Adult Onset Asthma

Why Adult Onset Asthma Presents Unique Challenges

Adult onset asthma can present differing problems from those faced when asthma is contracted during childhood, not the least of these being that the difficulty can be work related and threaten a long established career. It is also far less likely that the condition will clear up when the first attacks occur in a grown adult. While there is still every chance that the condition can be managed well enough to allow the patient a fundamentally normal life, only careful management and information can allow this to happen.

In reality, adult-onset asthma is not that uncommon - and it's really not that different from childhood asthma when it comes to diagnosis (newly diagnosed asthma) and treatment.

By definition, an allergy usually refers to an exaggerated reaction by our immune system. And this can be in response to some bodily contact with certain foreign substances. Some allergens can include for example: pollens, dust mite, molds, and foods. It is important to know and remember that allergens are substances that are foreign to the body. And these can quite possibly cause an allergic reaction in certain people and an exacerbation of the problem.

Research scientists have shown that long-term exposure to air pollutants increases the risk of developing respiratory illnesses and infections such as allergies, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.

Procedures and Tests

In order to accurately diagnose childhood asthma and adult-onset asthma, you should contact and talk with your physician or doctor about your signs and symptoms of asthma (e.g. a list of symptoms include: wheezing, coughing, chronic cough, shortness of breath or other medical changes); what brings on your symptoms, and ask that he or she consider performing pulmonary function tests (PFTs). This test will help distinguish the differences in adult asthma symptoms from other causes of shortness of breath. Some asthma patients misunderstand the symptoms.

In addition, inform your doctor about other symptoms (i.e. medications that may trigger asthma (like aspirin), allergies, associated illnesses, chest tightness, pain, diseases, colds and flu that you are currently experiencing). And pets (such as cats) may be a cause for asthma. Also, asthma can adversely affect your sex life.

It is not known what the exact cause of asthma is, whether it is contracted during childhood or later in life. It is clear that the prevalence of environmental factors play the largest part, and this is certainly true of adult asthma and chronic asthma where any genetic factor would have been likely to emerge in childhood. Adult asthma is far more likely to be caused by a cumulative effect over many years, either in the work environment or at home.

Exposure to dust mites for a prolonged period can cause breathing difficulties in adults, just as it can greatly increase the risk of asthma in kids and children. Pollutants in the work environment are only now being recognized as the potential danger which they are, and legislation is still not tight enough.

Work related diseases and breathing conditions are only now starting to be taken as seriously as they should always have been. There is no doubt that working in a factory with materials which are known to contribute to asthma (and severe asthma) and breathing difficulties is going to have a negative cumulative effect. Many modern building materials produce a toxic dust, and while it is always possible to wear protective face masks there is no guarantee that when the masks come off in other parts of the building that potential allergens are not still present.

Studies have shown that children growing up in rural areas, usually around animals and in larger families seem to develop asthma less often than do other children. This is called the hygiene hypothesis, and this is due to increased exposure to particular viruses, bacteria or parasites.

Asthma causes airway narrowing, which makes breathing all the more difficult by reducing the amount of air that can travel in and out of the lungs. The picture of bronchial asthma is that of a chronic disease, which is the result of the inflammatory condition in the bronchi.

When it comes to women and asthma, the power to breathe can be affected by such things as pregnancy, the menstrual cycle, and menopause. Those women who also have allergies and other asthma triggers may at times have difficulty just to get a breath of fresh air.

There are inhalers for asthma which are portable devices that deliver medication to the lungs. Variations of asthma inhalers are available to help with the control of asthma symptoms in adults. And there may be different types of asthma inhalers that work better for you than others. So, finding just the right inhaler for asthma can help you get the correct dose of medication to prevent or treat asthma attacks whenever you need it.

The most obvious problem caused by adult onset asthma is that someone may have trained for a certain career for many years, and be long established in that career and earning good money in a highly skilled job. To expect them to leave that career when they may have no obvious alternative skill is obviously asking a lot, especially if they have a family to support. Employers have to do everything they can to reduce exposure to the material which is causing the difficulty, but even this may not be enough to prevent attacks, and long periods away from productive work.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are a rather large group of carbon-based chemicals that will easily evaporate at room temperature. Breathing low levels of VOCs for long periods of time may possibly increase some people’s (and children's) risk of health problems. Several studies have suggested that exposure to VOCs may make symptoms worse in people who have asthma or are particularly sensitive to any kind of chemicals.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma are conditions that can make it hard to breathe. There are quick-relief inhalers that can help you manage asthma, exercise-induced bronchospasm, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The onset of asthma will be more problematic in an individual or person already suffering from health (men's or women's health) problems. A cigarette smoker will find the attacks far more severe as their breathing will be restricted in any case, and quitting smoking becomes more difficult the later in life it is left.

It is definitely worthwhile to look into hypnotherapy as an aid to quitting smoking, because failing to quit can have extremely serious consequences for an asthmatic. Obesity will also aggravate asthma attacks, and the asthma in turn will make exercising to lose weight more dangerous.

A peak flow meter is inexpensive. It is a portable, handheld device for those with asthma and it is used to measure how well air moves out of your lungs. Measuring your peak flow using this meter is very important if you want to manage your asthma symptoms and preventing an asthma attack.

Asthma Treatments Through Exercise

Obesity and the risk of newly diagnosed asthma in school-age children are important concerns. The best way to approach adult onset asthma disorder (and in children) is by improving general fitness, but by taking action and doing so in a structured and gentle way. If you cough, wheeze or feel out of breath before, during or after exercise, this may be more than exertion causing your symptoms. You might have what is called exercise-induced asthma.

Lose weight by cutting down calories while maintaining the intake of essential nutrients, and make sure that the exercise you take is extremely gentle. Walking in a natural environment away from traffic and gentle swimming are the best ways of burning off fat without dramatically increasing the heart rate or aggravating the breathing. These forms of exercise can be carried out safely and in a healthy way even when you are on long term drugs (medications and medicines) to stabilize your asthma condition, and they will help your body to cope with adult onset asthma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Articles

• Asthma
• Asthma Inhaler
• Asthma Diet
• Asthma Attack
• Adult Onset Asthma
• Asthma Education
• Asthma Research
• Treatment Of Asthma
• Asthma In Infants
• Children With Asthma
• History Of Asthma
• Allergy Asthma
• Asthma Action Plan
• Asthma Diagnosis
• Asthma Facts
• Childhood Asthma
• Exercise Induced Asthma
• Asthma Symptoms
• Cause Of Asthma
• Asthma Doctor



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