Chest Infection, Asthma, and Allergies – Do I Really Need to See a Doctor?
Bronchitis is an infection/inflammation that can be viral, bacterial, mycoplasmic, rickettsiae, parasitic or allergic in origin. This affects the big, main air transportation tube systems of the lung all the way to the smallest tube at the aveoli.
Pneumonia is the infective, inflammatory or obstructive process of the filling with anything such as fluid, pus, mucus, bacteria, or pollen of the millions of tiny microscopic air baggies (sacs.) The sacs (alveoli) are located at the tips of these and become smaller and smaller until they are small tubes of the respiratory tubal system. These tubes are used to transport air and the sacs are used for the diffusion of oxygen into the bloodstream. It is the circulation and transfer of carbon dioxide back into the sacs out of the bloodstream and respiration out of the body.
Asthma is an over-sensitive airway disease. Asthma is a response of hyperactivity and hypersensitivity inflammation, swelling, hyper-mucus secretion, muscular constriction of the air carrying bronchial tubes. This stops transfer of gases to the alveolar sacs into the bloodstream. It is the closure of the inside opening of the tube from swelling and constriction bronchial tubes and respiration to the alveoli sacs. It is the closure of the inside opening of the tube from swelling and constriction of the muscle in the tube wall. Excessive, very thick mucus production from the inside lining of the tube causes partial occlusion, wheezing sounds, or total occlusion of the breathing passageway system of the lungs. It is caused by inflammation and constriction of the bronchiole tubes. You must specifically fix the chronic problem instead of treating the acute symptoms for only immediate relief.
You can stay indoors and miss all the sunshine and the tulips. However, in order to enjoy the world, you can take medications that are available to let you comfortably exist in the real world despite pollen and food allergies.
Profiles testing show many various types of allergies when and where they appear. Allergy can be sore throat, headache, fatigue, pneumonia, and many other symptoms. A Mast Cell, Basophile and Eosinophil are the body’s natural responses to defend from the stimulus of allergens or infection. These natural bodies produce chemical called histamine. When histamine is released it reacts like an acid to help fight infections and kill or defend the stimulus. Now in the 21st century with recent advantages with medical care you can do more of the things you need to do in your daily life. Enjoy living comfortable and mostly symptom free with ease of breathing, and get your energy and health back.
It is a 365-day serious and significantly increasing health problem. With many flare-ups, there is still more mucus production, constriction, and swelling of the bronchial tubes in the lungs than a normal person. You must learn what triggers your asthma and how to avoid them. Prevention can involve anti-inflammatory medication and specific treatment of the problem and not just the apparent seen or felt symptoms. Eating oranges, fish, crab, shrimp, or exposure to grasses, mold and animal dander can all cause respiratory asthma/bronchitis symptoms.
A bronchodilating inhaler is a temporary medicine that works by relaxing the tubular muscle constriction and opens the air tubes of bronchioles. You get immediate relief. It does not get rid of the mucus in the lungs or the stimulus causing the constriction. It is only for temporary and fast relief. This is a great medication when correctly used. Again, this is a temporary relief medication. This should not be used as a long-term treatment. If you use your bronchodilator more than 10 times a day, it is a true sign of trouble.
One good thing to have around is the Peak Flow Meter- this is your best at home indicator for you and your doctor to measure the air speed and flow from your lips. This tool is designed specifically to measure your respiratory and lung function. The peak flow measures the maximum air velocity at your lips versus your height and age. Weight and other factors will have no effect on this measurement.
A spacer decreases the coordination necessary for medication delivery and effectiveness used for inhalers. It prevents the wasting of money and medicine in the back of your throat. It can avoid unnecessary side effects of sore throat or throat ulcers from the medicine. The cold “Freon effect” often stops people inhaling the medicine. Therefore, most of the medicine goes to the back of the throat. At least eighty percent (80%) of the medication used from a regular inhaler is wasted. A spacer increases the effectiveness and use of the medications and decreases costs by ten times. Asthma is the excessive mucus thickening, mucus plugging, and tightly constricted mucosal airways. The spacer dissipates the medicine into the air to be more easily inhaled. More than fifty percent (50%) of people have poor inhaler technique and fifty percent regress in technique within one month of starting the use of medications.
Corticosteroids that are used for asthma control are not the same as anabolic steroids used by athletes for abuse. Many months of steroids can cause weight gain, upset stomach, stomach ulcers, and the thinning of the bones. Too few steroids can cause hospitalization, death, and mood changes. Corticosteroid inhalers are the best consistent daily prevention therapy. Steroids appropriately used are essential for exacerbations and must be carefully, consistently, and closely monitored by a physician.
Asthma is an excessive inflammation, over-reactive, and over-sensitivity of the lungs to stimulus with the production thick mucus and mucus plugging. Specific anti-inflammatory medications are a treatment. If left untreated, this will lead to permanent lung function loss. If silently you lose 2% of your lung function a year for 10 years, you have lost approximately one-third (1/3rd) of your lung function.
Asthma anti-inflammatory choices are: Inhaled corticosteroids, leukotriene blockers, cromolyn, and others. Side effects of these medications must be carefully and consistently balanced with view to permanent lung damage and disability. Routine checkups are essential. All allergy patients should be seen at least every 2-3 months– and immediately if severe reaction, infection, or more than a minimal problem arises.
