Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

Asthma is a treatable disease that acts like an allergic reaction: environmental triggers cause inflammation of the airways. Asthma makes it hard to breathe until the inflammation is treated and restored. About 334 million people worldwide have asthma, and the number in the United States is 25 million. If you suspect asthma, you can identify it yourself through signs and symptoms, risk factors, and diagnostic testing.

Steps

Part 1 of 4: Identifying risk factors for asthma

1. 

   Consider the combination of sex and age. In the United States, boys under 18 have a 54% higher rate of asthma than girls. But by the age of 20, women are more likely to have the disease than men. At the age of 35, the gap changes to 10.1% in women and 5.6% in men. After the menopause, the rate drops in women and the current gap narrows but doesn't disappear entirely. Experts have a variety of reasons why gender and age influence the risk of asthma:
   • Allergic organs (congenital allergic sensitivity) in adolescent boys.
   • The airway size in adolescent boys is smaller than that of girls.
   • Sex hormones change during the premenstrual period, menstruation, and menopause in women.
   • Studies that reintroduce hormones in newly diagnosed menopausal women increase.

2. 

   
   
   Consider a family history of asthma. Experts have found 100 genes associated with asthma and allergies. Research conducted in families, especially twins, has shown that asthma is caused by a genetic factor. A 2009 study found that family history is the primary determinant of whether a person has asthma or not. If compared with the average family to the family with a high genetic risk of asthma, the average risk audience was 2.4 times more likely to develop asthma, and the high risk audience was 4 times more likely to develop asthma. ,8 times.
   • Ask parents and loved ones about family history of asthma.
   • If adopted, the biological parents can give your adoptive parents a family history.

3. 

   
   
   Record an allergy. Research has linked an immune protein antibody called "IgE" to the development of asthma. If you have high IgE levels, you are at risk for an allergy that is inherited. When there is IgE in the blood, the body will experience an inflammatory allergic reaction that obstructs the airways, hives, itching, watery eyes, wheezing, etc.
   • Be aware of allergic reactions related to common irritants, such as foods, cockroaches, animals, fungi, pollen, and dust.
   • If you have allergies, you also have a higher risk of developing asthma.
   • In the event of a severe allergic reaction but no cause is found, you should see your doctor for testing. Your doctor will test the skin sample with certain allergens to look for any allergic changes.

4. 

   
   
   Avoid exposure to tobacco smoke. When the particles are inhaled into the lungs, the body responds by coughing. These seeds may also provoke an inflammatory response and asthma symptoms. The more exposure you are to tobacco smoke, the higher your risk of asthma. If you are addicted to tobacco, talk to your doctor about tobacco cessation methods and medications. Some methods include nicotine gum, reduce smoking gradually, or take medications such as Chantix or Wellbutrin. Even if you have difficulty quitting smoking, you should not smoke when there are many people around. Passive smoking can cause asthma attacks.
   • Smoking during pregnancy can cause a baby to wheeze, increase the risk of food allergies, and inflammatory proteins in the blood. The consequences can be more serious if the baby continues to inhale secondhand smoke after being born. Talk to your gynecologist before taking any medication to quit smoking.

5. 

   Reduce stress. Many studies have shown that high levels of stress hormones can trigger asthma symptoms, increased allergen sensitivity, and lung spasm. Identify the factors that cause the most stress in your life, and find ways to fix them.
   • Try relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, and yoga.
   • Exercise regularly to boost endorphins to help relieve pain and reduce stress.
   • Improve your sleep habits: go to bed when you're tired, don't sleep with the TV on, don't eat before bed, avoid nighttime caffeine, and try to maintain a regular daily rest schedule.

6. 

   Avoid air pollution in the environment. Most childhood asthma is caused by exposure to air pollution from factories, construction sites, vehicles, and industrial plants. Just like cigarette smoke irritates the lungs, air pollution triggers an inflammatory response that damages and constricts the lungs. If you cannot limit air pollution, you can reduce your exposure to the environment.
   • Avoid breathing the air on highways or highways if possible.
   • Ask children to play in areas away from highways or construction sites.
   • If you want to move to the United States, you can look at the best air quality regions in the EPA's Air Quality Index guide.

