverage, a usual place for healthcare, and higher family income. The odds of being vaccinated also increased as the number of healthcare visits rose, yet even among subjects with 10 or more visits, the coverage rate was just 51 percent.

The new report suggests that long-acting beta agonists have beneficial effects in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and do not appear to increase the risk of respiratory deaths.

In the study, Dr. Gustavo J. Rodrigo, from Hospital Central de las Fuerzas Armadas, Montevideo, Uruguay and colleagues pooled data from 27 randomized clinical trials that compared two long-acting beta agonists with placebo or with two long-acting “anticholinergic” asthma drugs (for example, Spiriva) in patients with moderate to severe COPD.

Compared with placebo, long-acting beta agonist therapy reduced severe COPD flare-ups by 21 percent and did not increase death from COPD. Treatment with a long-acting beta agonist had benefits “in terms of lung function, quality of life, and use of daily rescue medication”.

The pooled data also showed that treatment with Spiriva decreased the incidence of severe COPD flare-ups compared with a long-acting beta agonist. Overall, daily tiotropium (Spiriva) appears to be foundational as a long-acting bronchodilator in COPD, despite some equivocation on this matter in current COPD treatment guidelines.

For further information, visit: Reuters

Often complementary and alternative therapies are used by the people who are suffering with asthma.

The main reason why people prefer asthma alternative medicine is due to the side effects of steroids.

Most of the parents prefer to use one or more forms of alternative therapy to treat their child’s asthma. They can be herbs, massage, vitamins and supplements.

Often alternative treatments are used alone, but complementary treatments are used in combination with traditional treatments which your doctor suggests.

Which asthma alternative medicine helps effectively?

Yoga therapy:

Yoga and relaxation techniques are used for proper functioning of lungs by affecting muscles, breathing and emotional processes.

Breathing exercises in yoga helps to control breathing and also relieves stress which is the common asthma trigger. This asthma alternative medicine reduces the frequency and intensity of asthma attacks.

The simple relaxation methods and exercises in yoga can help you in regulating breathing patterns and improves your lung function. Don’t make yoga as a substitute for your conventional treatment. It is better to consult a medical practitioner before beginning yoga practice.

Acupuncture Therapy:

The reality behind asthma treatment is there is no permanent cure for asthma. But natural cure for asthma can help to manage the symptoms of asthma.

Some natural techniques like progressive muscle relaxation, deep abdominal breathing, biofeedback, guided imagery can help you in relieving stress associated with asthma.

Diet supplements from several years are using as natural cure for asthma. Here are some methods of natural cure for asthma:

Garlic: Garlic acts as natural cure for asthma. This can be considered as a useful choice for asthma treatment. Boiling garlic in milk and drinking it during early stages of asthma can give an excellent relief from asthma symptoms.

Honey: Use aroma from the honey and hold it under your nose for couple of hours. This acts as an effective aid and makes you breath easily. You can eat raw honey or drink it by mixing in water or milk. It helps in removal of mucous from the airways thus giving an ultimate relief from asthma.

Turmeric: This is one of the effective treatments among natural cure for asthma. Turmeric can be used as a preventive and therapeutic treatment of allergic asthma. Drinking a glass of water mixed with turmeric helps to reduce the intensity of asthma attack.

Asthma medication that is commonly prescribed is asthma inhalers.

Some age groups like infants and young children may have a problem with taking asthma medication through inhalers, so when inhalers are not opted, asthma nebulizers will be given to treat the asthma patients.

Asthma nebulizers change the asthma medication from a liquid to a mist. These nebulizers comprise air compressor, nebulizer cup, mouthpiece (mask), medication, and compressor tubing. Doctor’s prescription is must before purchasing an asthma nebulizer.

In order to operate asthma nebulizers, you will need to do following.

• Before taking medication through asthma nebulizers, wash your hands with soap, rinse with water, and dry your hands completely.
• First, carefully measure the medication as instructed and put the medication into the nebulizer cup.
• Close the nebulizer cup and attach the mask or mouthpiece.
• Now, connect the nebulizer cup to the air compressor by using provided tubing.
• After connecting the nebulizer cup, turn on the air compressor to confirm whether it is working by seeing the mist from the back of the tube opposite to mask.

Asthma is a chronic lung condition that causes difficulty in breathing.

During an asthma attack, your bronchial tubes will become narrow and they secrete an excess of mucus which makes very hard to breathe.

Asthma remedies are used for treating asthma.

