Adult Asthma
Most people think asthma is a childhood illness that you may grow out of. In fact it has affected millions of people all over the world in later life.
Asthma is a condition that affects the airways, the tubes that carry air to the lungs.
The causes of concern in asthma are;
- Wheeze
- Tight chest
- Hacking cough
- Short of breath
A lot of asthma sufferers use air purifiers, as it greatly reduces the triggers that can cause an attack.
Some of the main triggers for asthma are;
- Dust
- Pollen
- Animal fur (especially cats and dogs)
- Inhaling cigarette smoke, or smoke from industrial sites.
Some people have been known to leave the area they live in, especially if their main cause of an attack comes from industrial pollution. Not all adult asthma sufferers have the same triggers, in others it may be exercise, or stress, even sex has been known to be a contributor.
Asthma attacks can vary in their frequency, some people get daily attacks, others can go weeks or months before an attack occurs.
There is no cure for asthma, but if managed right, and with the help of medication, people can go on to live normal and sometimes active lives. It can be managed in a similar sort of way diabetes sufferers manage their illness. Daily monitoring doing air peak flow and adjusting medication is easy self-management. Some adult asthma sufferers cannot take medication, be it orally or in the form of an inhaler, they can get injections, which introduce allergens into the body, and desensitizes the sufferer, these are given over several weeks, each time the dose is increased, and has been suitably found to reduce the risk of an attack.
Inhalers used to contain CFC’s, these have now been discontinued because, of the damage to the ozone. Now they use a dry powder, which goes straight to the lungs, can be used anytime, anywhere. Others use a nebuliser especially at night- time a face- mask is worn so the medication is inhaled over a period of five to ten minutes. These were only used in hospitals, but portable ones are now available for use at home.
There are lots of support groups for adult asthma sufferers, check local press or phone books for ones in your area; they also help relatives of sufferers as well.
It is also recommended to vacuum mattresses weekly, to help get rid of dust mites and to change pillows regularly.
Over the last few decades’ asthma has increased in adults and children, especially in areas of the developed world. There are some twenty million adult asthma sufferers in the United States alone. In England 1 in 5 people are adult asthmatics.
Some adult asthma sufferers find they have no symptoms at weekends or when on vacation, this is known as occupational asthma, where there is something in the workplace that triggers an attack. It is not always easy to track down the cause in this case.