A Look at Asthma Treatment

Asthma is a disease that is long-term not short-term. At present, it has no cure. The goal of any asthma treatment is to find effective ways to manage and control the affliction in order for the individual to maintain a high quality of life. Asthma treatment and control is about helping the individual to maintain good lung capacity. It is also about preventing chronic and disrupting symptoms such as shortness of breath and coughing. It is also about preventing asthma attacks that often necessitate hospital visits. It is also about helping the person to sleep well at night and to remain active throughout the day.

Those who suffer from this disease need to work closely with their physician to come up with effective ways to manage it and to find ways to keep it from getting any worse. Children who have been diagnosed with asthma who are 10 years of age (and even younger in some cases) should be encouraged by their parents to take an active role in caring and treating their asthma. Together the doctor and the individual can devise a course of action to make living with the disease easier. 

Asthma can be treated with two different kinds of medicines: long-term control and quick relief medicines. Long-term control medicines have as their goal to reduce inflammation in the airways and to prevent asthma symptoms from showing up. Quick relief medicines which are sometimes referred to as rescue medicines help to relieve the symptoms of a flare-up when they come up out of the blue. Most asthma treatments involve both types of medicines to one extent or another.

When you visit your doctor about your asthma symptoms, once a proper diagnosis has been made the initial treatment that will be chosen for you will be related to how severe the disease is for you. Some people experience milder forms of asthma while for others it is moderate or in some cases, severe even from the start. The doctor will want to get your symptoms to a manageable level. Follow-up asthma treatment will have to do with how well your action plan is progressing and whether it is adequately addressing your health concerns or not. If the action plan is preventing attacks from taking place then it is doing what it was put in place to do. 

It is important to note that this affliction is not necessarily a stationary disease. In other words, it can vary and change over the course of time. It can also be affected by the environment you are in. If any modifications are made to your home, school, workplace or any other place where you spend a fair amount of time then this can potentially make your condition worse.

You should always let your physician know if any changes have taken place in your surroundings. Your asthma treatment may need to be altered as a result of the changes. If your condition does not stay under control and cannot be maintained with the medication you are on then your doctor may need to increase the dosage. On the other hand, if it is under control and you are doing well then it may be possible for your medication to be reduced.