February 2, 2006

Asthma is easily manageable as opposed to the commonly held belief that it is untreatable

Just a few decades back, treatment of ailments such as asthma and diabetes was limited, if not non-existent. However, with the advancements in the field of medicine, effective therapeutic options are now available for the erstwhile incurable diseases, thus making life easier and healthier.

Asthma falls in the category of ailments which were previously considered unmanageable, but today the control over asthma through medicine has helped patients considerably. Not only medications but drug delivery devices such as inhalers, spacers or nebulizers have also been introduced.

If an asthma patient has come to terms with the illness and is living a restricted life, there is a need to change the approach to the disease.

Chest specialists also reject the common notion that people with asthma have to lead a compromised life; they regard this psychological resignation of patients as a major obstacle in the control of the illness. If asthmatics take regular treatment, they can lead a perfectly healthy life.

There are a number of asthma patients, who have achieved great success in the field of sports. One of them is Sandra Voelker, a renowned swimmer, who in spite of being an asthmatic, has won 63 medals in the Olympics and European championships and set 11 records. The swimmer owes her active and healthy lifestyle to proper management of asthma.

The easiest and the most effective method of tackling asthma is through the use of inhaler, a drug delivery device. It made its way into Pakistan roughly 30 years ago. Inhaler usage has become so common today that many asthma medicines are now available only as inhalers. Many patients prefer it mainly because of the convenience and portability of the device. One can travel long distances and go anywhere with a pocket inhaler, without the trouble of carrying tablets and syrups along.

Many asthma patients have misgivings about inhalers. Being unaware of the advantages of an inhaler, people wrongly believe that it is addictive and is given at the last stage, when the problem has reached acute proportions.

It is through proper counselling that doctors in general, and chest specialists in particular, can remove these deep-rooted doubts from a patient’s mind about the use of inhalers and effects of inhaled drugs. Patients need to be told that an inhaled drug has fewer side-effects because it goes directly to the place where it is needed.

Inhalers are not addictive at all because they are only a means of administering a drug to tackle asthma. Just like one takes eyedrops or ear-drops, one takes an inhaler for instant or long term relief.

Benefits of inhalers

*Medicine taken through an inhaler goes directly into airways and lungs instead of going into different parts of the body

*Inhaled drugs have only negligible or fewer side effects as compared to oral or injected drugs that circulate in the body and have substantial side effects

*Inhalers, having both reliever and controller medicine, reduce the number of drugs that you have to take separately

*All inhalers aim to deliver maximum amount of drugs into the lungs and provide relief to the patient

*With inhalers you can also fast in Ramazan because inhalers contain no nutritional value and as mentioned above the medicine goes direct to the lungs

*Inhalers are very safe for pregnant women who can avoid the negative side-effects of oral drugs by using inhalers

Asthma is a curable disease provided the patients do not believe in myths and misgivings about its treatment and management. Some patients abandon their problem thinking of it as uncontrollable, but giving in to asthma and assuming an indifferent attitude does not help matters. One can live a completely symptom-free life with properly managed asthma.

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