Your Family Doctor Asthma: Understanding Asthma / Avoiding Allergies / Proper Use of Inhalers

By Dr Vinod Wadhwa

You can live a full and active life even if you have asthma. The trick is to learn how to keep the asthma symptom-free. Recognising and avoiding asthma triggers, not ignoring the medication prescribed and following a definite action plan, mentioned inside this very practical and simple book, will take you a long way in managing this chronic disease.
So relax, take a deep breath and let's fight asthma together!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wisdom Tree Publishers
• Release date: Feb 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9788183282369

Dr Vinod Wadhwa

Dr Vinod Wadhwa has a rich experience of over 20 years as a consulting physician. After completing his post-graduation, he has been actively advocating the cause of patient education.

Book preview

© Dr Vinod Wadhwa, 2006

ISBN 81-8328-033-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise — without the prior permission of the publisher.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and the author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages, if any, resulting from the use of information contained herein. No trade-mark infringement is intended upon.

Published by

Wisdom Tree

4779/23 Ansari Road

Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002

Ph.: 23247966/67/68

Published by Shobit Arya for Wisdom Tree; edited by Manju Gupta; designed by Kamal P. Jammual; typeset at Icon Printographics, New Delhi-110018 and printed at Print Perfect, New Delhi-110064

Don’t look at the low points in your life as defeats, but as opportunities to make progress.

These lines are particularly true for asthmatics as there are low points when one has an acute attack of asthma, fortunately followed by periods of remission. So let the spirit soar as tough times lead to a healthy tomorrow.

This book is dedicated to all men and women who strive to give us a healthy, pollution-free planet.

Contents

Preface                                  9

Acknowledgements                        11

Introduction                            13 1.   What is asthma?                           23 2.   Do you have asthma?                        39 3.   Patient, heal thyself                     49 4.   Role of exercise in asthma                  53 5.   Medicines in asthma                       59 6.   Allergic asthma — treatment                65 7.   Drug delivery system                      75 8.   Status asthmaticus and its management       81 9.   Antigens that cause allergy                85

Preface

Over the years, a group of environmentalists have been crying hoarse over the degradation of our planet’s environment. No wonder the cases of respiratory disorders are on the increase. This small work explains the concepts of allergy and bronchial asthma in concise. This would be handy for asthmatics and their well-wishers.

Acknowledgements

You can do a thing quite well by yourself but you can do it a lot better with help from others. My acknowledgements to Dr Dietrich Nolte, M.D. whose book, Speaking of Asthma encouraged me to write about asthma. My gratitude to Dr O.P. Jaggi for his inspiring book, Asthma and Allergies.

Introduction

The term ‘asthma’ is about 2,500-years old, though the disease itself must be as old as the human race itself. When man started recording events, then his health- and disease-related issues came to be understood. The great Greek doctor, Hippocrates, studied this disease which caused coughing, wheezing and breathlessness. He also noted episodes of acute breathlessness and periods when there was no difficulty in breathing. He named this disease as ‘asthma’.

Asthma today is described as a disease which shows reversible obstruction of the chest passages accompanied by attacks of breathlessness and followed by periods which are symptom-free.

This disease knows no geographical or racial barriers or boundaries. There could be differences in rates of incidence but it