Bronchial asthma is a serious disease that requires the right comprehensive treatment. Today, various techniques are used that can significantly improve the quality of life of the patient. It becomes possible to reduce the frequency of seizures. The disease recedes, allowing a person to get rid of this problem. What is the treatment of bronchial asthma, what methods it includes, will be discussed later.
Treatment features
Considering the basic principles of therapy for bronchial asthma, it is worth considering that this disease is one of incurable pathologies. Therefore, the goal of treatment is to stop attacks, to prevent the appearance of serious complications. During treatment, the doctor takes into account the severity of the disease.
The disease is characterized by two periods. First, exacerbation of asthma appears. Then it ends, and remission sets in. During the period of exacerbation, one severe attack may appear. In some cases, such cases can be repeated for several days or even weeks.
During a period of exacerbation of a person, shortness of breath, shortness of breath, and also cough accompany. Attacks provoke physical activity, pungent odors, various allergens, stress and anxiety. Such people can react strongly even to changing weather. Remission is characterized by the cessation of such manifestations. During this period, a person can lead an ordinary life, play sports.
The period of exacerbation of bronchial asthma and its therapy suggest the use of certain techniques. They have specific goals. The main ones are:
- The disappearance of manifestations of bronchial obstruction (at least minimizing them).
- The lack of human need for the use of bronchodilator therapy.
- The ability to play sports, lead a normal life.
- Bringing breathing indicators to normal.
- Prevention of irreversible obstruction in the airways.
- Control of side effects during therapy and prevention, their prevention.
- Prevention of death from asthma.
The applied methods of treating the disease pursue the listed goals. A set of impacts is developed for each patient individually. The physical characteristics of the body, as well as the severity of the disease, are evaluated.
The severity of the disease
The basic principles of therapy for asthma are based on determining the severity of the disease. This allows you to achieve a positive result, significantly improve the quality of life of the patient. The severity of the disease is determined by a specific system.
The doctor who conducts the treatment evaluates the degree of the patient's condition according to certain criteria. It estimates the number of suffocation attacks that occur in patients during sleep at night. This indicator is tracked throughout the week. A separate account of daily attacks is also kept. It is determined how much sleep is disturbed, whether it interferes with a person’s physical activity.
Also, the doctor using special equipment measures the expiratory volume for 1 second (FEV), the peak expiratory flow rate (PSV). Also recorded is a change in these indicators during the day. When determining the severity of the disease, the doctor determines which drugs can improve the patient's condition.
Drug therapy for bronchial asthma and other methods are prescribed in accordance with the severity of the disease. After a full diagnosis, the doctor establishes the features of the course of asthma. There are 4 degrees of severity of the disease:
- In the first degree, the defeat of the bronchi is lung. This is an episodic form. Whistling panting in humans is quite rare. The patient fixes such cases approximately every 3 days. Asphyxiation at night with this form of asthma occurs every 2 weeks.
- The second degree is characterized by more frequent seizures. At night, they happen about 3 times a month. Moreover, fluctuations in the PSV indicator increase.
- With the third degree, persistent bronchial asthma develops. The patient's condition is defined as moderate.
- If a patient is diagnosed with a fourth degree of asthma, his condition is characterized as severe. The quality of his life is noticeably declining. A person’s sleep is disturbed, physical activity is also almost impossible.
A very dangerous condition for humans is asthmatic status. It requires the use of the most effective drugs. Errors in the choice of methods are unacceptable.
Acute Therapy
A detailed consideration deserves a period of exacerbation of bronchial asthma and its therapy. At the time of an acute attack, the patient needs drugs that eliminate the main factors of suffocation. The drugs act on spasm, do not allow increased secretion of mucus in the bronchi, as well as swelling of their walls.
During an acute attack, the patient first of all needs symptomatic treatment. This allows you to quickly improve the well-being of a person. Such therapy does not affect the main causes of the attack. She is unable to eliminate allergic inflammation or hypersensitivity of the internal surfaces of the respiratory tract.
When the attack is suppressed, another type of therapy is required. Methods are used that prevent the development of suffocation again. In this case, drug and non-drug methods of therapy are combined. Medicines prevent exacerbation of the disease. They reduce or eliminate completely allergic inflammation. Drug therapy is called basic. It is she who, in combination with the elimination of allergens, determines the success of the entire treatment, allowing you to take asthma under control.
After symptomatic treatment of bronchial asthma, the patient is prescribed treatment according to a specific program. It includes a whole range of measures.
Means that are among the drugs for the rapid elimination or reduction of bronchospasm include theophyllines and β2-agonists. They are characterized by a short action. At the time of an acute attack, medications are administered orally, rectally or by inhaler. Injection is also possible.
Treatment program
Therapy for bronchial asthma is a program that includes several integrated measures. The patient is taught to take medications correctly. A person should become a companion of the doctor, his assistant in the fight against the disease. The severity of the disease is constantly monitored (objective indicators are used).
Next, the elimination (removal) of factors that provoke an attack is carried out. The doctor is developing drug therapy. He prescribes basic therapy for asthma in adults and children, as well as symptomatic treatment. A specific immunotherapy is carried out.
The doctor prescribes rehabilitation (restorative) therapy. It includes the use of non-drug methods. In some cases, the patient requires nursing care, therapy for bronchial asthma, which is carried out on the basis of a sanatorium-resort institution.
One of the important stages of treatment is constant monitoring by an allergist. If asthma occurs in a child, parents are taught the rules of behavior at different periods of the course of the disease. They gradually set up the baby to lead a certain lifestyle, adhere to the rules established by the doctor. An adult who has encountered a similar disease is also difficult to get used to some restrictions at first. However, following the doctor’s recommendations, you can significantly improve the quality of your life. Ailment will not interfere with everyday tasks.
