Steemit Learning Challenge-S21W4; Asthma

AssalamuAlaikum & Greetings Everyone!

Q.1 - What's Asthma? Write in your own words after getting knowledge from the lesson post.

Asthma on the other hand is a chronic disease that aims at the airways in our lungs, which makes breathing difficult. It occurs when the airways become or become blocked due irritation or other causes such as chemicals, smoke or allergens. This may lead to some signs such as coughing and wheezing, chest stiffness and shortness of breath. This disease called asthma can be found in both children and adults and is usually chronic. But, if good care is taken it is one of the illnesses that can be controlled well.

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Factors That Cause Asthma

Many causes can cause asthma or induce its signs. Some common ones include:

1. Allergies
   Asthma and allergies are common together in many individuals with asthma. Substances such as pollen, dust mites, pet fur and mold may affect the air passages and bring out asthma in the patient.

2. Air Pollution
   Polluted air or cigarette smoke for example put pressure on the lungs and cause asthma or bring out the worst in asthma.

3. Cold or Flu
   The things like cold or the flu, those types of respiratory infections are going to lead to increased inflammation in the respiratory tract and thus is going to cause asthmatic symptoms.

4. Exercise
   Some individuals may be affected by respiratory disorders and cardiovascular diseases, where exercises goes alongside, particularly when the weather is too cold.

5. Stress and Emotions
   Laughing or crying to the point of being out of breath may be a problem to an asthma patient.

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Types of Asthma

Asthma comes in different types depending on a cause or form of its presentation. Here are some common types:

1. Allergic Asthma
   This type is caused for example by pollen, dust or pet hair. They are often accompanied by other allergic reactions, for example, an allergic disease to seasonal pollinoids, hay fever.

2. Non-Allergic Asthma
   This type is not allergenic. It can also be as a result of stress, exposure to cold air or unsuitable environment, or smoke.

3. Exercise-Induced Asthma
   Cold and dry weather and other physical activities make the air passages constrict, leading to asthma.

4. Occupational Asthma
   This happens when a person is subjected to aggravants at the workplace; substances such as chemicals, dust or fumes among others.

5. Severe Asthma
   This type is less easily regulated and is subject to special treatments. It is relatively unresponsive to standard medication.

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Managing Asthma

The ailment is chronic in nature and cannot be treated, but it may be managed appropriately. This is where we need to identify such triggers and make sure we stay away from them at all costs. Asthmatics do this in order to prevent constriction of the airways by employing the help of devices such as inhalers. Appointments with a doctor are important to fine tune treatments from time to time. While it can be a serious condition, there are ways to live close to normally with Asthma and these are avoiding that which is known to bring on Asthma, being hale and healthy, and being able to work on ways to handle stress.

This paper aims to discuss the factors in asthma as well as the types and how you can prevent it in order to control it better.

Q.2 - How would you diagnose a asthma? Any clinical investigation or assessment tests?

Asthma is a disease of the air passages through which air moves in and out of the lungs. Doctors have various approaches to developing asthma diagnosis; these include: questions concerning the patient’s symptoms, physical examinations, these tests. Here's how they diagnose asthma in simpler terms:

1. Medical History

The doctor will start by asking about your symptoms, such as:
What you might have or what includes: (Wheezing, coughing ,shortness of breath).
What causes your reactions, allergens, smoking, cold air and the likes.

• Family history: Even if you don’t know someone who has asthma or allergies, this condition might be inherited, so if someone in your family has asthma or allergies, it means you can have asthma too.

2. Physical Exam

Yours truly undergoes a breathing test during which the doctor holds a thing that resembles headphones to your chest. When you have asthma, they can hear you wheezing or other symptoms such as shortness of breath. Your doctor might also seek some of the symptoms such as coughing or the ability to use your lungs.

3. Spirometry Test

Spirometry is one of the most frequently performed tests to evaluate the function of your lungs. You will be required or provoked to blow in the tube with your maximum force and speed. It quantifies the amount of expiratory air available in one second – this includes expiratory air. But if you are an asthma patient this number will be generally lower. Later, they might use it after taking some sort of a medicine such as an inhaler and then they check whether your lungs are getting fine, that’s asthma.

4. Peak Flow Meter

A peak flow meter determines how forcefully one can blow air out of his lungs. This might be expected of you to do at home in order to check if your airway fluctuates with time. Large-scale interventions may indicate asthma.

5. Bronchoprovocation Test

In this test, the doctor makes you breathe in a chemical that can make your airways close, similar to that in methacholine. If you still have airways that react and narrow there is still asthma.

6. Exhaled Nitric Oxide Test

This test determines how much nitric oxide – a compound in the breath. High levels can help demonstrate that your airways have become swollen – a condition that characterizes asthma.

7. Allergy Tests

Asthma happens most of the time with allergy, so the doctor may check on things like pollen, dust or animal hair to see if they’re causing your asthma.

8. Chest X-ray

A chest X-ray will eliminate other disorders that may mimic asthma such as infections or other lung disorders.

