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Asthma Treatment

Asthma Treatment

Successful asthma treatment consists of patient education, using the right medication, as well as limiting your day-to-day exposure to asthma triggers. There are a variety of drugs available for asthma and you should be prescribed whatever is appropriate for the type of asthma you have. Your condition must also be monitored and your medication might be ‘stepped down’ if control is good or ‘stepped up’ if it is not.

Frequently Asked Questions

here are several effective medications such as preventers and
relievers for managing asthma. Prevention of asthma can also be achieved
by avoiding exposure to triggers that play a key role in living well
with asthma, especially if you have allergic asthma. It is easier to
control the reduction of indoor airborne allergens and pollutants. Here
are some tips on how to prevent:

House dust mite:

  • Regular vacuuming with a cleaner fitted with a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter or even removing carpets and replacing with hardwood flooring. Carpets are a reservoir for house dust mite.
  • Washing bedding regularly with an allergen laundry wash.
  • Damp dust regularly (a dry duster spreads dust around, increasing the mite problem). Remove clutter, because this attracts dust.

Pet dander:

  • Ideally, do not have a pet but if getting rid of a beloved family member is a step too far, then ensure the animal is confined, as much as possible, to one room.
  • Shampoo the animal regularly to get rid of dander.

Mould:

  • Repair any obvious damp patches.
  • Ventilate bathrooms and kitchens after bathing, showering and cooking to prevent condensation & have a fan operating or open the windows.

Pollen:

  • Try not to bring pollen indoors. Change your shoes, clothes and wash your hair and shower when coming in from outdoors
  • When outdoors try to avoid exposure to outdoor pollution by keeping your eye on pollution forecasts and planning activities accordingly.
  • Join or support an environmental group like Clean Air in London to put pressure on policymakers for better environmental legislation.

Well-controlled asthma is defined as having:

  • None, or very few, daytime symptoms
  • No limitation on activities due to asthma
  • No night-time symptoms
  • Minimal (less than twice a week) need for a reliever
  • No exacerbations

Asthma control is the goal of long-term management, but how this is achieved depends on where you are starting from. Is your asthma intermittent, or persistent? Mild, moderate, or severe? There are many drugs available to prevent and relieve asthma and you should be prescribed whatever is appropriate for your type of asthma. Then, your condition should be monitored (this is where the peak-flow meter comes in) and your medication might be ‘stepped down’ if control is good or ‘stepped up’ if it is not.


Patient education is just as important as taking medication for asthma. This covers topics like:

  • Understanding the disease
  • Understanding your medication and when/how to use it
  • Self-monitoring
  • Avoiding and managing exacerbations
  • Understanding what allergens trigger asthma symptoms
  • Understanding how to practice Allergen/asthma trigger avoidance

It is more difficult to diagnose asthma in young children than it is in adults. Wheezing is very common in babies and often it is not asthma. Peak-flow meters do not give accurate results in young children, so often symptoms need to be monitored over a period of time before the diagnosis can be made. However, children are prescribed similar medication to adults who suffer with asthma, although in lower doses. If your child is diagnosed to be suffering with asthma, they should always carry their reliever, and of course, know how to use it. A regular review is essential to make sure your child is taking the lowest necessary possible dose of any asthma medication.

he two main medical treatments for asthma are:

Preventers: which damp down inflammation in the airways and help protect you from an attack.

Relievers: which relieve symptoms.

Both preventers and relievers are usually in inhaler form to deliver the drug to the lungs. They are usually corticosteroid drugs. Sometimes it is necessary to take a short course of oral corticosteroids if asthma is severe. Newer drugs include the oral leukotriene receptor antagonists and the monoclonal antibody which act directly on the immune system.

here is no cure for asthma on the horizon, as yet, but there are a couple of promising new treatments, such as:

Bronchial Thermoplasty. This is an outpatient technique in which radiofrequency thermal energy is used, under local anaesthetic, to destroy some of the muscle tissue in the lungs. This opens up the airways.

Immunotherapy. Repeated injection of a specific allergen may ‘re-train’ the immune system to tolerate it. Studies have shown some benefit in asthma by inducing tolerance to house dust mite, pollen, animal dander, and moulds. There is also some evidence that treating children with rhinitis by immunotherapy reduces their risk of going on to develop asthma.

Better understanding and awareness of allergen avoidance. A firm grasp of where allergen triggers in your home or place of work are coming from and how to control them is an effective way to control asthma symptoms and reduce the risk of developing asthma.

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