Asthma Prevention & Treatment

Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition that causes coughing, wheezing and breathing difficulties because the airways become inflamed, which leads to constriction. The condition most often develops in children and is lifelong, although some people outgrow it. More than 22 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. There is no cure for asthma, but there are medicines and other therapies to treat and prevent asthma attacks.

Preventing Attacks

• As asthma attack happens when something in the body or the environment triggers the airways in the lungs to become inflamed and constricted. An attack can be caused by weather, allergens, environmental toxins, bacterial or viral infections, exercise or physical exertion.

  One of the best ways to treat asthma is to prevent the attacks from occurring in the first place. Once you discover what your triggers are--pollen, cat dander or cold and dry air, for example--it's best to avoid those situations. Asthma attacks caused by viral and bacterial infections are difficult to avoid, but practice good hygiene such as frequently and thoroughly washing your hands.

Acute Medications

• When you are having an asthma attack, you need to use a prescription medication to help ease the airway constriction and make breathing more easy. These medications, also called rescue drugs, are typically used only in the event of an attack, but sometimes they are prescribed to use before exercising in people with exercise-induced asthma. Use rescue drugs only when needed, and exactly as your doctor has prescribed.

  Commonly prescribed rescue drugs include inhaled bronchodilators, such as albuterol, that temporarily relax the airways; oral or intravenous corticosteroids, such as prednisone, that alleviate inflammation in the airways; and inhaled anticholinergics, such as Atrovent, that relax the airways.

Long-term Medications

• Long-term prescription medications, or maintenance drugs, are prescribed to help prevent attacks. They are typically prescribed to be taken every day or multiple times a day to prevent the airways from becoming constricted and causing an acute asthma attack. Take the medication are frequently as prescribed by your doctor, or it might not have the desired effect of preventing asthma attacks.

  The most common type of maintenance drug is a corticosteroid delivered via a inhaler or nebulizer. Commonly prescribed inhaled corticosteroids include Pulmicort, Aerobid, Flovent and Azmacort. Long-acting beta-2 antagonists such as Serevent and Foradil Aerolizer are sometimes prescribed to be taken along with inhaled corticosteroids. Other drugs that can be prescribed to prevent asthma attacks can be taken as pills. Leukotriene modifiers, such as Singulair and Accolate, work by opening airways and reducing inflammation. Theophylline is an oral bronchodilator that relaxes the muscles surrounding the airways so they do not become constricted.