Ventolin Nebules

• If a mother has asthma, will her baby get asthma?

  It is not a rule. However, the baby is more likely to have asthma.

  All that the mother can do is keeping her child away from any smoking areas, since smoking puts the baby at higher risk to develop asthma.

  The most important advice for any pregnant woman is “DO NOT SMOKE”.

• Does asthma go away?

  Asthma is a chronic condition. Nevertheless, if you stick well to your asthma action plan, you will live a high quality life away from annoying symptoms, as long as you keep yourself away from triggers.

• What should I do if I experience an asthma attack?

  Try to keep calm. Take one puff from your quick-reliever inhaler (Ventolin or Salbutamol for example). You can take up to 10 puffs over 10 minutes. If you do not feel better, call the ambulance.

• Do asthma inhalers like Ventolin or Salbutamol have side effects?

  There are mild side effects for the inhalers like increased heart rate or feeling shaky after inhalation. However, these side effects last only for a few minutes and not everyone will experience them.

• Can I exercise with asthma?

  If you are controlling your asthma well, then you can exercise safely.

Causes of asthma

Unfortunately, the exact cause of asthma is still unknown. Many factors may contribute to the occurrence of asthma often early in life. These factors include genetic factors (an inherited tendency to develop allergies), respiratory infections during childhood and contact with airborne allergens or exposure to viral infection in early childhood while the immune system is developing. 

Mechanism of Asthma

Upon exposure to asthma triggers, the airways become inflamed, narrow, and filled with mucus. Once an asthma attack begins, spam of muscles around those narrow inflamed airways occurs, causing difficulty in breathing, chest tightness and other asthma symptoms.

Triggers of Asthma

If you are diagnosed with asthma, you have to know asthma triggers to avoid them as much as you can to enjoy a high-quality life. It is important to know that triggers are different from one person to another. Every asthmatic patient should be aware of triggers that cause asthma attack to him to avoid.

The most common asthma triggers are:

• Tobacco smoke.
• Dust mites(tiny bugs that are present in most homes).
• Outdoor air pollution due to cars and factories.
• Furry pets.
• Smoke from burning wood or grass.
• High humidity in weather.
• Some foods or medicines.
• Physical exercises (This is known as Exercise-induced Bronchospasm, and controlled effectively by some inhalers like Ventolin or Salbutamol).
• For some people, strong emotions may fasten breathing causing hyperventilation that can also cause an asthma attack.
• Acid reflux can trigger an attack.
• Breathing in mould may trigger an asthma attack.
• Fragrances can also trigger an asthma attack.