What is Asthma and How is it Treated
Asthma makes breathing difficult and its symptoms can interfere with daily life. Jim Parsons, Board Certified Asthma Educator, Registered Respiratory Therapist, and Certified Pulmonary Function Technologist, discusses asthma.
Featuring:
Jim Parsons, RRT, CPFT, AE-C, TTS
Jim Parsons, RRT, CPFT has worked for 30+ years in all areas of respiratory care; from home care, emergent care, to intensive care. He is a Registered Respiratory Therapist, Certified Pulmonary Function Technologist, Board Certified Asthma Educator, and Tobacco Treatment Specialist at Pullman Regional Hospital. His current focus is in outpatient care. Transcription:
Introduction: With a relentless focus on excellence in healthcare. Pullman Regional Hospital presents The Health Podcast.
Bill Klaproth: For some people asthma is a minor nuisance. For others it can be a life threatening condition as it makes breathing difficult and can cause coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. So what is asthma and how is it treated? Let's find out with Jim Parsons, Certified Asthma Educator, Registered Respiratory Therapist, and Certified Pulmonary Function Technologist at Pullman Regional Hospital. Jim, thanks for your time. So what is asthma?
Jim Parsons: Well asthma is pretty much a chronic condition that you have and it's with you. You can get it as a youth but sometimes adults will get it as well. It's pretty much defined as airway narrowing, swelling of the airways in there, excessive mucus production. You also get where the muscles around the airways can constrict, which also will impede flow getting air out of the lungs. Some of the symptoms that these cause, like shortness of breath, cough wheezes, chest tightness. Those are some of the things that people associate with asthma.
Host: Okay. So let me ask you this then. How do you determine if someone has asthma? You mentioned shortness of breath, cough, wheezing. I mean those could be symptoms of something else as well. So how do you determine that it is asthma?
Jim Parsons: Correct. And on that, the key thing is to talk with your doctor and if you haven't any of those symptoms to let them know that that you're experiencing these things. Looking at family history can also be a precursor to indicate, okay there's a possibility that you could have asthma. And the key thing is, what the doctor will probably order is a spirometry or a pulmonary function test on that to actually determine whether it is asthma that's causing these symptoms or some other disease, COPD, some of these other stuff that can mimic the symptoms there of asthma. And that way they'll be able to determine how severe your asthma is if you have that and then lead into appropriate care and treatment of that.
Host: Okay. So let's talk about treatment. So how is asthma in general treated?
Jim Parsons: So like I said, you get spirometry's important on that part there so that the doctor can actually see how severe it is. And what they'll do at that time is break it down and look at the severity. Lot of times they'll give a long acting steroid inhaled corticosteroid on that to take down the swelling and keep that there. And that's something that people will take daily on that part. And then, other medications that they'll look at is either long acting bronchodilator or as short as acting one is a rescue inhalers, another name for that. The doctor will also even look at, okay, setting up an action plan so that you're aware of your triggers and things that can cause asthma, so that at that time you can be proactive on treating your asthma, avoiding triggers, or taking in your medication before you get into those situations on that part.
Host: Right. So having a plan and understanding the triggers is really important. So if you're out somewhere and all of a sudden, uh oh, you know, I'm feeling this coming on and then someone does have an asthma exacerbation, you know what to do and you're prepared. That's really important for someone that suffers from asthma. Is that right?
Jim Parsons: Correct. And the key thing on that is if you can, and you know, you're going into those situations that a lot of times the doctor with that action plan will have you take your rescue inhaler prior to going into those events, whether it's exercise, whether it's you know, pollens or other stuff like that. And so that you're actually have that medication on board so you won't have quite a severe reaction and possibly none on that part.
Host: Right. And that's what you're hoping for.
Jim Parsons: Correct.
Host: So Jim, you were just talking about triggers such as exercise and pollen, what types of things can trigger an asthma exacerbation?
Jim Parsons: Yeah, and along that lines, common ones is pollens, dust, molds, dust, my pet dander, even infections if you have a respiratory infection can exacerbate your symptoms there. Even cold air, smoke, stress can even do that as well.
Host: So there's a variety of things that can trigger an asthma exacerbation.
Jim Parsons: Correct. And it's personal. I mean, it's depends on each person can have all of those, some of those. And they sometimes affect at different times, not always at the same time. So yeah, it's all kind of a personal way of looking at it. Each person's different.
Host: Right. So understand that you do have it and then have that action plan if you do have an asthma exacerbation and then really understand your triggers. Is that kind of what it boils down to?
Jim Parsons: Yeah. Yup, it does.
Host: Okay. Okay. Jim, do you have any other closing thoughts or information that you want people to know?
Jim Parsons: Well, I think the key thing is asthma, I mean we know a lot about it to some extent and that, but the medications that are coming out are, are getting better at addressing the specific needs of people. So keeping a regular contact with your doctor and that because your symptoms can improve or get worse. And so having that doctor in there, knowing those things and also know that asthma, you can control that and function pretty much the same as someone who doesn't have asthma. So what I try to tell people is don't let asthma control you. You control asthma. So, you know, when you're having an action plan, knowing the medications, and keep taking that medication unless the doctor changes it.
Host: Well, that's the perfect way to wrap this up. Make sure you have a plan and remember you control asthma. Don't let it control you. Jim, thank you so much for the information. We really appreciate it.
