Doctors improved control of asthma

Check the asthma diary for control

04/15/2014

In Germany, around five percent of adults and ten percent of children suffer from bronchial asthma. Some severe asthma attacks, which can lead to shortness of breath and fast breathing or loss of consciousness, are the fault of patients themselves. Doctors recommend a better control of the disease, such as using an asthma diary.

Patients often do not control their illness well
Around five percent of adults and ten percent of children in Germany suffer from bronchial asthma. A severe asthma attack causes shortness of breath and fast breathing, leading to unconsciousness. But often patients with severe asthma do not control their illness well. As the German Lung Foundation (DLS) explains in Hanover, this means that those affected at least once a week have an asthma attack. In addition, her illness is increasingly deteriorating. The reasons for this are that patients usually only take their permanent medications irregularly and incorrectly, which can result in irreparable damage to the bronchial tubes and the inability of the medication to work properly.

Those affected should keep an asthma diary
The DLS therefore recommends people with asthma, in addition to the correct intake of their medication and their own disease to monitor well. Patients should have an asthma diary in which they enter symptoms and the values ​​measured by the so-called peak flow meter. With this device, you can determine the exhalation volume in asthma. The treating physician can then use the regular measurements to see if the condition has worsened.

Alternative therapy options for asthma
In addition to conventional medicines used for asthma, many sufferers are also taking advantage of other offers to address their chronic asthmatic symptoms. Thus, methods of naturopathy, psychotherapy and relaxation techniques, such as autogenic training, alternatively or additionally used to reduce the number of asthma attacks and to alleviate the extent of the symptoms. Effective can also be regular exercises from yoga, tai chi or qi-gong, ideally involving breathing. In addition, targeted respiratory therapy can reduce respiratory distress. In addition, acupuncture, homeopathy, isopathy, autologous therapy, physical procedures (steam and air baths, upper body massages), bioresonance and many other naturopathic treatments have provided good results in the treatment of asthma, even if they have little scientific research. (Sb)