How Is Allergic Asthma Diagnosed
A skin prick test is the common way to check for allergies. Your doctor will poke your skin with a needle containing a small amount of an allergen. After 15 minutes, they will check the area for redness or discoloration, swelling, and itching. You might also have a raised, round, red or discolored, hive-like bump known as a wheal. These are signs of an allergic reaction.
Additional lung function tests can determine whether you have asthma along with allergies. Lung function tests check whether your breathing improves after you use an asthma medication called a bronchodilator .
Specific types of lung function tests include:
Treating allergic asthma can involve treating the allergy, the asthma, or both.
An Introduction To Tight Chests And Hayfever
People afflicted by asthma may also be prone to hayfever. In fact asthma and hayfever are often grouped together and termed atopy by doctors. This is because the individual has an increased tendency to develop allergies and typical symptoms of chest tightness and wheezing often occur in both conditions. Atopic individuals can also be prone to skin allergies or eczema.
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Toxins Interacting With Proteins
Another non-food protein reaction, urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, originates after contact with poison ivy, eastern poison oak, western poison oak, or poison sumac. Urushiol, which is not itself a protein, acts as a hapten and chemically reacts with, binds to, and changes the shape of integral membrane proteins on exposed skin cells. The immune system does not recognize the affected cells as normal parts of the body, causing a T-cell-mediated immune response. Of these poisonous plants, sumac is the most virulent. The resulting dermatological response to the reaction between urushiol and membrane proteins includes redness, swelling, papules, vesicles, blisters, and streaking.
Estimates vary on the percentage of the population that will have an immune system response. Approximately 25 percent of the population will have a strong allergic response to urushiol. In general, approximately 80 percent to 90 percent of adults will develop a rash if they are exposed to .0050 milligrams of purified urushiol, but some people are so sensitive that it takes only a molecular trace on the skin to initiate an allergic reaction.
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How To Help Your Child With Allergies
You can tell allergies from a cold because kids will typically have clear mucus, no fever, and symptoms will last six to eight weeks. Dr. Michael also recommends trying a second-generation antihistamine like childrens Claritin, Zyrtec or Allegra to see if their symptoms improve.
To help your kids manage their allergies, it can help to try to pinpoint the cause:
- Keep a journal or use an app to track your childs symptoms.
- Check pollen counts on a weather website or an allergy tracker like pollen.com and note whats blooming on days your child has symptoms.
- Note school days, weekends or visits to other peoples homes. This can help you with environmental factors or pet allergies.
- Note the season and rainfall .
If there does seem to be a link to allergies, their pediatrician can order more accurate allergy testing.
While kids wont outgrow allergies or asthma, Dr. Michael reports most children can successfully manage these conditions and lead normal, active lives into adulthood.
Allergies and asthma dont have to mean sitting inside and missing out on all the fun of childhood, says Dr. Michael. Playing, running and athletics can all be open to them with the right management.
Use a telehealth visit to talk with your childs pediatrician about allergy or asthma concerns.
Food And Food Additives Trigger Asthma
Food allergies can cause mild to severe life-threatening reactions. They rarely cause asthma without other symptoms. If you have food allergies, asthma can be part of a severe, life-threatening reaction called . The most common foods associated with allergic symptoms are:
- Eggs
- Salads
- Fresh fruits
Food preservatives can trigger isolated asthma, especially sulfite additives, like sodium bisulfite, bisulfite, sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, and sodium sulfite, which are commonly used in food processing or preparation.
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Common Environmental Risk Factors For Asthma And Depression
Obesity
Obesity generates a systemic inflammatory milieu that increases the risk of numerous somatic conditions, including both asthma and MDD. Epidemiologic studies suggest that there is an increased prevalence of asthma in obese adults, that this relationship is dose dependent, and that the link is stronger in women . This association may reflect the direct mechanical effects of obesity, immune system alterations, or the effect of hormones such as leptin imposed by excess weight.
Obese individuals also appear to be at increased risk of developing MDD . The etiology of this seemingly bidirectional relationship is unknown but likely involves genetic and environmental influences, including the psychological experience of being overweight, as well as alterations in various hormones and cytokines. Although iatrogenic and clinical disease factors are most often implicated, it is possible that MDD and obesity share common pathogenic factors, including dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, neurotransmitter systems, and/or immune function .
Smoking during Pregnancy
What Is The Treatment Of Asthma
To effectively manage asthmaa, you must keep track of your symptoms and measure how well your lungs are regularly operating. Taking an active role in monitoring your asthma therapy will assist you in maintaining better long-term asthma control, preventing asthmaa episodes, and avoiding long-term issues.
