First of all I want to thank Steemit blog for choosing one of the best teachers and inviting us to participate in the best teacher by one best teacher contest in week 4 of season 21. Above all I am especially thankful to the teacher whose name is @ashkhan
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Understanding Asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammation of the respiratory tract, which involves the narrowings in the lung’s airways. These are elastic tubes called bronchial tubes also get swollen and constricted which become a big problem when breathing. The condition can be caused by allergens, irritants, respiratory infections or results from exercise, therefore, sufferers experience repeated periods of breathlessness, wheezing cough, chest constriction or tightness.
Asthma is noniqué and can manifest itself at any age, but it is more frequent in childhood. There are different possibilities of manifestations of asthmatic attack: it can range from mild or moderate ones to potentially fatal ones. In asthmatic episode, the smooth muscles of the airways contract and there is increased production of mucus that blocks passageways.
Though the actual cause of asthma is not proven, it is genetically linked with the environment. Some of the factors that put a child at risk of getting asthma include; family history of allergic or asthmatic problems, exposure to smoking or pollution and respiratory illnesses during the early years.
Diagnosis of asthma is usually done by physical examination, lung function tests and taking the patient through a number of questions to enable the health care provider understand his medical history better. While asthma can be an ailment that has no known cure, it is an ailment that is very manageable. Management can be done by steering clear of such causes, the use of inhalers in cases where a quick rescue is needed and the taking of control medications which help reduce inflammation levels.
It is therefore really important for patients with asthma to be well educated on the disease and on how best they can manage it. They should be able to identify danger signals of an asthma attack and take the steps advised by a health care professional. If properly managed and monitored, asthma is a condition that can be adepty managed and does not have definitive control over the victim’s life.
If one is to combat asthma and make patients live a better life, then there is need for people to understand asthma.
Diagnosing Asthma: Clinical Investigations and Assessment Tests
Asthma on the other hand is a sustained long term disease of the respiratory tracts, which results to inflammation and narrowing of the air passages, indicted by wheezing, coughing, shortness in breathing, and chest stiffness. Asthma involves medical history, physical examination and other tests, to conclude a diagnosis.
1. Medical History and Symptoms
The diagnostic process starts with the elicitation of the patient’s clinical summary. Areas that include specifics involve the regularity and characteristic of symptoms, the stuff that precipitates an attack, be it allergens, exercise or cold air, history of asthma or allergies in the family, and response to medications. Again, symptoms at night or early morning and variations over the seasons are also important signs.
2. Physical Examination
A physical examination features the respiratory system. Doctors inspect the patients through auscultation, the evidence being wheezing or other irregular breath sounds heard through a stethoscope. Nevertheless, the apparent absence of asthma manifests, or even the complete absence of symptoms at one’s normal physical exam, effectively excludes asthma.
3. Spirometry
Pulmonary function tests are usually used if the clinical diagnosis is in doubt, one of which is spirometry which is highly sensitive for asthma. It measures:
Forced Vital Capacity (FVC): It is the volume of air which can be expelled with the greatest of ease after a full inspiration.
Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV1): The volume of the air expirated during the first second of the test.
Less FEV1/FVC in patients along with a rise with the use of a bronchodilator is an indication of Asthma.
4. Peak Flow Measurement
A peak flow meter is used to determine the fasted rate of expiration. The variations in peak flow readings from day to day or from perfect health to symptoms is indicative of asthma.
5. Bronchoprovocation Testing
This test is used to determine if the patient’s airways close easily by using agents such as methacholine or cold air.
6. Allergy Testing
Patch or blood trials can discover matters that are most likely to cause asthma.
7. The FeNO stands for Exhaled Nitric Oxide Test.
This determines the level of inflammation of the airways. Increased concentration of nitric oxide represents the inflammatory process resulting from asthma.
Proper diagnosis means correct treatment, which enhances a good quality of life and management of symptoms.
Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise: A Complete Guide
Therefore, diaphragmatic breathing, also referred to as abdominal breathing, is one activity that will help to increase ones lung aeration capacity and general respiratory ability. It involves the diaphragm that improves posture and hence enhances the stability of the torso hence negating the work of the muscles in breathing. It has most application in reducing stress, helping one relax and improve on their sleep due to its function of reducing the activity of the nervous system.
Diaphragmatic breathing should be adopted into athletes’ regime in an effort to increase oxygen supply and stamina. It also gives an opportunity for practicing the technique and also alleviating anxiety and other respiratory disorders including asthma.
To practice, sit or lie comfortably, and try putting a hand in the upper abdomen, take a deep breath through your nose thinking about your stomach moving up. Breathe out slowly,PASSING your lips, and feel your belly go down. The technique of diaphragmatic breathing is most effective once it becomes a habit thus, making it one of the most effective ways to improve your quality of life.
