Hi
I'm Hye-sun Kang from the department of pulmonology at the Catholic University of Korea Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital
What is asthma?
Asthma is characterized by chronic respiratory tract inflammation
This causes limitation in airflow which results in
shortness of breath, light breath, cough, and chest pain in patients
We call it asthma when there are these respiratory symptoms
What causes asthma?
First of all, if the patient has eczema, a genetic factor that causes limitation in airflow,
obesity, or is a female, there is a high risk of getting asthma
Environmental factors include house dust mites,
animals like dogs and cats, allergic antigens such as mold and pollen,
infection caused by viruses,
air pollution and smoking can cause Asthma
Main symptoms of Asthma
Typical symptoms of Asthma are light breath, chest pain, difficulty in breathing, and cough
Other characteristics of Asthma besides symptoms?
The characteristic of asthma is that the symptoms change.
Especially the symptoms get worse in the morning or night,
change in terms of time and degree
or get worse after exercise or exposure to allergic antigens and cold air
There is a high chance of Asthma especially when
symptoms worsen after taking aspirin or beta-blockers
In what season does Asthma usually occur?
It depends on the allergy that patients have
Patients who are allergic to pollen,
symptoms may occur in spring
In the case of patients with persistent Asthma, the symptoms can worsen
when exposed to cold air or when they catch cold
symptoms can worsen during the change of seasons into autumn or winter.
Treatments for Asthma
As I said, Asthma is characterized by chronic respiratory tract inflammation
it is most important to use a steroid inhaler to treat inflammation in the respiratory tract
If symptoms are not controlled by a steroid inhaler
which we call acute exacerbation
It is helpful to use systemic steroids in case of acute exacerbation
How to prevent Asthma and which food is good for Asthma?
The most important thing is to not get exposed to allergic antigens that can trigger Asthma
Therefore, for patients with allergies, it is most important to
not get exposed to allergic antigens but after getting diagnosed with Asthma
and experiences Asthma symptoms frequently,
it is important to consistently use a steroid inhaler to control the symptoms
Even when utilizing a steroid inhaler, you should be aware of not getting exposed to allergic antigens
Even if you use a steroid inhaler
and are careful not to be exposed to allergens, there are cases where Asthma symptoms are not controlled
In that case, it is known that using biological agents is helpful these days
Does asthma also have complications?
Asthma is a condition that by simply using a steroid inhaler
relieve symptoms and preserve lung function well.
But if asthma is not controlled well and acute exacerbations repeat, it may result in decreased lung function
In this case, the patient can have chronic difficulty in breathing
Use of inhalation steroid can raise the risk of pneumonia
So in the case of patients with chronic respiratory disease like asthma patients
Getting pneumonia vaccinated would be helpful
Is asthma hereditary?
When you have allergic diseases like eczema
The prevalence of asthma increases
If you have a family member who has a genetic factor in eczema or asthma
The risk of asthma may increase
That is all for asthma today
Thank you