Together with your doctor, create a written asthma action plan. This written plan will serve as a personalized asthma treatment guide for you. It will assist you in following these three crucial steps and keeping track of your asthmaa treatment:
1. Medical Treatment:
Many products are available in pharmacies labeled as homeopathic and sold OTC, but none of these medicines are evaluated by the FDA for practical use and safety. Some of the FDA approved medications for asthma are following:
- Anti-inflammatory medicines: corticosteroids act by reducing inflammation and opening the airway.
- Bronchodilators: beta-agonists and other bronchodilators should be used in combination with anti-inflammatory drugs for better results.
- Anti–cholinergic drugs: these drugs work by dilating the bronchi.
- Inhalers: short acting beta-agonists are taken through inhalers for immediate relief of an acute attack of asthmaa.
The treatment mostly includes combination therapies for better control of symptoms over a long period of time.
3. Keep track of how well your lungs are performing.
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Hay Fever Pollution Hot Weather And Thunderstorms
Lots of people find their hay fever is worse when theres high pollution, especially when hot weather makes pollution worse. Pollution molecules stick to pollen grains, so they hang about in the air longer and are harder to get out of your airways.
Thunderstorms can also cause your symptoms to flare up, because they smash pollen into tiny bits that go deeper into your lungs.
These three steps will reduce your risk of an asthma attack from pollen combined with heat and/or pollution or thunder:
Next review due March 2023
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What Is Food Allergy
Food allergy is defined as a reaction of an immune system which mainly occurs soon after the body consumes a certain food.
This generally happens when our body identifies certain food to be harmful or allergic thereby causing few reactions and medical symptoms in our body which needs special treatment.
These particular foods which cause an allergic reaction in the body are certainly identified as allergens for these types of individuals.
While for some people, the reaction can be mild or uncomfortable it can be severe, intolerable and life-threatening for others.
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What Allergens Are High In The Fall
Weeds and pollen become rampant during longer summers.
Balmy temperatures let much of the country hit the beach for a few extra weeks each yearbut while your spirits soar, so do ragweed and pollen counts.
Counts usually drop significantly by the first week of September, explains Joseph Leija, M.D., founder of the Gottlieb Allergy Count, which provides the official allergy count for the Midwest. But when it gets rainy, grasses and weeds grow out of control depending on where you live. This can include the following:
- Ragweed
More weeds mean more pollen, a big cause of hay fever , Dr. Leija explains, which affects up to 60 million Americans each year, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.
Ragweed in particular seems to wreak havoc during the fall months, explains Dr. Parikh, reaching peak levels in mid-September. Just one ragweed plant can produce up to 1 billion pollen grains and it can travel far, especially in the Eastern and Midwestern parts of the country, the AAFA says.
Mold becomes a bigger issue.
Nothing looks more quintessentially autumn than leaves falling into big piles. But once foliage starts to decay, it becomes a breeding ground for mold, Dr. Parikh says. Breathing in spores can aggravate asthma and cause heavy breathing, wheezing, and other upper respiratory symptoms in those with mold allergies.
Management Of Acute Asthma Episodes
Asthma exacerbations occur frequently and may occur even in the context of regular use of long-term controller therapy. Most exacerbations, especially those which are mild in nature, can generally be managed without difficulty at home. However, success in outpatient care of acute asthma demands excellent preparation, including a written set of instructions to help guide the patient and his/her family. The Asthma Action Plan is the central component for home asthma management. Patients must be instructed as to the early and accurate recognition of changes in asthma status, as early intervention is likely to lessen the severity and rate of progression of the episode. An algorithm which serves as the basis for the action plan and allows for telephone triage and recommendations is shown in Figure 34-3.
Carlos A. CamargoJr., in, 2018
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Wheezing Is Also A Symptom Of Whats Known As Allergic Asthma A Person May Be Allergic To Something That Sets Off Wheezing And/or Coughing Fishbein Said Every Once In A While Someone Will Not Have Asthma And Have Very Isolated Allergic Reactions To Things Mostly Seen With Pets Like Cats Or Dogs They Will Only Wheeze In That Scenario But Never Other Times
According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, half of the 20 million Americans who have asthma have the allergic type of asthma, in which something specific sets off their attack.
Bronchitis, meanwhile, mostly occurs as the result of an infection. However, adult smokers who cough a lot are said to have chronic bronchitis. Again, this is semantics, and one physician might call something bronchitis that another calls asthma, Fishbein said.
Patients likely would need a methacholine challenge to discern whether they have asthma, said Fishbein. Physicians can administer the methacholine challenge test , which is widely used to evaluate for airway hyperresponsiveness, a hallmark sign of asthma.
Regardless of the diagnosis or the cause of the symptoms, patients with any difficulty breathing, coughing, wheezing or chest tightness should see their primary care doctor for an evaluation. If their doctor suspects an allergic cause, patients may be referred to an allergist. If at any time breathing becomes extremely difficult, patients should head straight to the emergency room.
