Bronchial Asthma One of my high school English teachers, his wife had a history of asthma but had not had an attack for many years. However, one day when my wife got off work and climbed up the sixth floor, she suddenly had chest tightness and shortness of breath, which became more and more serious, and even had a feeling of severe tightness. It was definitely impossible to climb downstairs to go to the hospital. Fortunately, there was an expired inhaler at home. I took a few breaths quickly, relaxed my mind, and gradually eased. After that, the teacher decisively sold the old house and bought an elevator room. He used to be a drinker, but he has since stopped drinking. He said that if his wife fell ill, he would use a car.
Many people think that asthma is a small problem, but that’s because they haven’t seen its power. In acute asthma attacks, there is a risk of life-threatening respiratory failure. After the outbreak of the Shanghai epidemic, two asthma patients were reported in the news who were not treated in time for acute attacks. Among celebrities, “Flying Man” Ke Shouliang and “Queen of Songs” Teresa Teng both died of bronchial asthma. Asthma has frequent and sudden attacks, which are unpredictable, and can even sing one second, but can’t speak the next second. Therefore, emergency treatment is very important.
The most important cause of bronchial asthma is the allergic constitution of the human body. Allergic constitution and allergy-inducing factors contribute to the appearance of allergic symptoms in the human body. Some people with allergies, after exposure to allergens, the eosinophils and mast cells in the blood vessels in the lungs will suddenly react violently, releasing substances that can cause bronchoconstriction, and suddenly tighten the bronchi at all levels in the entire lung. Even spasm, at the same time, the release of a large number of inflammatory mediators can induce edema of the respiratory mucosa, airway obstruction, and respiratory resistance significantly increased. Air is not easy to inhale, nor easy to breathe out through the airway, resulting in insufficient oxygen. At this time, the lack of oxygen will stimulate the body to pant desperately to supplement the oxygen supply, causing asthma.
How can I help myself during an asthma attack if I am alone at home?
1. Get rid of allergens, such as some smells you have inhaled, or what you have come into contact with. At this time, try to get away from the environment of allergens as soon as possible.
2. Hurry up and find a place to sit, keep a semi-recumbent or sitting position, calm down your mind and emotions, and don’t be nervous. The more nervous you are, the harder it will be to breathe. Breathe as deeply and evenly as possible, and don’t try to drink water to relieve breathing difficulties.
3. Take out the first aid medicine, the commonly used medicine is salbutamol aerosol, spray 1-2 sprays when inhaling deeply, it can relieve symptoms. Call for help when symptoms subside. If there is a nebulizer and nebulizer at home, emergency nebulization can be used, especially nebulized budesonide is the best. If there are no nebulizers and nebulized drugs, oral glucocorticoids can be temporarily administered. If there is an oxygen inhalation device at home, quickly inhale oxygen to relieve hypoxia.
Because salbutamol aerosols should not be used more than eight times a day, cardiac events may occur, and an overdose may even cause cardiac arrest. Therefore, at present, for acute asthma attacks, it is not recommended to use short-acting salbutamol alone and repeatedly. Instead, it is recommended to add inhaled hormones and long-acting beta agonists, such as Symbicort and Seretide.