Stepped system
Today, 5-stage therapy of bronchial asthma is actively used throughout the world . A feature of this disease is the fact that it accompanies a person throughout his life. It cannot be cured completely. But you can control it. For this, a five-stage complex of therapy is used. This scheme was developed by the International Committee of the Global Strategy for the Treatment and Prevention of Asthma.
The specialists of this institution have compiled a table that allows you to establish how much and what kind of drugs are needed for a person at a particular stage of the disease. Depending on this factor, 5 stages of therapy are distinguished. At the first level, the patient requires a minimum amount of medication. At the fifth stage, treatment with the most powerful drugs is carried out. They are able to stop the attack, improve the condition of a person in general.
At the first stage, bronchodilators are prescribed to a person. They are used no more than once a week. Other drugs are not required in this case. If the effect of this therapy is not observed, it is required to prescribe more effective drugs. The patient proceeds to the next step.
In the second stage of therapy, the use of drugs is carried out daily. For this, inhalers are used, with the help of which the drug is introduced into the body of the patient. At the second stage, glucocorticoids are included in the treatment regimen. They help prevent the development of an attack.
At the third stage, other types of inhalers are added to glucocorticoid treatment. This is a pathogenetic therapy of bronchial asthma. It prevents the development of inflammation. At this stage, the dosage of drugs that the patient takes daily increases. Reception of drugs is carried out daily several times a day.
Fourth and fifth steps
Outpatient therapy of bronchial asthma is carried out at the fourth and fifth stages. These are the most severe stages of the disease. Such patients require constant monitoring by doctors in the hospital. At the fourth stage, a person is prescribed complex treatment. It includes several drugs that must be taken daily.
The most difficult stage of the disease is the fifth stage. This requires a comprehensive hospital therapy of bronchial asthma. During the day, repeated administration of drugs is carried out. This is the longest treatment in a hospital setting. It includes various inhalations in combination with antispasmodics and anti-inflammatory drugs.
A step lower is possible if the treatment is effective. In this case, the disease goes into remission. And in this condition, she is in 3 months. In this case, the doctor decides to move the person one step lower during the treatment of the disease.
In order to decide on a transition to a lower level of treatment, a person undergoes a comprehensive examination in a hospital setting. Based on the data received, the doctor decides to reduce the dose of the drug. Correction is underway. Such a decision can only be made if the remission lasts from 3 to 6 months.
For children, there are several transition features. When the disease goes into remission, it is required to carry out not only drug therapy, but also the prevention of subsequent attacks. Moreover, the dose reduction is carried out under the strict supervision of a doctor. If parents see that some changes have occurred in their baby’s condition, they should definitely inform a medical specialist.
Hormone therapy
One of the main approaches to treatment is hormonal therapy for bronchial asthma. Similar drugs relieve inflammation. Many people are afraid of such therapy. There is an opinion that it is impossible to stop the use of such drugs. It is worth noting that taking hormonal drugs that relieve inflammation is not a whim of a doctor. There are certain standards that apply in a particular case of the disease.
Bronchial asthma is of inflammatory origin. Therefore, special hormones effectively fight the manifestations of this ailment. They can be introduced into the body using inhalers. If the stage of the inflammatory process is advanced, the doctor prescribes the administration of such drugs in the form of tablets.
The course of treatment with hormonal drugs is long. Doctors say that with proper treatment, 75-80% of patients can go to lower levels, discontinuing hormones over time. The remaining 20-25% of people switch to a sparing course of taking such drugs. Hormone therapy is carried out for them in courses 2 times a year. However, deterioration does not occur. For this reason, hormone therapy is actively used now.
Biological therapy
One of the relatively new methods in the treatment of the presented disease is biological therapy for bronchial asthma. It has certain features. The medicine includes molecules that were created by genetic engineering. The action of these biologically active particles is precisely directed. It appears on specific structures in the body that are involved in complex biological processes. Active molecules of such drugs affect the immune system.
Such therapy is also called targeted. It allows you to specifically affect the mechanisms that trigger the development of bronchial asthma. Most often, antibodies are used for these purposes. They allow you to influence the regulators of the inflammatory process in the body.
Biological therapy of bronchial asthma is used in the treatment of atopic forms of the disease. Such an effect suppresses reactions of a pathological nature that the human body produces to triggers. It is worth noting that such drugs are prescribed to patients at the fourth and fifth stages of the disease. Medicines in this group cause side effects. They are not yet perfect enough. Therefore, it is advisable to apply them only to those people whose disease is poorly controlled by other drugs.
Lifestyle change
If such a disease occurs, a person’s lifestyle will need to be radically changed. The risk factors for an attack should be avoided. The list of allergens that trigger an attack may increase over time. The less a person comes into contact with such substances, the better. The likelihood of a side effect is reduced.
You also need to stick to a diet. Nutrition must be proper and balanced. Consult with your doctor about what foods should be included in your diet. The diet is selected individually. Also, doctors advise during active remission to actively engage in aerobics or other mobile types of fitness. It is necessary to develop chest muscles, increase the endurance of the cardiovascular system. The period of remission in this case increases, and the seizures are more easily tolerated.
You can also perform breathing exercises. They reduce alveolar hyperventilation. There are many methods that are used for bronchial asthma.
Other non-drug methods
In addition to the listed approaches, during the treatment of bronchial asthma in combination with the main treatment, additional non-drug effects are prescribed. Popular methods are halotherapy, speleotherapy, herbal medicine. Acupressure, acupuncture, etc. are also prescribed. Spa treatment gives good results.
Having considered the features and methods of treatment of bronchial asthma, you can understand the basic principles of the treatment process. If all the recommendations of the doctor are followed, the patient can eventually reduce the frequency of seizures, extend the period of remission of the disease.