7. 

   Consider medications. If you are on medication, you should be aware of your asthma symptoms from the moment you started taking them. If so, you should consult your doctor before stopping, reducing the dosage, or changing the drug.
   • Studies have shown that aspirin and ibuprofen can cause lung and airway constriction in asthmatic patients who are allergic to these two types.
   • ACE inhibitors used to treat blood pressure do not cause asthma, but can lead to a dry cough that is confusing. However, a severe cough caused by an ACE inhibitor can irritate your lungs and asthma. Common ACE inhibitors include ramipril and perindopril.
   • Beta blockers are used to treat heart disease, high blood pressure, and migraines. They can cause constriction of the lungs and airways. A few doctors may prescribe beta-channel blockers even if you have asthma, and just watch for any changes. Common beta-channel blockers include metoprolol and propanolol.

8. 

   Maintain a normal weight. Many studies have found a link between weight gain and an increased risk of asthma. Excess volume makes it difficult to breathe and circulate blood throughout the body. It also increases the amount of inflammatory protein (xytokin) in the body, making you more susceptible to inflammation and constriction of the airways. advertisement

Part 2 of 4: Recognize mild and moderate signs and symptoms

1. 

   See a doctor even if symptoms are mild. The new symptoms appear not to seriously interfere with your daily activities or life. When the situation begins to deteriorate, however, you will realize how difficult your daily activities are. Patients often experience early symptoms, however their severity becomes more severe.
   • If left undiagnosed or untreated, mild asthma symptoms can deteriorate. This is especially true if you do not identify your triggers and avoid them.

2. 

   Note the phenomenon of coughing a lot. If you have asthma, your airways get blocked due to constriction or inflammation caused by the disease. The body responds by clearing the airways by coughing. Coughs caused by infections are often in the form of moist, mucus-like form, while coughs from asthma are usually dry and have very little mucus.
   • If a cough starts or gets worse at night, this could be signs of an asthma attack. The most common symptom of asthma is a night cough, or a cough that gets worse immediately after waking up.
   • In extreme conditions, the cough can last throughout the day.

3. 

   Listen for exhalation sounds. Asthma patients often hear a high-pitched wheezing or whistling sound when breathing out. The reason is because the airways constrict. Note when you hear sound. If there is noise at the end of your breath, this can be an early warning sign of mild asthma. But if the condition goes bad, you'll wheeze or wheeze when you fully exhale.

4. 

   Note unusual shortness of breath. "Exercise-induced bronchospasm" is a form of asthma in a person who has recently been active hard, such as exercise. Airway spasms make you feel more tired and have difficulty breathing than usual, and you may have to stop working earlier than planned. Compare normal exercise times until you feel tired and have difficulty breathing.

5. 

   Watch for rapid breathing. The body speeds up respiration so that the transmission of oxygen into the lungs is constricted. Place your palm on your chest and count your breaths for one minute. Use a counter to accurately measure speed in one minute. Normal respiration rate is between 12 and 20 breaths in 60 seconds.
   • With moderate asthma, the respiratory rate can range from 20 to 30 breaths per minute.

6. 

   Don't ignore cold or flu symptoms. Although coughing from asthma can be different from a cold or flu, bacteria and viruses can cause asthma. Look for signs of infection that can lead to asthma symptoms: sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, and congestion. If your cough has black, green, or white mucus, you may have an infection. If the mucus is clear or white, it can be caused by a virus.
   • If you notice these symptoms of infection with breathing noise and shortness of breath, you are more likely to have asthma due to an infection.
   • See your doctor to find out the exact cause.
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Part 3 of 4: Recognize severe symptoms

1. 

