Asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway that impacts a person’s and their family’s quality of life. In people with asthma, their airway becomes constricted with swelling and excessive mucous. This constriction or narrowing of the airway makes it difficult for the person with asthma to breath (Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2009). If asthma is left uncontrolled, it leads to further wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, tiredness, and stress. (Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2009).

Asthma is a respiratory disease that many people deal with every single day. “According to World Health Organization, approximately 180,000 people die from asthma each year.” (Jardins and Burton 187) Most people never think of asthma as a life threatening disease, but it can be crucial. As the number of people with asthma increases, the more likely you are to come in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with this disease. Asthma is a severe breathing problem that has many complications that is dealt with daily like shortness of breath, chronic cough, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath, my main focus is childhood asthma, allergic asthma, and medication to treat asthma.

I would allow them to write down what triggers they are aware of and make sure they post that list on their refrigerator as a reminder. In addition to that, I would provide with information on how to get specific testing done to identify in depth. I would explain to them what an Asthma Trigger Inventory (AVI) is. An AVI is a 32-item list that involves measuring the patient’s occurrences of asthma attacks due to triggers on six subscales (Ritz, Bobb & Griffiths, 2014). For example, some of those triggers are psychological factors, such as depressed mood, being upset. Animal allergens for example are animal hair or dander such as cat or dog. Physical factors are activity triggers such as running or going up a flight of stairs. Infection triggers are triggers that are influenced by the common cold or the flu. Lastly, air pollution triggers are triggers that involve the environment such as smoke or perfume (Ritz, Bobb & Griffiths, 2014). The family were able to identify that the patient was allergic to cats and that they kept the cats situated in the

Asthma is an inflammatory condition of the airways causing attacks of wheezing and breathlessness. It affects a person’s

Asthma may show symptoms of other diseases in an adult such as heart failure, COPD, rheumatic arthritis or stomach problems (Levy, et al., 2014). Therefore, age will have the greatest impact on diagnosis. A nurse practitioner must be aware of how adult onset asthma may mimic symptoms of other expected age related ailments. As a larger portion of adult onset asthma is initiated by allergies, acute pathophysiology may more closely resemble that of allergies (Levy, et al., 2014). Treatment for adult onset would be focused on maintaining as it is predominantly chronic in nature. Additionally, a thorough review of medication to ensure there are no incompatibilities (Levy, et al.,

1.2. During an asthma attack, the air passages become narrow, their surrounding muscles tighten, and stickier mucus is produced. Patients experience symptoms like coughing, wheezing, chest tightening and breathlessness. Severe asthma attack can cause restriction of oxygen into the lungs and bloodstream (British Lungs Foundation, 2014). This can be dangerous and life threatening if immediate medical treatment is not received. Asthma symptoms are usually severe at night (NHS Choice, 2014). This can disturb patient’s sleep and can affect their behaviour and concentration. Asthma can also affect the patient ability to do physical exercises as well as their daily routine.

When asthma strikes, it can be very scary especially when it gets harder and harder to breath every second. Your lung airways may swell because of some inhaled allergens causing you to feel like catching your breath every time.

The first step of asthma intervention is having it diagnosed. Usually either the primary care provider diagnoses the

If a person is having a clear difficulty breathing, is unable to talk in complete sentences, is holding onto their chest, is coughing and wheezing, they are experiencing acute asthma flare-ups. First, an ambulance (000) should be called, then asthma first aid should start.

Exercise-induced asthma - Physiological stress (increase in heart rate and blood flow to the lungs, in combination with the increase in breathing demands. As a result, the lungs tend to become inflamed; wheezing noises.

During the clinical experience, I was able to care for a patient with the diagnosis of adult onset asthma. J. D. was a twenty-year-old with a one-year history of mild persistent asthma. His body mass index was 30, and he was a former 1/2 pack per day smoker for one year. Also, other lifestyle factors included social alcohol drinking (1-2 drinks per/day) over the last year since he moved out on his own. He did not regularly exercise, and he admitted to not using his daily Qvar. He lives with a roommate that does smoke in the apartment. His sister was the only family member with asthma and was diagnosed in childhood. He was being treated with a low dose inhaled daily corticosteroid (Qvar 80 mcg/daily) and a short-acting

Asthma is the most common childhood condition in Australia (Better Health Channel, 2015). The National Institute of Health [NIH] (2014), describes asthma is a chronic long-term lung disease that causes a person’s airways to swell and become very sensitive. The airways are tubes that carry air into and out of a person’s lungs. When theses airways react to certain stimuli, the muscles around them tighten, narrowing the airways and causing less air to flow to the lungs. When this occurs, cells in the airways can also make more mucus than usual, which causes a sticky, thick liquid to be excreted and further narrows the swollen airways. This process is all caused when the person inhales certain substances that aggravate the sensitive airways.

Having Asthma can affect a person in a number of ways. The physical symptoms can range from the occasional cough all the way to life-threatening cases which are not being able to breathe. The seriousness and frequency of asthma symptoms is all dependant on how well the individual can control their Asthma. There are three symptoms of Asthma, the first being airway obstruction. Allergic substances and environmental triggers make a chain of muscle surrounding the airways tighten, and air cannot move freely. So my theory for this type of symptom would be; if a person was running through a park surrounded with many blossoming flowers, they began to sneeze and became short of breath would be because of the pollen floating around in the air. The second symptom is inflammation; with this type people have red swollen bronchial tubes, which are the airways of the lungs. This inflammation is thought to add greatly to the long-term damage Asthma can cause to the lungs. So my understanding for this type would be; a person has had inflammation for years and now has severe damage to his lungs. So therefore, treating this inflammation would be to the key to managing Asthma in the long run. The third symptom is airway irritability; the airways for people with this type are extremely sensitive. The airways tends to overreact and narrow due even the smallest triggers like pollen or animal dander, My theory for this type would be; If a person has got a new with really messy hair that

If triggers can be identified and eliminated or exposure can be reduced, the child’s symptoms will arise less often and their overall quality of life will improve. Another huge teaching point for parents and patients is recognizing the signs and symptoms of an asthma attack. There are specific signs and symptoms associated with asthma, if patients and family can recognize and effectively respond to these, there is a better chance of controlling the asthma and reducing the risk for complications. A third priority patient education topic is how to use spirometers and inhalers. Asthma requires devices to measure the airflow and the medications must be properly administered to facilitate the effectiveness of

Breathing techniques such as inhaling through the nose and breathing out from the mouth slowly can be helpful for a patient to be aware of. Last, the patient should always have the physician’s information if asthma attacks become more frequent or they believe their inhaler to not be helping.