Jim Parsons: Well thank you.
Host: That's Jim Parsons, a Certified Asthma Educator at Pullman Regional Hospital. And to get hooked up with a provider or to learn more information, please visit PullmanRegional.org. That's PullmanRegional.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is The Health Podcast from Pullman Regional. I'm Bill Klaproth, thanks for listening.
Introduction: With a relentless focus on excellence in healthcare. Pullman Regional Hospital presents The Health Podcast.
Bill Klaproth: For some people asthma is a minor nuisance. For others it can be a life threatening condition as it makes breathing difficult and can cause coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. So what is asthma and how is it treated? Let's find out with Jim Parsons, Certified Asthma Educator, Registered Respiratory Therapist, and Certified Pulmonary Function Technologist at Pullman Regional Hospital. Jim, thanks for your time. So what is asthma?
Jim Parsons: Well asthma is pretty much a chronic condition that you have and it's with you. You can get it as a youth but sometimes adults will get it as well. It's pretty much defined as airway narrowing, swelling of the airways in there, excessive mucus production. You also get where the muscles around the airways can constrict, which also will impede flow getting air out of the lungs. Some of the symptoms that these cause, like shortness of breath, cough wheezes, chest tightness. Those are some of the things that people associate with asthma.
Host: Okay. So let me ask you this then. How do you determine if someone has asthma? You mentioned shortness of breath, cough, wheezing. I mean those could be symptoms of something else as well. So how do you determine that it is asthma?
Jim Parsons: Correct. And on that, the key thing is to talk with your doctor and if you haven't any of those symptoms to let them know that that you're experiencing these things. Looking at family history can also be a precursor to indicate, okay there's a possibility that you could have asthma. And the key thing is, what the doctor will probably order is a spirometry or a pulmonary function test on that to actually determine whether it is asthma that's causing these symptoms or some other disease, COPD, some of these other stuff that can mimic the symptoms there of asthma. And that way they'll be able to determine how severe your asthma is if you have that and then lead into appropriate care and treatment of that.
Host: Okay. So let's talk about treatment. So how is asthma in general treated?
Jim Parsons: So like I said, you get spirometry's important on that part there so that the doctor can actually see how severe it is. And what they'll do at that time is break it down and look at the severity. Lot of times they'll give a long acting steroid inhaled corticosteroid on that to take down the swelling and keep that there. And that's something that people will take daily on that part. And then, other medications that they'll look at is either long acting bronchodilator or as short as acting one is a rescue inhalers, another name for that. The doctor will also even look at, okay, setting up an action plan so that you're aware of your triggers and things that can cause asthma, so that at that time you can be proactive on treating your asthma, avoiding triggers, or taking in your medication before you get into those situations on that part.
Host: Right. So having a plan and understanding the triggers is really important. So if you're out somewhere and all of a sudden, uh oh, you know, I'm feeling this coming on and then someone does have an asthma exacerbation, you know what to do and you're prepared. That's really important for someone that suffers from asthma. Is that right?
Jim Parsons: Correct. And the key thing on that is if you can, and you know, you're going into those situations that a lot of times the doctor with that action plan will have you take your rescue inhaler prior to going into those events, whether it's exercise, whether it's you know, pollens or other stuff like that. And so that you're actually have that medication on board so you won't have quite a severe reaction and possibly none on that part.
Host: Right. And that's what you're hoping for.
Jim Parsons: Correct.
Host: So Jim, you were just talking about triggers such as exercise and pollen, what types of things can trigger an asthma exacerbation?
Jim Parsons: Yeah, and along that lines, common ones is pollens, dust, molds, dust, my pet dander, even infections if you have a respiratory infection can exacerbate your symptoms there. Even cold air, smoke, stress can even do that as well.
Host: So there's a variety of things that can trigger an asthma exacerbation.
Jim Parsons: Correct. And it's personal. I mean, it's depends on each person can have all of those, some of those. And they sometimes affect at different times, not always at the same time. So yeah, it's all kind of a personal way of looking at it. Each person's different.
Host: Right. So understand that you do have it and then have that action plan if you do have an asthma exacerbation and then really understand your triggers. Is that kind of what it boils down to?
Jim Parsons: Yeah. Yup, it does.
Host: Okay. Okay. Jim, do you have any other closing thoughts or information that you want people to know?
Jim Parsons: Well, I think the key thing is asthma, I mean we know a lot about it to some extent and that, but the medications that are coming out are, are getting better at addressing the specific needs of people. So keeping a regular contact with your doctor and that because your symptoms can improve or get worse. And so having that doctor in there, knowing those things and also know that asthma, you can control that and function pretty much the same as someone who doesn't have asthma. So what I try to tell people is don't let asthma control you. You control asthma. So, you know, when you're having an action plan, knowing the medications, and keep taking that medication unless the doctor changes it.
Host: Well, that's the perfect way to wrap this up. Make sure you have a plan and remember you control asthma. Don't let it control you. Jim, thank you so much for the information. We really appreciate it.
Jim Parsons: Well thank you.
Host: That's Jim Parsons, a Certified Asthma Educator at Pullman Regional Hospital. And to get hooked up with a provider or to learn more information, please visit PullmanRegional.org. That's PullmanRegional.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is The Health Podcast from Pullman Regional. I'm Bill Klaproth, thanks for listening.