What should I do about asthma?

Written by Yuan Qing
Pulmonology
Updated on December 06, 2024
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The full name of asthma is bronchial asthma, which is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs involving various inflammatory cells. The main symptoms of asthma include wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing, which typically occur in the early morning and at night. These symptoms can subside on their own through medication treatment or even without medication. Thus, by diagnosing asthma, it is understood that asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. After contracting this disease, the main treatment involves inhaling medications for asthma to control its symptoms. Additionally, if the asthma is caused by an allergic condition, such as an allergy to certain foods or airborne allergens like pollen and dust mites, it is advisable to first avoid these allergens to ensure a clean air environment, and then control or eliminate the symptoms with medication treatment. (Please use medication under the guidance of a professional doctor.)

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
54sec home-news-image

What department should I go to for asthma?

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 Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
1min 28sec home-news-image

Asthma belongs to what department?

When we talk about asthma, we generally refer to bronchial asthma, which is a respiratory system disease. Therefore, the primary department to consult is, of course, the Department of Respiratory Medicine. If an asthma patient's condition is relatively stable, they can see a respiratory specialist through outpatient services. In hospitals without a Department of Respiratory Medicine, such as community health service centers or township health clinics, they can choose to see a general practitioner, also known as an internist. If an asthma patient suffers an acute attack of bronchial asthma and the condition is critical, they must then visit the Department of Emergency Medicine. The emergency department will decide based on the patient’s condition whether they should be kept for observation in the emergency room, be admitted to the general respiratory department, or be sent to the ICU for further emergency treatment. Additionally, there is another type of asthma known as cardiac asthma, which is a cardiovascular disease. The first choice for these patients is to see a cardiologist, although in severe cases, they should visit the Department of Emergency Medicine.

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
1min 14sec home-news-image

Can asthma be cured?

So far, there is no known cure for bronchial asthma, and it is estimated that curing asthma within the next ten or twenty years will be very challenging. Therefore, any methods or medications claimed to treat or cure bronchial asthma found on any search engine cannot be trusted. We often encounter many people who, influenced by various advertisements, such as flyers, television, and even some newspapers, take medications containing powders that may control asthma temporarily. However, this can increase the risk of future control issues and cause many adverse reactions. Through these reactions, we can infer that these may contain oral steroids. Although oral steroids can indeed be used to control asthma, their use is subject to strict indications, and they are generally not the first choice for asthma control. Therefore, if you have asthma, you must seek standard treatment in a qualified hospital instead of self-medicating through any means, as this is inadvisable.

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
1min 11sec home-news-image

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.

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Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
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Symptoms of asthma

Asthma is a common respiratory disease. What are the symptoms after the onset of asthma? Typically, asthma patients exhibit characteristic symptoms, including episodic chest tightness, wheezing, and difficulty breathing, often accompanied by a wheezing sound. The breathing difficulty usually manifests as difficulty exhaling. However, some asthma patients show atypical symptoms, possibly presenting only with coughing or chest tightness, known as cough-variant asthma.