Avoiding Asthma Triggers

Welcome to Mountain West Healthcare's new Healthy Living blog. This blog will provide tips on maintaining a healthy lifestyle while dealing with health concerns. The first topic we are going to cover is asthma. The first blog post will focus on avoiding asthma triggers.  

Asthma is a common non-communicable disease. It can affect children and adults, although it is most common in children. Asthma can be triggered by many different things. Learning what your triggers are and how to avoid them can be an essential part of controlling your asthma. 

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America's article Asthma Triggers, "If you have asthma, it is important to keep track of the causes or triggers that you know make your asthma worse. Because the symptoms do not always occur right after exposure, this may take a bit of detective work. Delayed asthma episodes may occur depending on the type of trigger and how sensitive a person is to it."

Many different things can trigger asthma, such as allergens, respiratory illnesses, irritants, exercise, and even emotions. 

Allergens that act as triggers include pet dander, mold, pollen, and dust mites. Avoiding and limiting contact with these known allergens may help reduce symptoms. Your doctor may also recommend a seasonal allergy medicine. Clean carpets and bedding regularly to help with pet dander and dust mites. 

Respiratory illness is a common asthma trigger. Wash your hands regularly and avoid being around people you know are sick. Getting a yearly flu shot may help as well.  Eating healthy, taking daily vitamins, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle will all help maintain general health. 

Irritants that can trigger asthma include smoke, perfumes, smog, chemicals, and even the weather. These items may not cause an allergic reaction but can irritate inflamed airways. Cigarette smoke is a common asthma trigger. Try to avoid situations where you could be exposed to cigarette smoke. Choose natural cleaning products whenever possible. Watch the weather report or check air quality in your area. If air quality is poor, try to stay indoors. 

Exercise is vital to maintain health, and this includes people with asthma. Exercise, especially in cold air, maybe a trigger. Work with your doctor to come up with a plan for exercise. This may include a preventer medication as well as a reliever medication. Always warm up and cool down before and after exercising. 

Strong emotions such as crying, laughing, anger, fear, or yelling can cause rapid breathing. Try to avoid these strong emotions when possible. Meditation and other stress-relieving strategies may help as well. 

As the American Lung Association states in their article Reduce Asthma Triggers, "Once you know what triggers cause your symptoms, you can take action to limit your exposure to them. Below are three ways to deal with your triggers:

1. Avoid them. Keep your environment free of the things that cause your asthma symptoms.
2. Limit exposure. If suddenly faced with a trigger, move away from it as quickly as possible.
3. Take action. If you can't avoid a trigger, ask your healthcare provider if you can use quick-relief medicine to prevent a flare-up."

Resources

• Reduce Asthma Triggers
• How to avoid your asthma triggers
• Asthma Triggers

DISCLAIMER: This is for a class assignment; it is not a real blog.