   Seek medical attention if you cannot breathe, even during times of effortlessness. Usually, shortness of breath due to heavy activity in asthmatics usually recovers with proper rest. However, if severe symptoms are present or when you have asthma, breathing difficulties will still occur during rest because factors trigger the inflammatory process. If the inflammation becomes severe, you may experience difficulty breathing suddenly or try to breathe deeply.
   • You may feel that you cannot fully exhale. When the body needs oxygen through inhalation, they shorten the time to exhale to receive oxygen faster.
   • You cannot say a complete sentence and must use words and short sentences between breaths.

2. 

   Check your breathing. Even mild and moderate asthma attacks can cause you to breathe quickly, but severe attacks can be dangerous. The narrowed airways interfere with the ability to breathe fresh air into the body, leading to a lack of oxygen. Rapid breathing is the body's way of trying to get as much oxygen as possible to improve the situation before it is injured.
   • Place your palms on your chest and notice how you breathe for a minute. Use a counter to accurately measure speed in one minute.
   • When asthma is severe, your breathing rate will be over 30 breaths per minute.

3. 

   Measure the pulse. To carry oxygen and tissues and organs, blood draws oxygen from the air in the lungs and supplies it to many parts of the body. When asthma is severe, the body does not get enough oxygen, the heart has to pump blood quickly to get a lot of oxygen into the tissues and organs. Then you will feel your heart beating fast for no reason during a severe asthma attack.
   • Hands out, palms facing up.
   • Place the tip of your index and middle finger on the outside of your wrist under your thumb.
   • You will feel a rapid pulse from a radial artery.
   • Calculate your heart rate by counting beats per minute. Normal heart rate is less than 100 beats per minute, but when asthma is symptomatic it can be as high as 120.
   • Most smartphones these days have built-in heart rate monitoring. If yes then you can use this function.

4. 

   Note the pale green stain. Blood is only bright red when it contains oxygen, otherwise it is dark red. When the blood comes into contact with the outside oxygen it turns a bright red color, so you won't notice it. But when you have a severe asthma attack, you may experience "cyanosis" due to the lack of oxygen in your blood flowing through your arteries. This gives the skin a pale or gray color, especially the lips, fingers, nails, gums, or thin skin around the eyes.

5. 

   Watch out for neck and chest tightness. When we take deep breaths or have respiratory failure, we use extra muscles (not for breathing). The muscles used for respiration in these cases are located on the side of the neck: the thymus sprain and the deflected muscle. Find the deep outlines of the neck muscles when you have difficulty breathing. Furthermore, the muscles of the flanks (intercostals) are pulled inward. These muscles help lift your ribs when you inhale, and you may notice this contraction between your ribs in a serious condition.
   • Look at the neck to see the muscles on the sides of the neck deeply concave and the muscles contracting between the sides.

6. 

   Watch out for chest pain. When you struggle to breathe, the muscles involved in respiration get overwhelmed. This results in chest muscle fatigue, tightness and pain. The pain may be dull, throbbing, or stab-like, in the sternum or near the sternum. This requires immediate medical attention and emergency to rule out a heart problem.

7. 

   Note loud noises while breathing. When you have mild or moderate symptoms, you will only hear a whistle or wheezing when you exhale. However, in extreme levels you will hear a sound even on exhalation and inhalation. The whistle on inhalation is called "wheezing" and is caused by narrowing of the throat muscles located in the upper respiratory tract. Wheezing usually occurs when inhaled, and is caused by muscle spasm of the lower respiratory tract.
   • Sound on inhalation can be a symptom of an asthma attack and a severe allergic reaction. You need to differentiate between the two in order to find the exact cause.
   • Look for urticaria or red rash in the chest, which is indicative of an allergic reaction instead of an asthma attack. Swelling of the lips or tongue is also a sign of an allergic reaction.

8. 

