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According to orthodox medicine asthma is a controllable but not curable disease. Medical professionals believe there are many reasons why the prevalence of the disease is increasing, including…
- Living in modern houses with little ventilation, damp housing and more carpets.
- Allergens (substances to which some people are allergic) such as pollens, foods, dust, mould, feathers, or animal dander (small scales from animal hair or feathers)
- Irritants in the air such as dirt, cigarette smoke, gases, and odours
- Respiratory infections such as colds, flu, sore throats, and bronchitis
- Too much exertion such as running upstairs too fast or carrying heavy loads
- Emotional stress such as excessive fear or excitement
- Weather such as very cold air, windy weather, or sudden climatic changes.
- Medication such as aspirin or related drugs and some drugs used to treat glaucoma and high blood pressure.
- Women who smoke during pregnancy are much more likely to have asthmatic children.
Conventional medicine says that to prevent attacks, people with asthma should avoid their asthma triggers and take regular medication.
Drugs are the mainstay of asthma treatment. Because patterns of asthma are different for different people, the specific type of drug treatment varies a lot depending on the frequency, severity, and particular triggers of each patient's episodes. There is an established ‘step up’ programme of increasingly powerful drugs as the condition worsens.
The major types of anti-asthma medicine are:
- Corticosteroids, which reduce the inflammation of the airways. They can be taken as pills or as an aerosol. Inhaled steroids have fewer side-effects, so oral steroids are usually reserved for those with severe asthma;
- Anti-allergy drugs, which can be used to prevent an attack, but are of no use after an attack has begun;
- Bronchodilators, of which there are several types. These provide temporary relief from asthma symptoms but do not tackle the underlying inflammation. They can be taken in liquid, inhaled or tablet form.
Asthmatics are encouraged to use peak flow monitors to measure their current lung function against their supposedly optimum level. When the monitor shows their level has dropped by a certain proportion below their ‘personal best’, they are advised to increase their dose of bronchodilators, anti-inflammatories or steroids.
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