Asthma FAQ

Frequently asked question on Asthma:

Q1. What is asthma?

A. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of airways. In this airways become narrow leading to cough wheeze and respiratory difficulty. Globally more than 100 million people had asthma. In India 15-20 million peoples are suffering from asthma.

Q2. Types of asthma?

A. Mainly two types based on etiology.

Allergic: due to allergy to various kinds of agents.

Non allergic: due factors other than allergy

Q3. What are the symptoms of asthma?

A. Common symptoms are:

Wheezing
Cough
Shortness of breath
Chest tightness
Increased mucous production

Q4. What are factors that can aggravate asthma symptoms?

A. These factors are called triggers of asthma. These include:

Allergens
Tobacco smoke – both active and passive.
Cold air, wind, rain
Upper respiratory infections.
Paint fumes, smog, aerosol sprays
Perfume spray, mosquito liquid/coils.
Sudden changes in the weather
Exercise
Some medications

Q5. Can medicine cure asthma?

A. Till date there is no cure for asthma. Asthma can be controlled with medications and patient can live happily as normal individual.

Q6. What medications are used to treat asthma?

A. Asthma medications mainly are of two types:

Preventer medications: Usually taken daily as a long term basis. They reduces inflammation of airways. These medications include:

Inhaled corticosteroids
Inhaled corticosteroid and Long-acting bronchodilator.
Leukotriene modifiers

Controller medications: They relax the smooth muscles of airways for short period of time. They include:

Inhaled short-acting bronchodilators
Inhaled Anti-Cholinergics

Q7. Which is the best treatment for asthma?

A. Inhalers are the best treatment for asthma

Q8. I don’t want to take inhaler? Any alternate treatment?

A. If you are a diagnosed case of asthma then you must take inhaler as advised by your physician.

Q9. Can a child be given inhaler?

A. Yes.

Q10. Whether there will be any harm to my child if he take inhaler?

A. No harm. One thing must be remembered that, if a child has asthma/wheeze then you have to give him inhaler/nebulization.

Q11. My physician given inhaler to my 1 year old child for 3 months. Is if cause any damage to my child?

A. No. You should follow your physician’s advice.

Q12. I am suffering from asthma/allergic disease. If there any chance of asthma/ allergies in my baby?

A. Yes. There is increase chance of asthma/allergies.

Q14. Can I live normal lifestyle if I follow medication?

A. Yes. If someone adhere to the treatment then he can live happily.

Q14. Can people die from asthma?

A. Asthma is also a killer disease. Worldwide annually more than 180,000 deaths are occurring due to asthma. Each day, 14 people in the United States die from asthma.

CFAA