The simple, natural and easy to follow asthma remedies are given below:

• Mix 1 teaspoon of honey with ½ teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Consume this mixture just before going to sleep. This will help to treat the difficulty in breathing while sleeping.
• Boil 8 to 9 cloves of garlic in ½ cup of milk. Drink this solution at night and it will work well for the early stages of asthma.
• Take one tablespoon of honey and add it to the very hot water and sip it slowly. Take this mixture just before sleeping. It helps to remove phlegm from your throat.
• Soak 1 tablespoon of fenugreek seeds overnight in 1 cup of water. In the morning strain the water and add 1 tablespoon of ginger juice and one table spoon of honey to it. This should be taken at morning time and evening time.

Several types of medications are used for the treatment of asthma

Most of the people use the combination of quick relief medications and long term medications to control asthma.

Your doctor will be suggesting the best medications which are suitable for you depending on severity of your symptoms and age.

Natural or herbal home remedies which works as treatment for asthma:

• Drink daily ¼ cup of onion juice, 1/8 tablespoon black pepper and a table spoon of honey to reduce the asthma.
• Turmeric works well for treating asthma. If you have asthma, you should drink the milk by mixing a teaspoon of turmeric in it. You should take this two to three times a day and it works best or acts best on an empty stomach.
• Don’t eat dairy products. Dairy products are not good for asthmatics. Those products will be too mucus forming and cheddar cheese can be given exception. This cheese contains “tyramine” as an ingredient in it which helps to open up the breathing passages.

Find out the relation between bee pollen and asthma. Many allergies such as asthma and hay fever are caused by inhaling pollen.

When bee pollen is taken internally, it boosts the immune system. There is a big difference between inhaled pollen and bee pollen.

The high quality blended, multifloral collected pollen helps reduce airborne allergies and hay fever, because it helps to enhance the overall system and contains naturally occurring antihistamines including quercetin.

Bee pollen and asthma:

Bee pollen and asthma! Many people with asthma and hay fever take bee pollen safely and effectively. 73% of patients with hay fever averaged a 75 percent improvement when given bee pollen orally.

78 percent of asthma patients averaged a 75 percent improvement in taking the bee pollen orally. 17.8 percent patients with hay fever and 33.3 percent patients with asthma showed a complete hundred percent improvement with bee pollen.

Quercetin, which is present in bee pollen, releases histamine in the body. It is one of the contributing factors in decreasing asthma and hay fever condition.

A person suffering from asthma attacks regularly will be on increasing doses of medication, which includes bronchodilator spray and steroids.

Chiropractics can help the condition of asthma. Chiropractics and asthma always do not go with each other, but in most of the cases, asthma responds to chiropractic treatment.

Chiropractic can respond best to spinal adjusting at young age. Chiropractic seeks to restore normal function to the spine and nervous system. Working with spine will not always give quick response for asthma and improvement comes gradually over a period of months.

In that period, the person need to be evaluated each week and should be continued with prescribed medications. in chiropractics and asthma treatment, Chiropractor founds problems in different areas of spine and starts chiropractics and asthma treatment.

Spinal misalignments cause many health problems because vertebrae pinch important nerves and restrict their effectiveness. Spinal manipulation shows improvement in asthma symptoms.

Patients undergoing spinal manipulation displayed dramatic increase of IgA (immunoglobulin A) and decrease of cortisol even after the treatment for asthma has been stopped, suggesting that the treatment affected the patient’s health long term.

Although there is no cure for asthma, you can prevent asthma attack with effective management.

You can control and end the attacks soon after they begun with asthma attack treatment.

Asthma medications are used for asthma attack treatment which can be taken orally or inhaled in vapor form using metered-dose inhaler.

There are two kinds of medication for asthma attack treatment: bronchodilators, which reduce spasms and anti-inflammatory medications which reduce airway inflammation.

Immunotherapy is another asthma attack treatment for asthma which is caused by allergens. This treatment modifies your allergic response by repeated exposure to small amounts of allergens.

There are two kinds of medication for asthma attack treatment: long-term control medications and quick relief medications.

Long-term control medications:

Long-term medications for asthma attack treatment are used on a regular basis to prevent attacks and not to be used during an attack. These medications include:

• Leukotriene inhibitors such as singulair and accolade
• Inhaled steroids such as azmacort, vanceril, aerobid, flovent prevent inflammation
• Cromolyn sodium or nedocromil sodium
• Long-acting bronchodilators such as famoterol and serevent help open airways
• Aminophylline or theophylline