How Do I Control My Asthma?
Controlling Asthma is a threefold process:
- Finding the right physician and associated health care providers that can be partners in the management of your disease.
- Becoming aggressive in monitoring and caring for your own asthma.
- Taking the proper medications.
The medications you need will be based on your category of asthma. You will need your doctor's help to discover what triggers your asthma and what category of asthma you have.
There are 3 basic types of medications that can help you take care of your asthma.
Remember, asthma consists of 3 major components:
- Constriction (The breathing passages tighten and narrow)
- Swelling (Inflammation inside the lungs)
- More and thicker sputum
The medications to treat these components are:
- Bronchodilators - (reliever, albuterol, beta-agonist) -- To help relieve the constriction (tightening of the breathing passages)
- Inhaled Steroids - (controller, preventer, corticosteroids) -- To help relieve the swelling and inflammation in the lungs. Over time inhaled steroids will help decrease all the symptoms of asthma.
- Allergy Medications
This is where your doctor will need to help. The amount and type of medication will depend on our category of asthma. The category can change and adjusting medications will be necessary. The important thing is to keep your asthma under control.
Every asthmatic will need a bronchodilator (reliever) to use when they feel tight. Those patients who are in the mild intermittent category or only have asthma when they exercise will probably just need a bronchodilator. The other categories of asthmatics will need a bronchodilator, and a combination of inhaled steroids and other allergy and asthma medications.
Some other asthma controller medications that are currently available include: Theyophylline, Allergy cell stabilizers, Serevent modulators, and Leukotriene modulators.
The asthma pill or leukotriene modulator blocks the formation of a chemical called a leukotriene. This chemical is released in teh asthmatic lung producing some of the symptoms of asthma. There are three types of leukotriene modulators - Zyflo, Accolate, and Singulair.
