Asthma is a common lung condition that causes occasional difficulties in breathing freely – that is putting it in a layman’s language. Although, most sufferers of this disease usually claim it started from their childhood, it can also develop for the first time in adults.
The World Health Organization (WHO) however, defines asthma as “a chronic lung disease affecting people of all ages, caused by inflammation and muscle tightening around the airways, which makes it harder to breathe.”
TREATMENT
Sufferers of this disease usually create a personal action plan with a doctor or asthma nurse. The options available to them would include inhalers. Inhalers can help; they are devices that help you breathe normally. That is why asthma patients go everywhere with their inhaler because it can happen just anytime.
There are three types: a. Relief Inhaler b. Preventive Inhaler and c. An Inhaler that performs both functions
Don’t just buy inhalers, talk to your doctor or asthma nurse about the right inhaler for you.
Reliever inhalers
Most people with asthma will be given a reliever inhaler. These are usually blue.
You use a reliever inhaler to treat your symptoms when they occur. They should relieve your symptoms within a few minutes.
Preventer inhalers
If you need to use a reliever inhaler often, you may also need a preventer inhaler.
You use a preventer inhaler every day to reduce the inflammation and sensitivity of your airways, which stops your symptoms occurring. It’s important to use it even when you do not have symptoms.
Tablets:
You may also need to take tablets if using an inhaler alone is not helping control your symptoms.
These medicines may also come in form of syrup and powder.
You take them every day to help stop your symptoms occurrences.
Possible side effects include tummy aches and headaches.
Steroid Tablets:
Steroid tablets may be recommended if other treatments are not helping to control your symptoms.
Other Treatments:
Where any of the above treatment is not helping, injections and surgery may be recommended.
Injections
For some people with severe asthma, injections of medicines called biologic therapies are given every few weeks. These can help to control the symptoms.
Surgery
A procedure called bronchial thermoplasty may be offered as a treatment for severe asthma. It works well and there are no serious concerns about its safety.
Breathing Exercises
There’s some evidence that breathing exercises can improve symptoms and reduce the need for reliever medicines in some people, but they should not be used instead of your medicine.
[3/20, 12:43 PM] fortegates2020:
THE FACTION
The gender disparity that exists in asthma patients is linked with changes in age and hormone secretion.
As children, boys have an increased prevalence of asthma compared to girls with increased atopy, wheeze, serum IgE levels, and use of asthma medications.
Disparities in asthma were also shown in a large, retrospective cohort study using the Kaiser-Permanente care computerized data from 60,694 patients. This study determined that asthma-related health care utilization and medication use was increased in boys compared to girls from ages 2-13, was not statistically different by gender from ages 14-22, and was increased in women compared to men after age 23.
The findings suggest that the gender switch in asthma prevalence that occurs during adolescence and early adulthood is driven by increased incidence in females over resolution in males with asthma.
Managing Asthma in Nigeria:
There are challenges in managing Asthma in Nigeria. A few of them include:
i. Low levels of disease control
ii. Limited access to essential medications, and
iii. Gaps in healthcare practices.
Recent Discoveries:
Some 405 participants were involved in the research. It was discovered that only 6.2% had their asthma under control. Also, 77.5% reported night disturbance and 78.3% experienced limitations in activities in the four weeks that followed.
A little over half (56.3%) could not go to work or school due to asthma, and 14.1% required emergency attention.
It may interest you to know that 90% of those with uncontrolled asthma considered their condition as partially or completely controlled, this pointing to the 2 neglected key factors: awareness and management.
Healthcare Practices and Guideline Adherence
Research indicates that though Nigerian doctors are aware of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines, there is poor adherence to these outlined protocols. Reducing asthma treatments to hospital norms rather than prescribed standardized guidelines.
Another limiting factor is the lack of access to lung function testing and undervaluing such diagnosis. All these further impede proper asthma management.
Additionally, the high cost and limited availability of ICS make it challenging to implement guideline-recommended treatments effectively.
It is important to consider how asthma affects different growth levels, ranging from Children to Adults and offering possible solutions that can improve practice of healthcare providers as well as the patients themselves.
Managing Asthma in Children
In rural areas, children under five are poorly attended to by caregivers who exhibit poor knowledge of proper asthma-management.
Factors responsible for this include: poor education, financial constraints, traditional beliefs, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure contribute to this deficiency. These issues must be addressed in other to improve asthma treatment outcomes among children in these communities.
One would want to say that, poor disease control, inadequate access to essential medications, and non-adherence to prescribed treatment guidelines or standards should be shunned while improved access to affordable medications, and increased public awareness about asthma management should be embraced.
Healthcare professionals in Nigeria have offered insights into these issues, highlighting the need for comprehensive strategies to improve asthma care in the country.
Let us consider some of the insights of these Professionals:
Dr. Olatunde Odusote, co-founder and clinical team lead at Allergy & Asthma Clinics Lagos, emphasizes the importance of specialized care in managing asthma. With his extensive background in pediatrics and allergology, Dr. Odusote advocates for tailored treatment plans and patient education to achieve better asthma control.
Dr. Tunde Ojo, a consultant physician and pulmonologist, has highlighted the significant mortality associated with asthma in Nigeria, noting that over 16,000 individuals die annually due to asthma-related complications. He underscores the necessity for improved asthma management strategies to reduce this high mortality rate.
Challenges in Asthma Management
The Nigerian Thoracic Society has been at the forefront of advocating for better asthma care, emphasizing the importance of patient education and self-management to reduce suffering and healthcare costs so associated.
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