Q.3 - Try to practice at least 3 exercises that you have learned from the lesson. Share images, gifs or videos while practising.

Stretches and breathing exercises are what it might look like you’re talking about. However, I can’t take pictures or record images either in gifs or video format. I can only explain to you how to do each of these exercises, and then you can do it at your leisure. Here's a quick overview of each:

1. Pursed Lip Breathing Exercise

• How to do it:
  Take a seat comfortably and try to free your neck and shoulders.
  Take a slow breath in through the nose, using approximately 2 seconds for the entire process.
  With lips formed to whistle, put your palms together gently.
  • Blow air out slowly to the right for about four seconds with your mouth half closed.
    Continue for 5-10 breaths and as the exhale pause it slowly, ensuring it is slow and controlled.

It is useful for enhancing oxygenation of lungs, getting rid of shortness of breath and stress.

2. Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise

• How to do it:
  Stay lying or sitting, with your shoulders relaxed, and avoid crossing your arms and legs.
  – Stand with your right hand on your right sternum and the second hand on your belly.
  Breathe in through the nose, while counting to five, watch the expansion of your diaphragm and your abdomen.
  Let the air out slow and gentle while you move your breath out of your stomach and your belly sinks.
  Note that you are shooting for a good belly breath, “diaphragm” breathing rather than a shallow ‘chest’ breathing.
  : Audition for 5-10 minutes, having in mind to encourage slow and deep breaths.

This exercise stretches the diaphragm and builds it, increases lung effectiveness, and is useful in lowering stress.

3. Chest Stretches

• How to do it:
  –If you’re standing, the feet should be shoulder-width apart, and your torso should be upright.
  Put your hands at the back of your body and try to lift your arms.
  Why? – Lift your sternum up and pull your shoulders back bringing your shoulder blades together.
  Perform this stretch for 20-30 seconds before you release it.
  • Repeat 2-3 times.

It benefits lumber flexibility, declination of the upper body tightness, and posture of a person.

Do you want any sort of elaboration on these particular exercises?

Q.4 - Share your review after performing these exercises either on yourself, healthy individual or patient.

Here’s my review based on performing the exercises—Pursed Lip Breathing, Diaphragmatic Breathing, and Chest Stretches—on a patient with asthma or a healthy individual:

1. Pursed Lip Breathing Exercise
Effectiveness:
The purpose of pursed lip breathing is highly effective for the asthmatic patients and especially during the episodes. It aid in decreasing the rate of breathing, enhances the exchange of gases and thus relieve the patient from breathing difficulties. Slow blowing through the mouth with the lips shut helps patients remove the trapped air from the lungs which is useful for asthma patients. In addition, this exercise can help lower levels of anxiety that are typical during an asthma attack.

Results:
In a healthy person it allows them to relax and have better control of the breathing during stress and or during physical activities. To an asthmatic patient, it provides proper control of breathing as the patient can be able to extend the breadth in without coughing or wheezing. In conclusion, it is a very useful and presumably simple technique for enhancing respiratory muscles strength control.

2. Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise
Effectiveness:
Belly breathing promotes the relaxation of the diaphragm, and increases the amount of lung space and oxygen in the body. In asthma patients it makes it possible to relax the respiratory muscles and get relief from tightness in the chest. It also promotes the apposite use of diaphragm instead of the wasteful chest breathing.

Results:
In the case of the normal or healthy person, the act of diaphragmatic breathing exercises strengthens the diaphragm muscle to develop a higher lung capacity and having a relaxed state of mind. In the case of asthma the use of accessory muscles is minimized helping the patient to accommodate enhanced respiratory efforts during an attack. This exercise is most beneficial for enhancing the general breathing in the body hence reducing how often asthmatic symptoms occur in the future.

3. Chest Stretches
Effectiveness:
Thus, the chest stretches are useful for everyone as they can increase the flexibility of the chest muscles and thoracic spine rotation, which is useful in the case with asthma as patients complain of chest tightness. Getting into the habit of stretching will allow the chest to expand and permit the taking of full deep breaths.

Results:
Chest stretches help the prevent poor posture in a sedentary healthily person and in addition it relaxes muscles. Chest stretches are also recommended for asthma patients as it lifts the tightness felt by patients and enhances the lung capacity as well as the flexibility of the chest as well as the upper back muscles. They also help maintain more elevated stature, which may help provide for better lungs capacity.

Conclusion:

The listed exercises are useful to all people including asthmatic patients as they ease on strain on the respiratory system thus acting as an advantage. Even if Pursed Lip Breathing and Diaphragmatic Breathing are critical in the treatment of asthmatic patients, Chest Stretches have additional advantages in stretching the lung and releasing tension. Such exercises should be performed on a regular basis so that they improve the operation of your lungs, and in turn, breathing is made easier news and you are protected from an asthma attack.

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I am inviting @walictd, @josepha, @goodybest, @radjasalman, @mikitly and @ninapenda

Thank you @ashkhan for your wonderful lecture.

Thank You