There must be careful attention to triggers. Infections such as sinus infections can and often do cause poor control of asthma. Cigarette smoke (even passive and 2nd hand smoke), dust mite feces are all triggers. A typical mattress has more than 200,000 living dust mites. Animal dander is another trigger–keep pets out of the bedroom. Pollen and mold humidifiers can increase mold. Cockroach parts and feces when they dry turn into a powder, causing a possible trigger for asthma. Aspirin and ibuprofen: About 10% of people with asthma are sensitive to aspirin and ibuprofen compounds. Sulfates on food preservatives for fruits, grapes, cherries, wine and beer, as well as cold air and exercise are all triggers. Each year, about 5,000 people die of asthma. The majority of these people did not have severe disease.
Patients are very poor judges of their own wheezing, coughing, allergy, or shortness of breath. A patient who monitors their daily peak flow is essential. The elements of combination therapy, physician monitoring, and understanding are all very important to patient care, lung damage, and the quality of life.
When using inhalers, you exhale all the air in your lungs, use a spacer, inhale the medicine, hold your breath for 10 seconds, breath out, and repeat. The Nebulizer machine delivers therapy for five to ten minutes and is much more powerful as an immediate rescue inhaler. Prevention of flu and pneumococcal vaccines is essential. Allergy testing and/or injections, antibiotics and antivirals, are very important aids in the maintenance of these complex problems, potential complications, and the quality of life.
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High Blood Pressure – Keep it Under Control
It’s easy to imagine the cardiovascular system in a simplistic way. First of all, the heart is the pump. It can vary the fluid flow in the system by either pumping more forcefully, more frequently, or by increasing pump volume. Then there are the pipes, which are the arteries and the veins. The pressure and velocity in the vascular system depends on the diameters and tone of the pipes. Think of squeezing a garden hose and feeling the pressure and velocity rise. The main plumbers in the system are the kidneys, making constant adjustments in the fluid viscosity and in the pipes’ diameters with chemical vascular tone enhancers or tone reducers.
This is, of course, a very simplistic model for a living system. The true system is infinitely more complex. The heart has both innate mechanisms and brain hook-ups which make moment to moment changes in its pumping capacities. The pipes are alive and stretch and contract, altering the force within the system. Rather than two plumbers, there are numerous cells and chemicals which make continuous adjustments in the system. Sometimes these mini-plumbers can work against one another in a counter-productive fashion or too much to drop the pressure or too little to decrease the pressure.
Before we proceed, we need to clarify why blood pressure and hypertension are such critical determinations. Simply put, they are major factors in the occurrence of coronary heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, aneurysms, and overall health and longevity.
What are desirable and undesirable blood pressures? Any values less than 120/80 are considered normal and desirable. If a blood pressure is 120 to 139/ 80 to 90, this is called prehypertension. This is a strong indicator of blood pressure problems to come. A blood pressure of 140 to 159/90 to 99 is called Stage I hypertension. Values above 160/99 are called Stage II hypertension, and can lead to serious consequences.
There may be underlying medical causes for high blood pressure like thyroid, pituitary, or adrenal conditions called secondary hypertension. If there is no apparent underlying cause, it is called essential hypertension. 90% to 95% of hypertension is essential. This is not to say we don’t know things which can contribute to hypertension like obesity, family history, being of African-American or Native-American race, excessive use of alcohol, poor physical conditioning, and excessive intake of salt. Although these factors contribute to hypertension, their effect is still considered essential hypertension.
The medicines for hypertension basically work on the cardiovascular system at various levels to reduce the blood pressure. One of the first treatments to have been used is diuretics, which reduce the fluid volume in the system. They work by causing the kidneys to excrete sodium, or salt, and this salt takes fluid with it. The beta blockers and calcium channel blockers reduce heart pumping force and rate, and relax blood vessel constriction. Then there are the so-called ACE inhibitors which interfere with the kidneys making angiotensin II from renin, a kidney-secreted hormone. Angiotensin II is a substance which constricts blood vessels in the vascular system. Finally, there are the ARB’s which actually block the receptors for angiotensin II in the blood vessel walls.
So here’s the deal with your blood pressure: You’ve got to check it frequently. Mostly, it is silent in its relentless destructive processes, and unless it is advanced to the point that you’re having severe headaches, passing out, going blind, or going into kidney failure, you won’t otherwise know it’s elevated. Stick your arm in those blood pressure measuring devices when you’re waiting at the pharmacy. Have it checked when you’re at a health fair. If it is showing up elevated, go ahead and invest in a blood pressure device you can use at home especially with a printer that can record your pressure accurately and permanently. Be sure you know how to use it; have it checked for accuracy at your physician’s office. Keep a notebook with your blood pressure readings in it, and always take it with you when you see your physician.
Take your blood pressure medicine every day, and don’t miss a dose. Remember the lifestyle changes that can benefit your blood pressure– like slimming down and getting moderate exercise every day. A diet that’s low in salt, cholesterol, and saturated fat can’t do anything but help you. Evaluate your alcohol intake: if it’s more than a drink a day, it would be good to reduce it to that level. Smoking is something else that elevates blood pressure. Be aware that you may have family or ethnic history that predisposes you to high blood pressure. If you are diabetic, it is especially important that you keep your blood pressure at the lowest desirable values.
There is probably nothing more significant that you can do for your immediate and long-term health than maintaining a normal blood pressure. There are enough medicines available, and at reasonable costs, that everyone should be able to do this vital step. It is a tragedy when someone has a stroke or a heart attack, or ends up on a dialysis machine, because he or she had high blood pressure which could have been controlled with a simple office visit to their physician several times a year.
