You must not let the cold and dry air worsen your asthma symptoms. The air that blows during winter time greatly affects people with sinus and respiratory troubles, and all these factors contribute to worsening asthma attacks. But thankfully, there are a few tips that can be followed to curb down asthma and enjoy a lovely winter.

Washing your hands: Doing this frequently with soap and water is one of the easiest and most effective ways of avoiding the spread of cold and other diseases. You must also inculcate this habit among your children, and when you are outside, you should practice using a hand sanitiser and sanitising wipes.
Getting a flu shot: The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that all people over the age of 6 months should get their dose of the annual flu shot for protecting themselves against the flu virus. This will help keep your asthma in check.
Avoid sitting by the fireplace: Though it sounds cosy, you should refrain from sitting by the fireside if you have asthma. Burning wood is quite similar to burning tobacco and it can irritate your lungs to a great extent.
Keeping your mouth closed: Though most people are taught this since they were children, they tend to forget it or ignore it. Keeping the mouth opened is more than a social disgrace, and it even affects your lungs adversely. You can wear a scarf for covering up the nose and mouth as it would help in making the air you breathe warm.
Replacing filters: The heating system of your home may be blowing out dust and debris throughout the house, particularly when you operate it after a long time in winter. Therefore, it is imperative to clean and check the condition of the filters and replace them if necessary.
Exercising indoors: The days when it is bitterly cold outside, it is recommended to exercise indoors in a fitness club or a gym instead of doing it in the open air.
Warming up before exercising: People who are affected with asthma are able to recover faster and have a greater lung function after working out when they are warmed up. Therefore, you should try to warm up for at least 15 minutes before exercising.
Preventing asthma flares: Before you head outside, take a dose of your asthma medication and your inhaler as these will help in opening the airways and give you the necessary protection.
Having an asthma action plan: Regardless of whether it is summer or winter, you should be aware of what you should be doing in times when the symptoms flare-up.
Taking your medications: Finally, you should work with your doctor towards understanding the cause and symptoms of your asthma conditions and follow his recommendations closely to avoid recurrence of such problems.
With all these tips, you can expect to spend a happy winter. But if anything goes wrong, seek medical assistance immediately.

Asthma - 10 Ways You Can Control It!

How to diagnose asthma in children

Asthma in children under the age of 5 is a matter of concern. It is not a rare disease and early diagnosis is important. Common signs of asthma in children are:

1. Recurring bronchitis
2. Wheezing
3. Discomfort in the chest
4. Coughing
5. Trouble breathing

While some children have persistent yet mild symptoms, some children have severe attacks at times. Seasonal allergies and smoke make the symptoms worse.

What to notice?
While feeding an infant, if you notice that your child is facing shortness of breath, it might be a symptom of asthma. In a toddler, if your notice a decreased desire to run and play, or easy fatigue, then this could be a symptom of asthma. Asthma attacks for many children under the age of 5 are worsened when they catch cold or have any other respiratory infections. All these, if noticed should not be ignored and your child's pediatrician should be consulted.

The above mentioned symptoms were mild. Some children have it worse and the attacks can be life-threatening, needing immediate treatment. If your child is under the age of 5 and you see them doing one of the following, contact emergency services immediately:

1. Trouble in speaking because they have restricted breathing
2. When they are breathing in, the effort is so much that the abdomen is getting sucked in
3. Gasping for air.

Diagnosing asthma in a child can be tricky as symptoms like coughing, wheezing, etc can be for other conditions also. Once a child is a little older and if the symptoms persist, breathing and lung function tests are taken to gauge the situation. 

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How To Diagnose Asthma In Children, Before It Attacks?

If you are experiencing a whizzing sound while you breathe or having difficulty in breathing, you are suffering from asthma. It is a medical condition characterized by paroxysmal wheezing respiration dyspnoea. There is no definite way to prevent asthma, but by following a step-by-step daily plan, you can prevent asthma attacks or keep them in check. Here are some important measures to follow to prevent asthma:

