The purpose of this research is to explore the latest treatment and management paradigms with respect to asthma. The introduction reveals the nature, etiology, incidence and causal factors of the pulmonary disease. The body of the research focuses on the treatment and management of the disease. Included are the two primary modes of treatment, short-term control and long-term management, including the different kinds of medications used with each approach. Management factors are discussed, including self-medication, patient and family education, increased levels of physician/nurse-patient/family interaction and communication, and control of the environment. Literature is reviewed in all these areas, including pro and con findings with respect to environmental control of allergens, the substances most responsible for causing asthma a large percentage of sufferers. A conclusions finds that the major key in the management of asthma is the development of a sound relationship between patients and care-givers, including education, daily management plans, and patient empowerment.
Many pulmonary diseases are caused as a consequence of viral, bacterial, or fungal infection. Such is not the case for asthma, “the result of processes that inflame the airways to contract, impeding the flow of air in and out of the lungs.” When a patient suffers from asthma, the usual symptoms include tightness in the chest, trouble breathing, wheezing and coughing. When doctors attempt to diagnose asthma they use a variety of methods, including lung functioning as measured by pulmonary performance tests, chest x-rays, and allergy tests aimed at revealing sensitivity levels to a variety of substances. Asthma is an inflammatory disease brought on in the majority of cases by allergic reactions in the individual to allergens. Asthma afflicts millions of individuals and a third of them are children, “asthma affects some 15 million people in the Unite...