Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease, according to preliminary estimates, there are about 300 million people in the world suffering from asthma, and more than 20 million patients in China, and its morbidity and mortality are on an increasing trend. Once winter comes, asthma patients are more prone to develop asthma in winter because of the cold climate and increased airway reactivity, which makes them allergic to cold air. In this article, we briefly explain how to prevent and treat asthma in winter.
I. What is the nature of asthma?
The nature of asthma is a chronic inflammation of the airways, and the inflammatory cells involved are mainly eosinophils, mast cells and lymphocytes. Airway inflammation leads to increased airway responsiveness to external stimuli (this is called airway hyperresponsiveness), resulting in recurrent episodes of wheezing, shortness of breath, dyspnea or coughing, often associated with exposure to dust mites, pollen, animal fur, inhalation of some irritating gases, strenuous exercise, strong emotions such as tension and excitement, medications, and cold and flu.
In an acute attack of severe asthma, the patient may feel suffocated, irritable, sweating, shortness of breath, unable to lie down, unable to speak in sentences, and in serious cases, blurred consciousness, which can be life-threatening if not rescued in time. The well-known singer Teresa Teng and the flying man Ke Shouliang both died due to acute attacks of uncontrolled asthma. Therefore, if asthma patients do not receive the correct diagnosis and standardized treatment, the consequences are very terrible.
Second, the winter asthma prevention and control precautions
1.Avoid contact with allergens to prevent asthma attacks.
The following factors can induce asthma attacks.
① House dust mite: It is the most common allergen of asthma and an important factor in the development of asthma worldwide. Dust mites are very small and invisible to the naked eye and live mainly on the dander shed by the human body. To eliminate them is not difficult, wash bed sheets and blankets with hot water every week and dry them in the sun; wrap pillows and bedding with impermeable covers; avoid using blankets and replace them with lacquered cloth or wooden floors; try to use dust washers with filters and keep indoor humidity below 50%.
②Tobacco smoke: stay away from tobacco smoke, whether you smoke or passive smoking, smoke has a lot of irritants to stimulate the respiratory tract can induce asthma.
③Animals with fur: It is better not to keep small animals, animal fur and microorganisms on the fur can induce asthma attacks.
④Irritating gases: Asthma patients should avoid exposure to some irritating gases, such as kitchen fumes, sulfur dioxide, paints, perfumes, etc.
⑤ Outdoor pollen and mold: In the season of spring and summer when there is a lot of pollen, asthma patients should avoid concentrated areas of flowers and plants when they go out, or wear a mask and do not stay in humid areas for a long time.
(6) Medications: Asthma patients mostly have allergies, so special attention should be paid to taking medications. Especially aspirin, cardiovascular drugs such as Betaloc, which are commonly used by the elderly, can trigger asthma attacks.
2.Prevent cold and keep warm: cold weather in winter and spring can easily cause common diseases such as cold and upper respiratory tract infections, which can lead to asthma attacks. Therefore, patients with a history of asthma should pay extra attention to cold and warmth, especially to the neck. In the choice of clothing, wool underwear, duck down undershirts, animal fur clothing and acrylic, polyester and other chemical fiber clothing, easy to cause allergies, hives, asthma attacks, so the underwear of asthma patients to cotton fabrics, and require smooth fabrics, soft and flat, clothes should not be too tight.
Asthma patients should also use less silk, cotton and down products for their clothes and bedding. Wear a mask when you go out. If you are not allergic to influenza vaccine, you can get influenza vaccine.
3, adjust the diet: diet can be more high protein food, such as eggs, milk, lean meat, poultry, fish, etc.. Fatty meat, sea fish, shrimp and crab and other greasy meat and fishy food can help dampness, produce phlegm and fire, which can easily cause asthma or aggravate the disease, so it should be avoided.
Eat more vegetables and fruits containing vitamin C, such as oranges, oranges, kiwi, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, green vegetables, etc., which are important for the prevention of colds and the treatment of asthma. In short, the diet of asthma patients should be light and nutritious, do not eat food and “hair” that can cause asthma attacks, eat less spicy and greasy food; to eat less and more meals, do not eat too sweet, too salty food.
4.Appropriate exercise. Asthma patients should reduce strenuous exercise, can choose jogging, walking, playing tai chi and other soothing activities, both to protect the cold and to improve body resistance. Asthma patients can also perform deep breathing exercises. Breathe in slowly through the nose and exhale through the mouth in a whistle-like motion, in rhythm, and try to exhale the air. Practice for 3 to 5 minutes each time, several times a day. Children with asthma should start cold exercise systematically in summer to increase the body’s ability to adapt to cold. Specific measures include planned less clothing, appropriate exposure to cold water, and daily morning runs.
Third, standardized treatment can effectively control asthma
Prevention of asthma is more important than treatment, and reasonable prevention, especially the prevention and treatment of inhaled hormones, has been mentioned very importantly today. The essential lesion of asthma is an inflammation, a kind of allergic inflammation. The best treatment against this inflammation is hormonal, and in this sense, hormones are anti-inflammatory drugs. However, due to the side effects caused by the long-term application of oral or intravenous hormones, patients are full of concerns about hormones and are extremely reluctant to use them.
The inhaled hormone developed in recent years is an anti-asthmatic inflammatory drug with strong local effects on the respiratory tract and does not cause side effects. Its clinical application has enabled many patients to change not only the course of asthma development, but also the outcome of the disease. Rational administration of medication and prophylactic inhaled hormones allows patients to achieve optimal control of their asthma. This means a minimum number of exacerbations, no emergency visits, minimal medication use and no or very few drug side effects. Studies have found that 80% of patients with asthma can be controlled with standardized treatment and can work, study and live as normal.
In short, asthma can be prevented. The Department of Respiratory Medicine of Xinhua Hospital has established a special outpatient clinic for adult asthma to guide asthma patients on how to monitor changes in their condition and take appropriate measures; how to use medication correctly; how to effectively avoid asthma triggers and use preventive treatment rationally; how to seek medical help at the early stage of disease reversal to avoid deterioration; and how to get timely treatment in times of crisis. We hope that by guiding patients to regular and long-term treatment, every asthma patient can move freely and breathe freely as normal people!