You need to strictly follow your asthma action plan. The plan should be laid down after a detailed discussion with your doctor or healthcare team. All the medicines you require to prevent the asthma attacks will be written down for you.
You should get vaccinated for pneumonia and influenza. This will prevent these conditions from triggering asthma attacks or flare-ups.
You need to identify the asthma triggers and stay away from them. Several outdoors irritants and allergens from pollen to cold air can trigger asthma attacks.
You have to monitor your breathing. By recognising the warning signs of an attack like wheezing, slight coughing or shortness of breath, you can prevent an asthma attack. You need to measure and record your peak airflow regularly using a home peak flow meter.
By acting quickly, you can identify a fatal attack and prevent it from occurring. When the peak flow measurement decreases, you need to take your medicines immediately and abstain from any activity which may have triggered the attack.
You need to keep taking your prescribed medicines, even if your asthma symptoms have improved. You should not change your medication schedule without consulting a doctor. It is recommended that you to bring along the medicines you take at your doctor s appointment as he will be able to tell whether you are taking them right.
If you use your quick relief inhaler a lot, the asthma is not under control. You need to visit your doctor as soon as possible and he/she will make some modifications to your treatment.
For prevention of asthma, you should use allergy proof pillow covers and mattresses. You must wash your bedding every week in hot water to eliminate dust mites. You may use a dehumidifier for reducing excess moisture to prevent mold.
Do not allow your pets in the bedroom and on the furniture. Pet dander is a common trigger of asthma and it cannot be avoided by people who own pets.
You can also fit an air filtration system in your home. It will help in the elimination of asthma triggers such as pollen, dust mites and other allergens.
Many doctors suggest immunotherapy for asthma prevention in the form of allergy shots. Immunotherapy aims at altering a person s immune response by making it less sensitive to asthma triggers.

Asthma - 10 Ways to Keep it Under Control

Bronchitis is the inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tubes present in the lungs. The inflammation may occur due to a bacterial or a viral infection or even due to some allergy. As the mucous membranes get irritated due to the inflammation, there is swelling. This swelling can cause narrowing of the airways. This narrowing causes difficulty in breathing. At the same time, due to the inflammation, a lot of mucous is produced. The narrow airways are unable to wash off the mucous causing mucous to collect within the lungs.

Bronchitis can be of two different forms - mild and chronic. Those with chronic bronchitis would have to be extra careful during change of season and when they catch a cold so that their bronchial tubes do not flare up. At times, bronchitis is caused due to allergic reactions in the body. Such allergies mostly constitute allergies from pollen, dust, paints and the likes.

Bronchitis Symptoms

Cough and production of mucous or sputum are the two most common symptoms of bronchitis.

Due to excess production of mucous within the bronchial tubes, the cough reflex is induced in a bid to get rid of the mucous. The mucous is usually whitish in colour.

Often patients feel shortness of breath.

There may be wheezing in the chest while breathing. A sensation of tightness or heaviness in the chest may be felt.

Exercising or running or climbing stairs is often difficult as the compromised lungs are unable to meet the increased requirements of oxygen.

In such cases, many lines of treatments can be undergone to provide relief from the discomfort. However, homeopathy is one of the best treatments which would involve fast relief and quick comfort from bronchitis.

Homeopathic Treatment For Bronchitis

When it comes to treating bronchitis, Homeopathy is very effective. In fact, it is the most promising system of medicine for the treatment of bronchitis. Homeopathic medicines serve as a very reliable and safe treatment to get rid of Bronchitis. They are free from any side effects and there is absolutely no chance of suppression in the Homeopathic treatment of Bronchitis. They prove a great helping hand in easy coughing out of the mucus from the bronchi. As the mucus is effortlessly thrown out with aid of properly selected Homeopathic medicines, the cough, chest pain and difficulty in breathing also begin to subside and almost end. Here are five of the most used homeopathic medicines for treating bronchitis.

Arsenic Album: Bronchitis, mild or severe, manifests certain symptoms. In case, bronchitis experienced by you is accompanied by wheezing, increase in cough during the night, and extreme weakness and restlessness; then arsenic album is the best medicine for your treatment. There is also an ardent increase in your want to drink water, although very little liquid intake actually happens at one go. These symptoms are enough for the medical practitioner to prescribe the above medicine to you.

Bryonia: Bryonia is administered when the patient has a dry mucous and dry cough due to bronchitis. This dryness causes him/her to increase the liquid intake in the body. It has also been noticed that cough is aggravated on entering any warm space.

Pulsatilla: This is prescribed when cough worsens during the evening and night while it is relatively stable during the day. The patient suffers from greenish to whitish mucous discharges and goes relatively thirstless during the suffering period. It becomes difficult for the patient to lie down while having this kind of bronchitis as it only aggravates cough, thus forcing him to sit up all the time.

