How to Treat Intrinsic Asthma

Cases of asthma are divided into 2 sub-categories of the disease: extrinsic asthma and intrinsic asthma. In extrinsic asthma cases, outbreaks are triggered by the presence of a specific allergen, such as pet dander, mold or dust. However, in cases of intrinsic asthma, no specific allergen can be identified. Intrinsic asthma is frequently preceded by an infection of the patient's respiratory tract.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Physician
• Home peak airflow meter
• Prescription asthma medication (specific type will vary)
• Inhaler

1. Talk to a doctor. While it can be difficult to identify the triggers of an asthma outbreak in patients with intrinsic asthma, your physician can help you spot the causes of your asthma attacks and can suggest strategies for avoiding them.
2. Avoid cigarette smoke. If you are a smoker, quit. If you are a non-smoker, steer clear of situations in which you may be exposed to secondhand smoke. Cigarette smoke has been clinically proven to increase the severity of asthma symptoms, as well as decrease healthy lung function and compromise the effectiveness of medications in asthma patients.
3. Monitor your breathing. Because lung functioning has already declined by the time the symptoms of an asthma attack manifest themselves, the use of a home peak airflow meter allows you to identify optimal breathing capacity. Thus, you will know right away when your lungs are functioning below their optimal level, which may signal an impending attack.
4. Medicate at the first signs of an asthma attack. Do not wait for the attack to increase in severity before using medication to treat it. When attacks are anticipated through the use of a home peak airflow meter and dealt with immediately, severe asthma attacks can generally be avoided.
5. Use prescription medication to treat outbreaks. Bronchiodilators, which are administered through an inhaler to expand your lungs' bronchial passageways, are the most common but certainly not the only treatment available to asthma patients. Antihistamines, allergy shots and other long-acting treatments can all be effectively used to both treat and prevent asthma attacks.
6. Know that corticosteroids, used to suppress the bronchial irritation that causes asthma attacks, are an effective prevention medication. Depending on the severity of your condition, you will also have more aggressive preventative medicines available as options. Your doctor will discuss the specifics of the different preventative treatments with you.

Tips & Warnings

• Asthma is a reversible condition. Early identification of intrinsic asthma, coupled with aggressive and prompt preventative and management treatments, can cure asthma. Control of the condition has been proven to dramatically reduce or eliminate the potentially serious complications of chronic asthma.