World Asthma Day

World Asthma Day is a event celebrated all over the world by the people to increase the awareness among public worldwide about the precautions and prevention about asthma. World Asthma Day is annually organized on international level by the GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma) in order to increase the asthma awareness all around the world. It is celebrated on annual basis at 1^st Tuesday of the May month. World Asthma Day celebration was first started celebrating in the year 1998 by the GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma).

Family members and the persons having asthma are encouraged for the written asthma action plan through their healthcare provider to fulfill the specific needs of the asthmatic patients such as accurate medications to get prevented from the airway inflammations and environmental causes of asthma like dust mites and tobacco smoke.

Objective of the world Asthma day

On World Asthma day there are organised many activity for increase awareness of asthma disease.

1)    Maximize the number of people without asthma and minimize the number of people with asthma to get proper control.

2)    Decrease the death rate due to asthma.

3)    Try to enroll maximum of the asthma patients to ensure that all patients are diagnosed and getting treatment.

4)    National Asthma Programme was started in 2010 by asthma society improve the asthma care.

5)    Try to identify asthma patients for accurate treatment of primary or secondary level based on the standard guidelines.

6)    Try to reduce an emergency visits to hospital because of the asthma and number of days spent by the asthmatic patients in the hospital.

Asthma is a disease which affects the airways that carry air to and from the lungs. People suffering from asthma have swollen or inflamed airways. The inflammation causes the airways to be narrower which causes less air to pass through them into and from the lungs. This causes acute difficulties in breathing. The inflammation also causes the airways to be extremely sensitive to irritations and infections.

Causes of asthma

b)       Allergens – Asthma can be triggered by exposure to allergens like pollens, animal fur, dust mites, irritants in the air like smoke and odour.

c)       Physical Activity – Vigorous physical activity can also asthma.

d)       Respiratory Tract Infections – Infection in the respiratory tract is one of the most common causes of asthma.

e)       Emotional Excitement – Excessive display of emotion like crying, laughing or shouting can also trigger asthma.

Symptoms of Asthma

a)       Coughing during night that can range from mild to severe and could be chronic or dry.

b)       Difficulty in breathing or breathing through the mouth, rapid breathing or frequent breathing infections are common symptoms of asthma.

c)       There may be a feeling of tightness in the chest.

d)       You may also hear a whistling sound while breathing.

Diagnose asthma

There are no specific tests to diagnose asthma. However, the doctor will try to ascertain and diagnose the disease through the symptoms such as -

• Whether you have the common symptoms of asthma.
• When the symptoms happen and their occurrence rate.
• Whether you have noticed any source, which triggers your symptoms.

Treatment and Management of Asthma

There is no cure for asthma, but there are medications, which help in reducing the symptoms of asthma. Asthma can also be controlled by learning to avoid the sources, which may trigger it. Your doctor will give you medication depending on your condition and may also give you instructions for using them. The main treatments are:

a)       Short-acting reliever inhalers – It helps in controlling symptoms for a short period of time and to soothe the breathing tubes.

b)       Preventative inhalers – Preventive inhalers are used to reduce the inflammation in the breathing tubes and to stop symptoms of asthma.

c)       Combination of inhalers and long-acting reliever inhalers – It is used every day to relax the breathing tubes and stop the symptoms for a longer period.

d)       Steroid injections or oral medications – These are used in acute cases to relieve the symptoms and ease the pain and also allow the patient to breathe normally.

e)       Spirometry - Spirometry is needed to establish a diagnosis of asthma. It’s a device for measuring timed expired and inspired volumes, and hence indicates how quickly and effectively the lungs can be emptied and filled. It is basically used to diagnose airflow obstruction in patients with respiratory symptoms but is not used to screen for airflow obstruction in people without respiratory symptoms.