Asthma
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Asthma is a common lung disease. People with asthma have sensitive airways, when asthma is triggered in one way or another the bronchioles airways tighten and the person will find it hard to breathe. Asthma is something you have all your life, at times it can be uncomfortable but on other times you might feel fine. When asthma symptoms become worse it can become an asthma attack which can end up to life threatening. When asthma causes your airways to be tight, you find it hard to exhale fully, leaving trapped air in your lungs. This air left in your lungs then limits your ability to take a full breath.
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Some symptoms that you can lookout for are:
Coughing - coughing is often in people with asthma. Your body tries to expel anything in it airways. Asthma often causes multiple coughing that might stick around for a few minutes.
Wheezing - wheezing is the whistling sound that you can may hear when you breathe if your airways are blocked or inflamed. The wheezing happens because the air is running through a tight tunnel.
Shortness of breath - this is because you may not get enough air into your lungs and you may feel you need to sit down.
Coughing - coughing is often in people with asthma. Your body tries to expel anything in it airways. Asthma often causes multiple coughing that might stick around for a few minutes.
Wheezing - wheezing is the whistling sound that you can may hear when you breathe if your airways are blocked or inflamed. The wheezing happens because the air is running through a tight tunnel.
Shortness of breath - this is because you may not get enough air into your lungs and you may feel you need to sit down.
Quick treatment of asthma is using a puffer. A puffer is something which you squeeze at the ends and you inhale the gas that comes. The normal quick relief puffer is filled Salbutamol which is a bronchi dilator, when this Salbutamol is inhaled and reaches the bronchi it makes them larger and therefore makes it easier to breathe.
there is also preventers and combination medicine that you can get but those medicines you need a prescription for, now don't need a prescription for Salbutamol you are able to buy it straight for a chemist. |
If you have asthma it does not mean that you can’t do sport, some people with asthma only get it when their sick or have a cold but there are lots of unlucky people that EIA (exercise induced asthma). Asthmatics without EIA don’t have to worry about getting caught out with an asthma attack during exercise unless their unwell, but for people with EIA the have to be more careful. Most EIA affected Asthmatics get symptoms when exercising in cold or dry air. When you are resting you breathe through your nose and when you do that the air gets warmed, moistened and filtered before it enters your body. When you exercise you need more oxygen so you end up breathing faster through your mouth, so then your airways react to this cold or dry air and tighten. |
So if you encounter any symptoms during exercise of coughing, wheezing, tightness in the chest, or if you are feeling out of breath, go and take a break and sit down. Next follow your asthma action plan or if you don’t have one take four separate puffs of your reliever puffer (Salbutamol), wait for four minutes and repeat if necessary. If your symptoms do not go away you should contact your doctor and ask for further advice. You should only return to the sport or exercise if you are completely better and don’t feel short of breath.