World Asthma Day 2020: Here¡¯s Everything You Need To Know

Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs causing breathing problems affects about 1.5 to 2 crore people across the world. As per the WHO- World Health Organisation about 80% of asthma deaths occur in low and middle income countries.

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At least 1 in every 10 asthma patients live in India. This day is marked to spread awareness about the disease. Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), a medical guidelines organization, observed the world Asthma Day for the first time in the year 1998. Since then, 5th May is earmarked as World Asthma Day every year.

Symptoms of asthma include breathlessness, coughing, a feeling of tightness in the chest and these can vary in frequency and severity. When not controlled and managed on time, the condition can lead to inflammation of airways and breathing difficulties. Whilst asthma is a non curable disease, it is possible for a person to live life normally with certain precautions and by adhering to medication and treatment.

Plan - Asthma Management

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The most important step in asthma management is to share all the details with your doctor. A detailed and comprehensive plan must be maintained for the patient. A good asthma management plan factors in symptoms, medical history of the patient and his or her family, and the regular as well as emergency treatment - in case of asthma attacks.

Medication of Asthma

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It is an essential to maintain good health for an asthma patient, since it's incurable. However, there are medicines that can help keep a patient¡¯s asthma in check and reduce the risk of attacks.

The dosage of the drug, frequency of medication in a non-attack situation etc are things that must be strictly followed. The main objective of asthma medication and management is to curb the symptoms and attacks that could cause a disruption to daily life. Inhalers should be used as prescribed even if the patient has not been experiencing any symptoms at all. The most recommended practice with inhalers is to place them alongside your essentials so that the patients can use it unfailingly.

Timely Assessments

Patients must undergo a timely asthma assessment to discuss the condition with the doctor and make any adjustments to lifestyle that might have an impact on this condition.

Avoid things that trigger asthma

As a part of the asthma management plan, it is imperative to identify the triggers that instigate attacks in a patient and avoid them as much as possible, for instance smoking is highly avoidable while you have asthma.

Keep your emergency kit ready

While regular asthma medication such as inhalers can keep the attacks under control, they can still happen anytime. Therefore, the emergency medicine to give immediate relief must be kept handy always.