Q. Asthma! I hear in contrast to most other
conditions in America, Asthma is
increasing by leaps and bounds.
A. Yes. And the scary part is that it’s a lot
more severe than in the past.
Q. How
is that?
A. Record numbers of Asthmatics are showing
up in ER=s,
and being hospitalized, and even dying.
Public health groups are very concerned.
Q. Why
is this happening?
A.
Pollution is a significant factor.
Technology to maintain air quality doesn’t
match the excessive
contamination spewed out from industrial
wastes, smog, agricultural spraying, off
gases from office machines, automobile
exhausts, and the lack of adequate
ventilation in crowded buildings.
Q. Any
other factors involved?
A. Infections are worsening and our immunity
system is weakened by these steady
barrages.
Q. I'm
getting ahead of myself, just what is
Asthma anyway?
A.
Asthma is a persistent chronic disease
that never sleeps. The miles and miles of
bronchial tubes are
literally on fire. We term this
inflammation. As a result our breathing
becomes obstructed. and the chest
hypersensitive to all irritants. This will
worsen until stopped
Q. What is to be done about reversing this
awful trend?
A. The
obvious long term needs is to better clean
up our environment and to develop better
mousetraps to handle infections. We have a
more immediate and realistic strategy. We
simply engage our patient in a new
relationship, as partners. We give them
the information and the materials to help
them take better care of themselves.
Q.
Interesting. How is this being
accomplished?
A. It
turns out that we health care providers
own much more responsibility than we have
provided. We must appropriate enough time
to train the patient on what to do at the
various
stages for
Asthma control.
Q. Tell me more.
A. Somebody on Staff who is a good
communicator is assigned the role of
patient educator.
Q. And
their role is?
A. To
teach the patient that Asthma is always
Aon@.
Therefore their anti-inflammatory
medicines must be taken every day without
fail. That they need to assess how much
asthma is present at any
given time.
Q. Wait a minute. Please explain how a
patient can tell how close he is to an
Asthma attack.
A. All
patients who wheeze regularly should be
scoring their Asthma with a device called
a Peak Flow Meter. They are taught to blow
into this device and to record the results
every morning and evening. This reflects
how open their bronchial tubes are.
Q. And
when they are close to having an Asthma
attack their numbers are lower?
A. Preciously. Then the patient looks up the
treatment plan previously worked out with
their Educator and starts the correct
medicines to avoid deterioration and the
need for crisis intervention.
Q. How's
the patient to get these emergency
medications in a timely manner?
A. The
crux of this partnership is its trust. No
holds barred. The patient has been
instructed and given the tools. Precisely
the same medications given in the
Emergency Rooms. This includes
antibiotics, nebulizers, and surely even
steroids.
Q. It
appears that this early treatment of
Asthma catches it before big trouble
builds up. Patient education empowers the
Asthmatic to take control of his life.
A. Exactly. Self care through better
awareness is the other part of the
equation. He now recognizes warning signs
such as overuse of the Albuterol inhalers
during the day and at night.
Q. One
final question. What does it mean that
Asthmatics rely too heavily on their quick
fix inhalers?