Antim Tart: Mostly administered to children and elders, this medicine works best when there is rattling of cough inside the chest. However, it actually becomes difficult to discharge it. Moreover, the patient finds it difficult to lie down peacefully on their right side, forcing them to shift often while sleeping.

Hepar Sulphur: When cough is excited by advent of cold air, it becomes increasingly needful to administer Hepar Sulphur. Here, cough increases in the morning followed by wheezing and rattling.

Bronchitis is a common chest infection and can be treated with much ease with these tested homeopathic medicines. However, before you take on any medication, it is always recommended to consult a specialized homeopath for individualized treatment.

Homeopathy - A Perfect Remedy For Allergic Bronchitis!

If you have been diagnosed with asthma, it is important for you to know about the most common triggers of asthma. Asthma is a medical condition, which is characterised by paroxysmal wheezing respiration dyspnoea. It causes breathing difficulties, tightened chest and coughing. By identifying and reducing your exposure to several asthma triggers, you will be able to manage or control your asthma symptoms and the frequency of your asthma attacks. Here are the most common triggers of asthma you should know about:

Allergies that trigger asthma
Allergies, are common problems and over 80% of people are suffering from asthma and are allergic towards substances like weed pollens, animal dander, dust mites, mould and cockroach particles. Children having large amounts of cockroach droppings in their homes are more likely to develop childhood asthma. Dust exposure may lead to dust mite allergy in asthmatic patients.

Food which triggers asthma
Certain food allergies may lead to isolated asthma, where other symptoms are absent. Patients with food allergies can exhibit asthma as a part of anaphylaxis, which are food induced. The common food items which are associated with allergies include eggs, peanuts, cow milk, soy, fish, wheat, shrimps, salads and fresh fruits. Several food preservatives also trigger asthma. They may include sulfite additives such as potassium bisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfate and many others. These are commonly used in food processing and trigger asthma in sensitive people.

Asthma induced by exercise
Strenuous exercise may lead to the narrowing of the airways in maximum people having asthma. Exercise acts as a primary trigger for asthma symptoms in many people. Patients having exercise induced asthma are likely to feel chest tightness accompanied by coughing and breathing difficulties after completing an aerobic workout session. Although the symptoms subside, they may reoccur within some hours. You should warm up properly and slowly before a rigorous workout session to prevent an asthma attack.

Smoking
People who smoke are more likely to have asthma. If you have asthma and still smoke, the symptoms of wheezing and coughing worsen. Pregnant women who smoke increase the chance of wheezing in their to-be-born babies. You should absolutely quit smoking if you have asthma.

Infections which trigger asthma
Several infections such as cold, bronchitis, flu and sinus may cause asthma attacks. The respiratory infections, which are viral or bacterial, are a common cause and trigger asthma, especially in children. Asthma is also associated with severe heartburn. According to studies, more than 85% people with asthma also suffer from heartburn. This is a condition known as gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.

Asthma - Common Triggers Behind it?

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways.  The narrowing of the airway causes recurrent asthma attacks, wherein air flow to lungs is obstructed. Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. It cannot be completely cured but it can be helped with minimizing triggers

The triggers can be different for different people. Most common triggers come from:

1) In house - Mold (fungi), dust mites, cockroaches, pet dander.

2) Outside - Air pollution, smog, cigarette, smoke, paint fumes, chemicals, sprays, pollen, industrial dust

3) Allergies - Peanuts, eggs, fish, lactose and food preservatives

4) Other Triggers - Physical exercise, anxiety, agitation, respiratory infections, medications like aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.

Here are top home remedies to control the attack and keep their frequency and intensity low.

1) Ginger - Ginger helps a great deal. You can consume crush it, mix its juice with honey and consume it or boil it in water and drink. 

2) Honey - Mix a spoon of honey with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder and have it right before bed. Also, you can add a spoon of honey in warm water and sip on it during the day. Honey and ginger juice in equal parts is very soothing too.

3) Figs - Having figs that have been soaked overnight helps in controlling asthma. Consuming dried figs helps in flushing out the phlegm from your respiratory tract.

4) Mustard - A mixture of warm mustard oil and camphor can be massaged on chest for instant relief. A spoon of mustard oil mixed with an equal quantity of sugar is known to alleviate the symptoms.



Asthma - Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and Home Remedies (World Asthma Day Special)

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