Asthma Healing

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory condition that causes the airways (bronchi) to produce excess mucus and close, making breathing difficult. Treatment has two main objectives: first, to control and reduce inflammation and, second, to reopen the airways. Drugs that achieve the first goal are called anti-inflammatory agents, and those that bring about the second are called bronchodilators. Many asthma sufferers inhale these medications.

In 1935, the Mayo Clinic reported a research breakthrough that would affect millions of lives. Doctors had isolated the hormone cortisone from the adrenal glands, the walnut sized glands sitting on top of the kidneys. Cortisone produced by the adrenal glands reduces inflammation in the body.

Pediatricians, general practitioners, internists, allergists and pulmonologists can all treat asthma and allergies.

What You Should Know About Childhood Asthma

Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, and yet many parents know little about it. In the United States, it is estimated that nearly 5 million youngsters under age 18 have this disease. In 1993 alone, asthma was the reason for almost 200,000 hospital stays and about 340 deaths among persons under age 25.

Chemical and Other Environmental Sensitivities

A variety of vague and hard-to-pinpoint symptoms are experienced by an undetermined, but possibly sizeable number of adults and children. Occasionally, they may suggest allergy or asthma, but most often the symptoms are much wider in scope.

Can Medicine Cure My Asthma?

No, there is no cure for asthma. Although asthma cannot be cured it can be controlled. There are many medicines that help people with asthma. Some are preventive medicines and others are known as quick relievers. The preventive medicines are used for long-term control of the disease and work to make asthma attacks less frequent and less severe. Quick reliever medicines offer short-term relief of symptoms when asthma episodes occur.

What is asthma?

Asthma is a disease in which the airways become blocked or narrowed. These effects are usually temporary, but they cause shortness of breath, breathing trouble and other symptoms. If an asthma attack is severe, a person may need emergency treatment to restore normal breathing.

AAFA has been a partner in the Consortium on Children's Asthma Camps which helps children with asthma by bringing together people from all walks of life to share ideas on how to best manage this chronic disease.

Since asthma has a genetic origin and is a disease you are born with, passed down from generation to generation, the question isn’t really “what causes asthma,” but rather “what causes asthma symptoms to appear?”  People with asthma have inflamed airways which are super-sensitive to things which do not bother other people. These things are called "triggers."

To properly diagnose asthma, you'll discuss your medical history and have a physical exam with a physician. You may need lung function tests to detect possible limitations in your breathing, and, in some cases, you may need additional tests, such as a chest or sinus X-ray. If you or your child are having problems breathing on a regular basis, don’t wait! Visit a doctor immediately. Knowing what to expect during the diagnostic process and how your doctor arrives at a diagnosis may help.

For people with asthma, having an “asthma management plan” is the best strategy to prevent symptoms. An asthma management plan is something developed by you and your doctor to help you control your asthma, instead of your asthma controlling you. An effective plan should allow you to:

What is asthma?

Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory disease in which the airways become sensitive to allergens (any substance that triggers an allergic reaction). Several things happen to the airways when a person is exposed to certain triggers:

• The lining of the airways become swollen and inflamed.
• The muscles that surround the airways tighten.
• The production of mucus in increased, leading to mucus plugs.