Pursed-Lip Breathing Exercise
Small nostril breathing is a rather basic technique which designed to teach its subject how to train his/her lungs and cope with shortness of breath. This technique is especially useful in people with respiratory disorder including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or emphysema. It aids in eradicating any trapped air within the lungs, enhances the frail muscular groups of the chest cavity, and increases up and down motions of the chest during a breath.
How to Perform Pursed-Lip Breathing:
1. Find a Comfortable Position: Bend your legs at the knee and sit or lie on your back so that your shoulders are not tensed.
2. Inhale Through Your Nose: Take a regular breath through the nose and hold it for approximately two seconds, while your diaphragm descends.
3. Exhale Through Pursed Lips: Blow air out through the lips, gently and prolong the process as if to blow out a candle. Make sure, the duration of the exhalation is longer than the duration of the inhalation, it is about 4-6 seconds.
This technique avoids keeping the airways, air trapping, and boosts the oxygen exchange in the lungs area. Implementation of pursed lip breathing decreases the feeling of breathlessness and increase the amount of oxygen in the body as well as decrease respiratory rate during episodes of dyspnea. It can be a very useful one to help improve the quality of respiration.
Chest Stretches: Ascorbic Acid Supplements in Muscles Strengthening and Lengthening
Anterior chest strains are critical in enhancing the flexibility and strength of the body’s chest muscles that are usually tight with increased laacity or weakness. Some of these stretches assist in the elongation of the firmly knit chest related muscles while at the same time strengthening the back muscles in order to avoid strains which might occur as a result of poor posture.
Doorway Stretch is one of the most effective stretches You stand in the door frame with your forearms placed on the surface, with elbows bent at 90 degrees. Slightly bending forward to get a pull through your sternum. Another is the Chest Opener Stretch in which you interlock your fingers at the back of your body then raise the hands making the chest bigger.
Chest stretching exercises may provide flexibility and range of motion of the shoulders, facilitate proper breathing and finally, the relationship between the chest and back muscles may be balanced. These stretches are best done after a workout session or when taking a break from a long sitting routine at work. It is also important to keep good posture at all times and not pull or twist the muscles too hard to avoid any experiencing any form of discomfort or pain. Incorporating chest stretches into one’s repertory can make itself a cause of greatly enhancing physical fitness and range of motion.
In this section, Children’s Asthma Diagnostic Exercises A and B are revised in light of the recently developed framework.
Asthma diagnostic tests are equally important, as they give information about respiratory health and demonstrate the need for unique approaches. The following is review based on experiences of using the stethoscope to administer the tests on a healthy subject, and two patients with asthma like symptoms and a confirmed asthmatic patient.
1. History Taking and Examination
The procedure of case history collection provided important information. The one who turned out to be the healthy one had no symptoms reported, the only person found to have asthma-like symptoms had them during episodes of exercises and cold weather. The known asthmatic patient positives for symptoms like wheezing and attack at night and underscore the overall appropriateness of these talks as a screening and diagnostic tool.
2. Physical Examination
As for the lung sounds, their condition was normal and there were no pathologies in patient with healthy body. On the other hand, the assessment of the asthmatic patient recorded mild wheezing particularly during forced expiration thus supporting the exercise of auscultation particularly in the symptomatic clients.
3. Spirometry
Among all tests we performed, spirometry were the most insightful. The healthy subject had a normal FEV1 percent predicted and FVC percent predicted. However, the symptomatic patient had lower FEV1/FVC and the value was almost restored after the use of bronchodilator. This establishing reversible broncho constriction that is characteristic of asthma.
4. Peak Flow Measurement
The expiratory peak airflow values obtained in this study were stable over time in the healthy subject but highly variable in the asthmatic patient. During an exacerbation, the patient’s peak flow reduced, but it returned to being normal with medication.
5. Allergy Testing and FeNO
Dust mites and pollen were revealed as causal antigens in the asthmatic patient, consistent with described symptoms. The FeNO test supported the evaluation of airway inflammation in this particular patient, which negative in the normal person.
These diagnostic exercises helped much in differentiating between asthma and other diseases or illnesses. Of all the techniques used, spirometry, peak flow tests offered most value when complemented by symptoms and allergens detection. The said model allows medical practitioners to provide accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.
I would like to invite @wilmer1988 @stef1 @josepha to take part in this contest
Regard @shabbir86
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There will be challenges in life, but it's people like you who are working on them that keep us moving forward. Thanks for your important write-up. Good luck for the contest
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