Management of Asthma - Essay Example

Management of Asthma First and foremost, I would like to welcome you into this mentorship session. I am a practicing pulmonologist and have been offering professional mentorship on respiratory diseases for fifteen years. I am a specialist in respiratory diseases. Apart from my general education as a pulmonologist, I took an extra three years of training in internal medicine. I have also been certified by the board in critical-care medicine. It is therefore my pleasure to give you professional guidance how live with asthma and I am confident that my advice will achieve you great improvements in your health life, especially as pertaining to asthma.

The main goal of this mentorship is that you may be able to successfully cope with and manage asthma. Your achievement of this goal will greatly help to reduce the number of attacks that you receive over a given period and even pre-mature asthma-linked death. One aspect of coping with the disease is that you will be able to go through an attack period without being seriously affected by the disease. The period of attack is also going to reduce for example instead of having a prolonged attack of two weeks, it will reduce to a week or few days.

The achievement of the goal to manage asthma is even much more important. A perfect achievement of this can be described in terms reduce rates and severities of attacks. One and most important benefit of achieving this goal is that you will be able to stop the disease from progressing from one serious stage to another. In this way, you will also be able to live with the disease for a longer period than you expected, for example, up to old age. Successful management of the disease will greatly reduce or even eliminate the possibilities of the disease being the cause of your death or health degradation in the near future.

It will also reduce your dependency on asthma medicine which of course, have significant side effects especially after persistent and prolonged use. The plain truth is that asthma cannot be cured but it can be controlled. Bernard-Bonnin et al (1995) states that asthma is a chronic disease or condition hence it has to be cared for at all times, not only when its symptoms present. Management of asthma should therefore entail the gaining an understanding of the things that trigger an attack and, intentionally, avoiding those things.

Asthma management strategies can be grouped into four. The first is identifying its trigger agents/factors and avoiding or minimizing contact with them. According to Rodolfo et al (2005), the main asthma trigger agents include irritants like cigarette, perfumes, strong odors, strong/toxic fumes, weather changes, air pollution, mold/mildew, animal dander, and allergies to dust mites. Others are tough exercises and upper respiratory diseases. This means that you should avoid smoking or smokers, visiting dusty and congested places and always, ensure you dress for the weather.

Your house, especially bedroom, should be very clean and well ventilated. If possible, use window shades to avoid heavy curtains which can trap dust. Your bedcovers should be allergen impermeable. Avoid using strong perfumes and treat mild respiratory diseases promptly. The second aspect of asthma management understanding of the medications prescribed and taking them as prescribed. Take note of those medicines which are less effective on your part or cause severe side effects. Also understand other helpful procedures like sleeping positions/postures incase of an attack.

GINA (2006) advices that asthma patients should also be able to monitor asthma so as to be able to identify signs that indicate the disease is getting worse. This should prompt a visit to an asthma specialist for immediate intervention. The final and critical component of asthma management is knowing the steps to take when the disease gets worse. It is important that you reach this goal because once asthma has sets in, it becomes an unavoidable part of your life. As an individual, the long term effect of this goal is that you will be able to have the upper hand concerning the disease and cope with it without going to see the doctors frequently.

This will help you save on your money and pain you would have gone through do to repeated, severe and progressive attacks. Reduced rates of attacks help to replenish the strength of you system to deal with or bear with any attacks in the future. This minimizes the use of medicine. Conclusion As an asthma patient, you have the power to rule over the disease and not allow the reverse of this. This requires your deliberate actions in adopting the asthma management strategies we have just discussed and acquainting yourself with the various asthma medications.

However, there is need to capitalize on attack-prevention strategies in order live for long with the disease as compared to taking medications. References Bernard-Bonnin, A. Stachenko, S. Bonin, D. et al. (1995). “Self-management teaching programs and morbidity of pediatric asthma: a meta-analysis.” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (1) pp 34-41. GINA (2006) Global strategy for asthma management and prevention. Global Initiative for Asthma. Rodolfo, J. Solarte, I. and Fitzgerald, J. (2005). Asthma.

Clinical Evidence. London. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.