Asthma Research Paper

To better understand the impact of asthma, a brief overview of the causes (aetiology) and disease progression (pathophysiology) must be shown. As common as asthma is, not much is known about its aetiology, according to findings presented by Subbaroa, Mandhane and Sears (2009, pg. 181-187) in a review from the Canadian

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.

Avoiding and controlling asthma triggers is important in every phase of the intervention process in order to manage the disease. However, many times because of lack of awareness and education, asthma

Asthma is a chronic condition affecting the respiratory system and has a considerable impact on both individuals and a population. Everybody is susceptible to asthma, some more than others, depending of a variety of factors including, age, sex, geographical location and income. Asthma is particularly prevalent in younger children and the elderly and while it can be fatal, most people have mild cases of asthma that are relatively easy to treat. The condition mainly impacts an individual’s physical ability to contribute to a community.

Rationale: L.J. exhibits asthmatic symptoms that include shortness of breath and coughing. Moreover, daily activities trigger the shortness of breath, which could be associated with exercise-triggered asthmatic

The best way to diagnose asthma is to see a doctor to review any medical and family history and discuss the type and frequency of symptoms. It is also recommended to have a physical exam and participate in a lung function tests, also known as the pulmonary function tests. Some of the tests

I. Introduction: Looking at Asthma and breaking it down to fully understand the chronic disease.

Asthma control varies over time due to severity and changes in the environment, for example, home, school and or work environments. There are several medications and combinations used to control asthma attacks. The first line of medication are inhaled corticosteroids used to prevent and reduce airway swelling and inhaled long-acting beta agonist used to keep the airways open and relaxed (AAFA, 2015). Examples of long-acting corticosteroids are fluticasone, budesonide, mometasone, beclomethasone, ciclesonide, flunisolide. Examples of LABA medications are salmeterol and formoterol; it is important to remind patients that these medications are not to be used in emergency situations. At times, both medications are used together in a single medication to treat asthma and prevent attacks. Some caution that patients should be aware that when using combination medication, the risk for severe asthma attacks increase (Mayo Clinic, 2015). Examples of combination medications are Advair (fluticasone and salmeterol), Symbicort (budesonide and formoterol), Dulera (mometasone and formoterol) and Breo (fluticasone and

Usually a doctor will use a spirometer. A Spirometer is a device that has these candles on it. You blow into the Spirometer and depending on how many candles you blow out you have the possibility of Asthma and how serious it is. The more serious it is the easier it is to detect it and the more fatal the attacks are. They might also have you run on a treadmill to see how your body reacts to the exercise and they will give you the results within a few weeks. “level for the inspiratory or expiratory scan can be achieved in around 90% of children”(Salamon, Elizabeth). The tests usually take a few days and the results take a few weeks because the doctors like to be 100% correct when diagnosing Asthma because the treatment could possibly hurt the person believed to be an asthmatic if they don’t really have Asthma. If you have Asthma they will give you certain treatments to prevent the

One of the main type of these medications are short acting beta2-agonists. These medications relax the muscles that line the airways that carry air to the lungs. These medications start to work within 5 minutes of administration but only last for 3-6 hours. Quick relief medications are used in conjunction with controller medications. They are available in multiple forms but the inhaled form is preferred. Inhaled medications dilate bronchial tubes better, cause fewer side effects and act faster with a longer duration than oral forms. Research has shown that using the short-acting beta2 agonists with Ipratropium during severe episodes result in better outcomes or the asthmatic. These medications are often overused causing a reduction in the effectiveness of them. These not only can be used for acute exacerbations but are used prophylactically before exercise. Examples of these are Albuterol, Levabuterol. Metaproterenol, and Terbutaline. Ipratropium is an Anticholinergic that causes bronchodilation and is often used in conjunction with beta2-agonists when they alone are ineffective in treating acute asthma exacerbations. This medication provides competitive inhibition of muscarinic cholinergic receptors which helps to open the airway on the cellular level. It reduces intrinsic vagal tones of the airway and it may help to decrease mucus gland secretions. Corticosteroids, even though they take longer to

The nurse must to teach the individual about the side effects of the medications such as for albuterol (nervousness, jitteriness, dry mouth, high blood pressure, and increase heart rate), and prednisone (risk for infection, osteoporosis, weight gain, and etc.). For long term control of occupational asthma the individual has to take this following medication daily such as: inhaled corticosteroids Fluticasone (Flovent Diskus, Flovent HFA), Beclomethasone (Ovar); Leukotriene Antagonist Montelukast (Singulair), Zafirlukast (Accolate), and Zileuton (Zyflo CR); Long-acting beta agonist Salmeterol (Serevent Diskus) and Formoterol (Foradil); Combination inhalers Fluticasone and Salmeterol (Advair Diskus, Advair HFA), Budesonide and Formoterol (Symbicort); and Therophylline (Theo-24, Elixophyllin) (Eccles, Rousseau, Higgins, Thomas, 2015). The nurse must teach the individual about side effects from long term use of the following medications such as Inhaled Corticosteroids (risk for infection, mouth fungus, weight gain, and etc.); Leukotriene modifiers (agitation,

Asthma is a lung disease characterized by variable and reversible airway obstruction, airway inflammation, and bronchial hyper-responsiveness. Causes recurring periods of wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing; coughing normally occurs at night or early morning. Asthma affects people of all ages and mostly starts in childhood. In the United States, more than twenty-five million people are diagnosed with asthma and about seven million of these people are children.

Asthma is a disease that affects the respiratory system; it is marked by spasms in the bronchi of the lungs causing difficulty in breathing. Checking medical history is a way to diagnostically check for asthma. A patient with a recurrent cough, who wheezes, has shortness of breath and/or chest tightness could be a victim of asthma. Symptoms that occur variable with asthma upon exposure to allergens or irritants, worsen at night and/or also respond to appropriate asthma therapies are suggestive of asthma. A positive family history of asthma, atopic disease or an allergy to rhinitis can be helpful in identifying a patient with asthma. During the history check, providers often ask patients about their living environment

The pathophysiology of Asthma includes inflammation of the airway. The way in which this works is from an irritant which can include dust, pollen, cedar, or cat hair. When a reaction occurs, the airways become inflamed and narrow. The narrowing occurs because once the inflammatory response is triggered by an irritant, histamines, immunoglobulin E antibodies, and leukotrienes are released. Because of this, mucous production occurs. Since the bronchioles are inflamed and narrow, breathing becomes difficult. Wheezing sounds can be heard due to the lack of air being able to easily move in and out of the narrowed bronchioles.

Asthma is a chronic airway disease that can be difficult to manage, resulting in poor outcomes and high costs (Kuhn et al., 2015). It is characterized by episodes of expiratory airflow obstruction, which occurs in response to multiple stimuli or triggers. Asthma is a lifelong disease, and symptoms include wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. Attacks can be mild, moderate, severe, or even life threatening and limit a person’s way of life (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2011). There is no known cure for asthma, but symptoms can be controlled by avoiding the triggers and taking prescribed medicines that prevent or minimize symptoms.