World Asthma Day: You Can Control It
Since 1998, World Asthma Day has been celebrated every May 5. It is a day that had its origin in the first World Meeting on Asthma that took place in Spain that year.
Annually, World Asthma Day is sustained and stimulated by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Through various slogans it is proposed to educate about the disease. Both the general population and asthma patients themselves need to be aware of the pathology.
There are very disparate data around the world on the prevalence of asthma. Countries like Germany register that only less than 4% of the population suffers from it, but that value reaches more than 25% in New Zealand, for example. In general terms, it is accepted that around 4 out of 1,000 adults are diagnosed each year in the world.
World Asthma Day also warns about hospitalizations and emergency requirements for these patients. Asthmatic attacks can be very traumatic, especially in families with children who suffer from it.
The sensation of extreme shortness of breath, together with the pain when breathing that sometimes accompanies, generates a dramatic picture. The greater the knowledge, the better the approach to the problem and avoidable anxieties are reduced.
What is asthma?
Asthma is basically an inflammatory bronchial disease. The lower airways of asthma patients become inflamed in acute attacks and obstruct the passage of air.
In the same way, the muscles of the respiratory system also tend to generate closure, which makes expiration even more difficult, that is, the exit to the outside of the air that entered the lungs. This narrowing is what triggers the symptoms.
Asthmatic patients suffer from shortness of breath that varies according to the intensity of the attack. In very acute attacks, the feeling of suffocation is extreme.
Along with shortness of breath, wheezing may be heard. Wheezing is a whistling sound that is released from the bronchial tubes as pressurized air passes through them. The narrowing causes wheezing, which can be heard without the need for a stethoscope when the asthmatic attack is severe.
The cough is variable; sometimes it is present and other times it is not. It is usually a dry cough, without phlegm production, since when phlegm is present they warn of an infectious process.
Control asthma
The dissemination of information on World Asthma Day aims to help patients learn to manage their asthma attacks. In the same way, it is about taking the necessary precautions so that the crisis does not break out.
One of the principles for control is avoiding allergens. These are the substances that the asthmatic knows will unleash a crisis in him. It can be pollen, dust, closed spaces with humidity or cold. Each asthmatic learns, little by little, to identify the situations that make it worse.
Another good measure is respiratory exercise. As if it were a sport, the thoracic muscles should learn to regulate their movements. Every day the asthmatic patient should practice his breathing.
Sport for the whole body is also recommended. Asthmatics can exercise, and should do so as part of their routines. They should only take the precautionary measures that their doctor tells them and try to maintain a sports routine that helps their breathing.
Another fundamental learning is that which refers to medication. In addition to the doses and the name of the drugs, the patient has to know the possible adverse effects and the order of use. For inhalers, learning the correct technique is key.
Children on World Asthma Day
Asthmatic children are a concern to their parents and to the pediatric community. A child with poorly controlled asthma can affect his quality of life, since he will tend to play less, miss more school and live in a state of stress.
Education about the disease, in these cases, is for the child and for the parents. All the measures that we previously enunciated, in the previous section, must be adapted to the lives of children with asthma.
The role of the pediatrician is very important, too. The family places a very high trust in him, since he will be the recipient of doubts and concerns. He has the obligation to educate adults to act calmly in crises, and to help the patient to develop in the best possible way.
World Asthma Day: knowing is power
For the asthmatic patient, having knowledge about his disease is a source of power. Thus, you can control crises, improve your development in society and try a life as normal as possible. You will have to have some precautions, but those same will ensure a full vital development.
