What department should I go to for asthma?

Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
Updated on September 03, 2024
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The asthma we usually talk about mainly refers to bronchial asthma, which is a respiratory system disease. The most suitable department to consult for bronchial asthma is the department of respiratory medicine, and in places where no specific department of respiratory medicine exists, the department of general internal medicine can be consulted. However, the precondition for consulting these departments is that the patient's condition must be stable. If a patient with bronchial asthma experiences a severe acute attack and has serious breathing difficulties, they must seek treatment in the emergency department. Additionally, some types of asthma refer to cardiac asthma, which, as the name suggests, is a cardiovascular disease and thus requires consultation in the department of cardiology.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
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Is variant asthma the same as asthma?

Cough variant asthma is a very common type of asthma. Typically, patients with this condition predominantly experience chronic coughing, generally lasting over two months. These patients may not exhibit other clinical symptoms such as wheezing or breathlessness. It is a specific type of asthma characterized by recurrent chronic coughing. Once diagnosed, these patients should promptly receive treatment to relieve bronchospasm and anti-allergic medications among other symptomatic treatments. The course of treatment generally requires about 4 to 8 weeks, after which some patients may gradually discontinue the medication. Some patients might need intermittent long-term treatment. Therefore, this particular type of asthma requires significant attention. (Medication should be administered under the guidance of a professional doctor.)

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Written by Guo Xiao Yun
Pulmonology
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What are the symptoms of asthma?

Asthma is a chronic airway disease that clinically manifests as noticeable chest tightness and shortness of breath during acute attacks, especially when exposed to allergens such as cold air, pollen, animal dander, or consuming foods that are likely to cause allergies, such as eggs, milk, and seafood. This leads to high reactivity of the airways, causing spasms, and thus a range of clinical symptoms. In some patients, typical wheezing sounds can also be heard in the lungs. Asthma is a chronic disease that cannot be completely cured. During acute attacks, it is recommended to quickly remove oneself from allergens and actively administer antispasmodic and asthma-relieving medications to significantly improve symptoms of chest tightness and shortness of breath.

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
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Asthma attack symptoms

The most common manifestation of an asthma attack is inspiratory difficulty breathing, occurring repeatedly. This respiratory difficulty can present as sitting up to breathe, dry cough, and may include white frothy sputum. Some patients, due to severe hypoxia, may develop cyanosis. Besides these typical symptoms, some patients may have cough-variant asthma or chest tightness-variant asthma. Cough-variant asthma can sometimes involve only coughing, which is mostly severe, dry, and more noticeable at night, unresponsive to antibiotic treatment. Additionally, there is a type of asthma characterized by chest tightness, primarily presenting as chest discomfort, and some patients may also experience nausea or other discomforts.

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Written by Hu Bai Yu
Pulmonology
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What should I do for asthma cough?

If a patient has asthma accompanied by coughing, it is advisable to receive treatment under a doctor’s guidance through nebulizer inhalation to alleviate symptoms, or take some antitussive and asthma-relieving medications. In daily life, one should also ensure ample rest, avoid vigorous exercise and heavy physical work, and it is best to identify the cause of the illness under a doctor's guidance for symptomatic treatment. It is recommended to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables to supplement vitamins and improve one's immunity. Additionally, if the coughing is severe, drinking some Fritillaria and pear syrup, which also helps moisten the lungs and relieve cough and asthma, may be appropriate. Therefore, it is advised to maintain a relaxed mood, avoid excessive stress, and actively cooperate with treatment for symptom recovery.

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
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Can asthma be cured completely?

We often refer to asthma as bronchial asthma, which, whether it is cough variant asthma, allergic asthma, or caused by other factors, has not yet a cure found to date. It is now generally believed that bronchial asthma can be controlled, which means that as long as patients with bronchial asthma receive standardized treatment in reputable hospitals, most can be controlled and will not suffer from recurrent attacks. So far, there is no cure found, and all advertisements using Traditional Chinese Medicine or ancient secret remedies or any other means claiming that asthma can be cured are false. These are not to be trusted, and many asthma patients often suffer because they take some medications containing oral corticosteroids under these false beliefs. While these might control asthma in the short term, they are detrimental to the long-term management of asthma, and prolonged use of such non-standard corticosteroid treatments can lead to many adverse reactions, such as drug-induced Cushing's syndrome and medication-induced diabetes, among others.