Sunday, February 13, 2011
Doctors life...!!!: Living Normal with Asthma:
Living Normal with Asthma:
Living Normal with Asthma:
Asthma is a long-term disease that requires long-term care and management. The goal of treatment is to keep the disease under control and improve quality of life and decrease the number and severity of episodes of breathlessness. Successful asthma treatment requires you to take an active role in your care and follow your asthma action plan and be persistent and systematic in your treatment which requires a lot of motivation and determination both from your side so also from your family , friends and work colleagues.
Ways to Manage Your Asthma:
Participation:
Active participation in treatment process by Teaming up with your doctor and develop an “Asthma action plan”. This plan will help you know more about your condition and also when and how to take your medicines. The plan also will help you identify your asthma triggers and manage your disease if asthma symptoms worsen.
Kids aged 10 or older—and younger children who can handle it—should be involved in developing and following their asthma action plans, so also should be the case with elderly giving them enough motivation and a feeling of more in control of themselves. For a sample plan, go to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Asthma Action Plan.
Most important trick is in successfully managing their symptoms at home by following their asthma action plans and having regular checkups. However, it's important to know when to seek emergency medical care and when you can wait and watch.
Use of Medicines:
Inhaled medicines: Which is now a days the mainstay of treatment , you should get detailed instructions and demonstration from your doctor on the ways of using the inhaler and precautions to be taken. If not taken in the proper way the efficacy is low and desired results may not be achieved.
Strictly adhere to your treatment regime and schedule. Do consult your doctor if u feel you are having more frequent or severe episodes for revision of dosage.
Personal Log:
Record your asthma symptoms and episodes with date and time of occurrence as a way to track how well your asthma is controlled. Also, your doctor may advise you to use a peak flow meter to measure and record how well your lungs are working. You must take these records with you for the next visit. (For more information on using a peak flow meter, go to "How Is Asthma Treated and Controlled?")
You can either maintain it in a Tabular column format or as a diary entry of your daily occurrences. These steps will help you keep track of how well you are controlling your asthma over time and will help you and your physician spot problems early and prevent or relieve asthma attacks. Recording your symptoms and peak flow results to share with your doctor also will help him or her decide whether to adjust your treatment.
Ongoing Care
Have regular asthma checkups with your doctor so he or she can assess your level of asthma control and adjust your treatment as needed. Remember, the main goal of asthma treatment is to achieve the best control of your asthma using the least amount of medicine. This may require frequent adjustments to your treatments.
If it's hard to follow your asthma action plan or the plan isn't working well, let your health care team know right away. They will work with you to adjust your plan to better suit your needs.
Get treatment for any other conditions that can interfere with your asthma management.
Always checkup before you go on a trip or for camping trips or during climatic changes.
Watch for Signs That Your Asthma Is Getting Worse
Your asthma may be getting worse if:
- Your symptoms start to occur more often, are more severe, and/or bother you at night and cause you to lose sleep.
- You're limiting your normal activities and missing school or work because of your asthma.
- Your peak flow number is low compared to your personal best or varies a lot from day to day.
- Your asthma medicines don't seem to work well anymore.
- You have to use your quick-relief inhaler more often. If you're using quick-relief medicine more than 2 days a week, your asthma isn't well controlled.
- You have to go to the emergency room or doctor because of an asthma attack.
If you have any of these signs, see your doctor. He or she may need to change your medicines or take other steps to control your asthma.
Partner with your health care team and take an active role in your care. This can help you better control your asthma so it doesn't interfere with your activities and disrupt your life.
“Don’t let Asthma control you, Control asthma for you”