Asthma Treatment – What Medication You Need

Asthma is a chronic and a common condition that occurs when the main air channel of the lungs and bronchial tubes become swollen. It causes coughing, wheezing, tightness of the chest and difficulty in breathing. Asthma is a treatable condition. Treatments usually seek to reduce the frequency, severity and duration of your asthma attacks.

Though Asthma cannot be cured permanently, asthma treatment if managed effectively can prevent asthma attack. One of the Asthma treatments that are usually followed is using medications which can be taken orally or inhaled in vapour form. They reduce inflammation in your airways and prevent blood vessels from leaking fluid into your airway tissues.

Asthma therapy needs to be flexible according to changes in symptoms, which should be determined thoroughly by your doctor and then the treatment can be adjusted accordingly. In case the asthma is kept well under control, your doctor may prescribe less medicine. However, if your asthma is not kept under control or has worsened, your doctor may accordingly raise your medication dose and also advise more frequent checking.

Asthma can be treated through several types of medications. A combination of long-term control medications and quick relief medications is generally used. The main types of asthma medications include:

Long-term-control medications, also called as preventers are used regularly and are taken long term to control chronic symptoms and prevent asthma attacks. These medications are generally used every day for a long time, in order to control chronic asthma.

Quick-relief medications, also called as relievers are used for speedy, short-term relief during symptoms of worsening asthma attack.
Medications for allergy-induced asthma reduce your body's reaction to a particular allergy and prevent your immune system from reacting to allergies.

Due to a lot of different factors involved in asthma, a treatment plan will be different for different patients. Your doctor may prescribe and change the medications according to the severity of the asthma attack. It is advisable for you and your doctor to work together to control asthma, reduce severity and frequency of attacks and help lead a normal and active life.