Adult Asthma - Living With It

Asthma as a child meant a constant watchful eye being cast your way by adults. Living with adult asthma however, means you need to take responsibilty and be aware of your condition. My first encounter with asthma concerned a young girl when I was still attending Junior Primary. She was an outstanding athlete yet, her physical attributes were constantly affected by her asthma. She was the one kid in school teachers kept a close on eye on.

Adult asthma can affect someone's quality of life - there's no doubt about that but in reality, it doesn't have too. So what is asthma and does it affect you?

Basics

Adult asthma, as well as any other form of asthma is a constriction of the muscle lining in one’s bronchial tubes. As the muscles tighten, it can make it difficult for air to make its way into the lungs (and thus leads to the wheezing that occurs when trying to breathe during an attack) and causes in increase in mucus secretion. Doctors are unsure as to what exactly causes asthma, but they believe it can be combination of environmental factors, allergies and genetics.

Treatment

Although still no cure for adult asthma, there are numerous ways to treat your asthma. One way is through the use of inhalers. Bronchodilators relax the bronchial muscles during an attack, causing them to open up and making it easier to breathe. Corticosteroids are more long-term and are preventative inhalers. People with severe asthma are required to take both inhalers at least twice daily. There are also types of medication in pill form, such as Singular, to help control your body’s reaction to asthma triggers.

Living with Asthma

Almost half of adult asthma sufferers say that having asthma limits them from participating in physical activities. But since the mortality rate of death from asthma has steadily dropped over the years, and with advances in medicine to treat and control asthma, it is possible to be just as active as anyone with the disease. Doctors suggest that you stay active, as it will help keep your body healthy enough to tolerate your asthma. Eat healthy, be active and take your medicine as prescribed.

When you think of asthma, it’s easy to imagine not having control of your own breathing. It can be frustrating to not be as active as you want, or be around a certain type of flower or animal without wheezing. Your asthma may never go away, but you can learn to fight it enough to where you are living a healthy lifestyle.

Triggers

Cold air is a common trigger for asthma attacks. Wearing a scarf around both your nose and mouth to warm the air before it enters your lungs is one way to combat an adult asthma attack.

Some asthmatics have their asthma triggered by strong odours and perfumes while smoke either cigarette smoke or traditional heating and cooking related smoke can also trigger an adult asthma attack.

One area that's not paid much attention but should be noted is someone's work area. Triggers such as fumes, chemicals, dust and industrial products are all adult asthma triggers.