Practice Parameters And Guidelines For Allergic Asthma
Guidelines recommend factors that trigger or exacerbate asthma be identified routinely and documented in the medical records and personal asthma action plans of all patients with asthma.27â¯Reducing exposure to one or more allergic triggers can help reduce symptoms and the need for medication.28
Practice parameters have been developed to classify and manage treatment of asthma, and guideline-directed management has been shown to improve disease control.29
Before you proceed …
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Differences Between Allergies & Asthma
Allergies are the result of the body mistaking something harmless, like pollen, as an invader and creating antibodies to protect you. These antibodies lead to the release of histamine and cause the symptoms we associate with allergies: runny nose, sore throat, itchy skin and watery eyes.
Asthma, on the other hand, is a chronic condition that affects how well the lungs function. People with asthma have airways that are always a little reactive. When the airways become irritated it can cause an asthma attack, where the muscles in the airways tighten up and swell, making it hard to breathe.
Asthma and allergies are related, but if your child has allergies it does not mean they will absolutely develop asthma, says Bob Michael, MD, a pediatrician from Samaritan Lebanon Health Center. Its a different condition with different causes and different physiology in the body.
According to Dr. Michael, most seasonal allergies are detected in childhood when kids are between 2 and 5 years old, since it takes at least two exposures before the body develops an allergic response. Asthma is typically diagnosed after age 5.
What You Can Do To Keep Safe
- During spring and early summer, use a corticosteroid nasal spray . Start at the beginning of September and continue to the end of December.
- Keep taking your preventer medication as prescribed. If you don’t normally use a preventer all year, you should use it during September-December if you are going to be in an area where there is ryegrass pollen.
- Follow the pollen counts and weather forecasts during spring and summer so you know if a storm is coming.
- Make sure your written asthma action plan is up to date and includes thunderstorm advice – talk to your GP
- Avoid being outdoors just before and during thunderstorms, especially in cold wind gusts that come before the rain. Get inside a building or car with the windows shut and the air conditioner switched to recirculate/recycled.
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What Is Allergic Asthma
If you have allergic asthma, your airways are extra sensitive to certain allergens. Once they get into your body, your immune system overreacts. The muscles around your airways tighten. The airways become inflamed and over time are flooded with thick mucus.
Whether you have allergic asthma or non-allergic asthma, the symptoms are generally the same. Youâre likely to:
- Strong chemical odors or fumes
- Perfumes, air fresheners, or other scented products
- Dusty rooms
Your doctor can test you to see what causes your allergic asthma. The two most common methods are:
- Pricking your skin with a tiny amount of the allergen and measuring the size of the red bumps 20 minutes later
- A blood test known as a specific IgE or sIgE test
Is There Such Thing As A Hypoallergenic Cat
If you suffer from allergy induced asthma brought on by exposure to cats, but really want to care for a kitty of your own, you may want to consider a hypoallergenic breed. There is certainly no guarantee that these breeds will prevent your asthma attacks, however these cats have been specially bred to produce less of the problematic Fel D1 protein and may be a better choice for you.
Here are a few breeds of hypoallergenic cats that you may want to find out more about:
- Bengal
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The need for inhaler frequently
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Medication
Contact Oklahoma allergy and asthma clinic, OKOA for allergy treatment.
**Disclaimer: The information on this page is not intended to be a doctors advice, nor does it create any form of patient-doctor relationship.
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Spurts Of Amazing Physical Strength
On one occasion when Kedar got angry, he broke two coconuts , by hitting them against a wall. He was just 10 years old at that time. The same year in another incident, he knocked over six heavy chairs at the dining table at once with a small stick, by just pushing one chair over the other. These incidents were totally alien to his nature.
Other Things You Can Do
Saline rinses: Your doctor may recommend that you use a salt water solution daily to help clear your nose and soothe the lining of the nose. Syringes and rinse bottles are available from pharmacies.
Avoid smoke: People with allergic rhinitis should not smoke and should avoid other peoples cigarette smoke. Smoking makes asthma and rhinitis worse, and can prevent medicines from working properly. Bushfires and wood smoke may also worsen allergic rhinitis and asthma.
Avoid allergens: Your doctor can help you work out which allergens trigger your allergic rhinitis and asthma. Try to avoid your allergy triggers if you can. See Avoiding allergens for tips.
If medication does not clear a badly blocked nose, doctors may occasionally recommend a surgical operation called turbinate reduction. Surgery is not a cure for rhinitis, but may help with symptoms in severe cases.
Before taking any medication for allergic rhinitis, you should tell your doctor or pharmacist if:
- you have any other medical conditions or are pregnant
- you are taking any other medicines
- you have been experiencing nose bleeds.
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