Asthma – All You Need To Know About
‘Breathe In, Breathe Out’. This is a common tip we offer to one another every now and then, to cope up with our stressful lives. However, did you ever wonder that how much our lungs are working 24/7 to keep providing this air supply? Lungs have alveoli, which are expanding and contracting to facilitate the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. However, many a time, due to some malfunctions, the lungs cannot perform well and as a result several respiratory conditions onset.
What Is Asthma?
Asthma is one very common inflammatory type respiratory illness that is caused by the obstruction of the airway, which eventually leads to mild to severe breathing difficulties. Let’s understand all about asthma in details.
How Lungs Work?
Lungs are a set of organs that facilitate the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen for the body. The windpipe progressively branches into smaller tubes and buds throughout the lungs, like a channel. As we breathe in, we inhale air through the nose and it travels all the way into the lungs, where it diffuses into the bloodstream. Simultaneously, it absorbs carbon dioxide and expels it from the body through the same passage.
How Asthma Occurs?
Asthma onsets when this passage gets blocked and it reduces the amount of air passing through the windpipe. It happens due to the swelling of the lungs mucus lining, which in turn, results in tightening of the muscles around it. Its degree of severity varies from people to people. For some people, it is managed effectively with minor medication, while for others, it poses severe threats in the form of asthma attacks. Moreover, the repetitive occurrence of the same causes a nuisance by interfering daily-life activities.
What Are The Symptoms Of Asthma?
Asthma can often be characterized by chest congestion, chest pain, breathlessness, whistling or wheezing while breathing, trouble sleeping due to the high severity of the other symptoms. Often the symptoms heighten up even more with cold and flu. For some patients, the symptoms trigger with a certain condition like exercise or exposure to a certain type of chemicals or so.
Treatment Of Asthma
Most asthma cases can be effectively managed with timely, medical measures. Often it requires either or both, rescue inhalers (to treat symptoms) and prevent inhalers (to prevent the symptoms). In severe cases of asthma attacks, using asthma shots might be inevitable as well.
Read more – Early symptoms of Lung Cancer
ILS Hospitals offer quality treatment for asthma along with the best care for a wide range of other respiratory and chest conditions.
Early Symptoms of Lung Cancer
Lung Cancer is the most common type of cancer that starts in lungs. It is the number one death causing cancer in both men and women than colon, ovarian or breast cancer. Through the ling, carbon dioxide is released and oxygen is inhaled. There are two types of lung cancer. They are small cell lung cancers (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC).
Cigarette smoking is the main cause of lung cancer. The more cigarette consumption per day, the greater the risk of developing lung cancer at an early age. The other factors include passive smoking, air pollution or exposure to radon gas and asbestos fibers. It is difficult to detect lung cancers at an early stage as they do not cause any symptoms initially. But it is advisable to visit the doctor as soon as you notice any signs of discomfort related to the same in order to treat it at an early stage. ILS Hospitals is one of the popular hospitals in Kolkata for lung cancer treatment. There are many specialized doctors available for the treatment of this life taking disease.
The common symptoms of lung cancer include :
- A prolonged cough or worsening of an existing chronic and painful cough
- Coughing up blood or blood in sputum
- Constant chest or shoulder pain
- Fatigue and feeling tired all the time
- Loss of appetite
- Shortness of breath or wheezing
- Weight loss
- Ongoing chest infections
- Hoarseness
- Depression and mood changes
One should immediately consult the doctor if any of the above symptoms persist for an effective treatment. The treatment should begin before cancer spreads outside lungs otherwise it can spread anywhere in the body. It may cause the following:
- Bone pain in the back or hips
- Changes in the nervous system such as a headache, weakness in arms or legs, disbalance of a body, might spread to the brain or spinal cord.
- Jaundice that might lead to the liver
- Formation of lumps due to cancer spreading to the skin like above collarbone or the neck.
Since it is difficult to diagnose lung cancer at an early stage, it is advised to consult a doctor if a similar sign is being observed or felt in the body as mentioned above.
Therefore, Lung Cancer Awareness Month takes place every November to make people aware of the earlier signs and symptoms of this life-taking disease. The main aim of this campaign is to spread awareness amongst all on how to detect this disease at the right time to save a life.