The first thing that a patient with asthma should remember is that any cold or SARS causes an exacerbation of the disease in the vast majority of cases. Especially in early spring. Most colds and subsequent exacerbations of asthma are observed in April-May. The second thing everyone should know about: all viral infections are transmitted only by airborne droplets! And to avoid infection in a modern city, you can only follow certain rules. They are quite simple: 1) try to avoid contact with people who carry respiratory infections. If someone comes to work sick, the whole team try to send him home to be treated. If he does not fulfill his obligation to be treated at home, explain that this is tantamount to causing deliberate harm to everyone; 2) if someone at home gets sick, try to isolate the sick person, put on a gauze mask when you are near him (this is easier than putting on masks for all healthy family members); be sure to ventilate and “ quartz ” the apartment with an ultraviolet lamp; 3) if “sniffing” children appeared in the class where your child is studying, “keep” him at home for a week – missed classes will more than pay off if he does not get sick, like everyone else; 4) teach him the rules of “flu safety” and follow them yourself: never allow others to cough in your face, do not allow a subject who does not cover his mouth and nose with a handkerchief to sneeze and cough in his direction. Move away from him or turn your back on him. And if this is not possible (for example, in public transport), cover your mouth and nose with a handkerchief yourself or unfold a newspaper in front of you. If possible, move or change seats – I assure you: standing on your feet is less harmful than a respiratory infection; 5) but, most importantly, do it discreetly and as delicately as possible. Do not enter into conflict with people who are coughing and sneezing and do not try to educate strangers. Unfortunately, many representatives of our society are not only uncultured, but also aggressive. Remember: your caution will be rewarded and you will not get sick! But what if, despite the precautions taken, no luck? Take immediate action to prevent a viral infection from causing a severe asthma flare-up.
Effects of smoking on asthma
Many astatics ask the question: how much does smoking harm asthma? And despite the explanations, they still continue to smoke. And in vain. After all, all smokers suffer from the so-called “smoker’s bronchitis” and, by coughing, contribute to the spread of a variety of microbial infections. According to some TB scientists, more than 50% of TB patients smoke. By coughing and coughing up sputum, they spread a dangerous infection around them, the incidence of which is again growing all over the world. And you, non-smokers, can “receive as a gift” an infection that is not sensitive to the most powerful anti-tuberculosis drugs. After all, no one is immune from the fact that a nearby smoking and coughing subject is no longer sick with tuberculosis and, while coughing, does not infect others!
Smoking is most dangerous for people with a hereditary predisposition to asthma. As a doctor who treats mainly only one disease – bronchial asthma and has seen more than one thousand patients, I declare with complete responsibility: “If you have direct relatives suffering from bronchial asthma, and you smoke at the same time, then with a probability of 90% you will get this disease “. The only thing I can’t say is WHEN this will happen. Therefore, hurry up to quit smoking, because the “tail” of the harm from smoking in previous years, as modern science has established, will follow you for another 5-10 years. This is because the likelihood of developing an even more serious disease – lung cancer, even in a former smoker is 10-100 times higher than in non-smokers. And asthma is not a hindrance to the development of lung cancer, especially in cases where hormonal drugs that suppress the immune system are prescribed for its treatment. It is necessary to end this bad habit for another reason. If you are already an asthmatic and an “experienced” smoker, then the progression of asthma and the formation of irreversible changes in the lungs (emphysema, pneumosclerosis) against this background are significantly accelerated. Moreover, smoking has an adverse effect on the effect of drugs taken: in many cases, their metabolism (decay) in the body is accelerated. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the doses of medications, which naturally leads to an increase in the frequency of adverse and allergic reactions. For example, the combination of smoking with taking the well-known drug aminophylline almost completely neutralizes its therapeutic effect. Therefore, lighting up once again, think about whether it is time to part with a cigarette forever.