   Treat asthma symptoms as soon as possible. If you have a severe asthma attack that makes it difficult to breathe, you should call an ambulance or go to the hospital right away.If left undiagnosed, you won't have a preventive inhaler. If so, use immediately.
   • The albuterol inhaler should only be used 4 times a day, but when you have an asthma attack, you can use it as often as every 20 minutes for 2 hours.
   • Breathe slowly and deeply, counting to 3 on the inhale and exhale. This helps to reduce stress and breathing rate.
   • Avoid stimulants if you can identify them correctly.
   • Your asthma will improve if you take steroids prescribed by your doctor. This medicine can be inhaled through a pump or tablet. Take the pill with water and wait for a few hours to work, but it is still possible to control asthma symptoms.

9. 

   Get emergency medical help for severe asthma attacks. These symptoms indicate that you have an acute attack, and your body is trying to breathe in as much air as possible to function. This is considered a potentially life-threatening emergency if not treated promptly. advertisement

Part 4 of 4: Conducting the diagnosis

1. 

   Give medical history information to your doctor. The content of the information must be accurate for the doctor to identify the problem affecting you. Have the information ahead of time so you don't have to think twice about going to the clinic:
   • Any signs and symptoms of asthma (cough, difficulty breathing, noise while breathing, etc.)
   • Medical history (past allergies, etc.)
   • Family history (history of lung disease or allergies to parents, siblings, etc.)
   • Social history (smoking, diet and exercise, environment)
   • Current medications (such as aspirin) and supplements or vitamins in use

2. 

   Get a health check. The doctor may examine part or all of the following organs: ears, eyes, nose, throat, skin, chest, and lungs. The doctor uses stethoscope before and behind the chest to hear breathing sounds or the absence of sounds in the lungs.
   • Since asthma is linked to allergies, your doctor will check for runny nose, red eyes, watery eyes, and skin rashes.
   • Finally, your doctor will check your throat for swelling and breathing, as well as any unusual sounds that indicate a constricted airway.

3. 

   
   
   Ask your doctor to confirm the diagnosis with a spirometry test. In this test, you will breathe into a speaker connected to a spirometer to measure the speed of air movement and the amount of air you inhale and exhale. Take a deep breath and exhale vigorously for as long as possible while the device is taking the measurement. Positive results confirm asthma, but negative results cannot rule out this cause.

4. 

   
   
   Conduct a test of maximum airflow. This method is similar to spirometry, and measures how much air you can exhale. Your doctor may recommend this test to help make an accurate diagnosis. To do the test, place your lips in the mouth of the device and set it to zero. Stand up straight and breathe deeply, then blow very hard and quickly in one breath. Repeat several times for consistent results. Get the highest number and this is your maximum airflow. When you feel you are about to have asthma, repeat the test and compare the airflow to the maximum.
   • If the maximum airflow value is over 80%, you are in a safe zone.
   • If the airflow value is between 50 and 80%, your asthma is not well controlled and your doctor will prescribe medication for you. You are at moderate risk of an asthma attack in this range.
   • If the number is lower than 50%, you are suffering from severe respiratory distress and need medication to treat it.

5. 

   
   
   Ask your doctor for a methacholine allergy test. If there are no symptoms when visiting the clinic, it is difficult for a doctor to make an accurate diagnosis. Then your doctor may recommend a methacholine allergy test using your methacholine inhaler. Methacholine causes the airways to narrow if you have asthma, and causes symptoms that can be measured with a spirometer and maximal airflow test.

6. 

   Check your asthma medication response. Sometimes your doctor will skip these tests and only prescribe asthma medication to check the condition. If your symptoms subside, you may have asthma. The doctor prescribes medication based on symptom severity and medical history as well as physical examination.
   • The most commonly prescribed drug is an albuterol / salbutamol inhaler pump, which is used by pressing your lips on your rim and pumping medication into your lungs while you inhale.
   • Bronchodilators expand the airways that are narrowed by relaxing.
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Advice

• See an allergist to find out what's causing your allergy. Being aware of the allergen can help prevent an asthma attack.

Warning

• If any of these symptoms appear, you should see your doctor promptly.