Treating an Asthma Attack: What Are the Options?

Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the airways, the tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. Asthma is a very serious and common disease, one that affects millions of people around the world. And the number of sufferers climbs continually.

Although there isn’t a cure for asthma, there are a variety of asthma treatments to help prevent or relieve the condition. It can be managed to the place where they can go about their lives in a normal fashion without experiencing constant asthma symptoms.

Treating an Asthma Attack

Prevention is the preferred method of treating an asthma attack. Learn which conditions set off an attack, and do your best to avoid them. Still, there will be instances when you’ll experience asthma symptoms no matter what you do. Therefore, it’s critical that you learn how to manage an asthma attack.

Keep in mind that when it comes to asthma, not all attacks are the same. At times, your symptoms might be more severe than others. In a serious asthma attack your airways can constrict to the point that insufficient oxygen travels to your body’s vital organs. This is considered to be a medical emergency. People can even die from severe asthma attacks. If you are among the huge number of individuals who experience asthma, it’s critical that you realize the seriousness of this condition.

Medication

Usually, medication is used to control an asthma attack. It can help asthma sufferers keep their condition under control and ward off an attack before it becomes serious. Asthma remedies are taken either orally or inhaled as a vapor using a metered dose inhaler.

There are two kinds of medication available for treating the problem. A bronchodilator will help out by keeping spasms in check. Anti-inflammatory treatments work by reducing the inflammation in the airways. If your asthma is particularly severe, your doctor may suggest that you use a combination of both.

These days there is a variety of prescription treatments that you can try:

*Accolade and Singulair, which are leukotriene inhibitors
*long-acting bronchodilators such as Famoterol and Serevent, and
*Aminophylline or Theophylline.

Your doctor will know which one is best for you, and might even have some suggestions for some natural asthma remedies.