Steemit Learning Challenge-S21W4; Asthma
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It is always a joy for me whenever I have the opportunity to participate in the Steemit contest weekly and today I will be participating in the crypto academy community contest. Stay tune below.
What's Asthma? Write in your own words after getting knowledge from the lesson post.
When we talk about Asthma, it is a respiratory disease that is affecting a lot of people all around the world. The disease works in a way that it makes the lungs to be inflamed which now leads to difficulty in the breathing level of the particular person. Most of the time, someone suffering from asthma can be seen with either issue of coughing, shortness of breath and mostly caused by allergens, pollutants and dust.
What Causes Asthma?
I will like to talk about the causes of asthma because till today, nobody yet know the real cause of asthma because medical research makes me to understand that it is either caused by genetics or even some of the environmental factors. What do I mean by that? If you come from a family whereby they have a family history of asthma, it can lead to you having a higher tendency of suffering from Asthma.
Symptoms of Asthma
Talking about the symptoms of asthma, there are some signs that you can pay attention to make you understand whether you have asthma or not.
The first is it always have difficulty in breathing or you always have the breath shortness
It always leads to repeated coughing most especially happening in the night
Asthma Triggers
I will also like to talk about some of the basic Asthma Triggers that we have around below;
Allergens: This will be the first. This can range from either dust, mites or even mold.
Irritants: There are things caused by Irritants and that is like smoke, air pollution and many more.
Cold Air: Many of us might not know, weather changes can trigger Asthma.
Exercise: This might be surprising for many of us but that is just the truth. There are some physical activity that can trigger Asthma most especially when those physical activities are carried out in cold air.
Respiratory Infections: We have issues like flu, colds and many more can also trigger Asthma.
Treatment and Management
Even though currently now there is no cure for asthma, medical research have been able to come up with some treatment strategies to sustain and maintain them.
- Inhaler: This is the Frist. You can make use of medications something called the quick relief inhalers that can bring relief most especially during the asthma attack..
Medications: There are some drugs like the bronchodilators that are prescribed that can help improve the breathing level of the Asthmatic Patient.
Asthma Action Plan: In some cases where the Asthma conditions have grown much more advanced, it can lead to the doctor creating a more personalised plan.
Living with Asthma
Talking about the Living with Asthma. I believe it is high time our society comes to a point whereby we deal with the stigmatisation that is always given to the Asthmatic Patient because it is not helping. I believe if there can be more awareness created as that can help to give people more knowledge about how the disease works and how they can actually manage them.
How would you diagnose asthma? Any clinical investigation or assessment tests?
When it actually comes to diagnosing asthma, I will say there are some of the clinical investigation and tests I believe I can carry out which I will be listing below;
1. Medical History and Symptoms
The first clinical test I will carry out is the medical history and symptoms test and that is getting a detailed medical history.
I can ask for some symptoms patterns to help me get some light
I can also try to get the family history of asthma in that person patient.
I also try to notice out the triggers that is always provoking the symptoms in that patient body.
Then I tried to get whether there are any respiratory infections that the patient might be suffering from.
2. Physical Examination
I will make use that I carry out physical examination. This I can do either by listening to the lungs either with a stethoscope.
Then I make sure that I also try to point out some signs of the allergies that might be available.
3. Lung Function Tests (Pulmonary Function Tests)
I will recommend carrying out the Lung Function Tests and that can be used either with Spirometry as it is the most common type of lung function test.
I can also carry out the second test called the Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) test as it helps to measure how fast one can exhale air
Then I can also carry or recommend the Bronchoprovocation test to find the airway sensitivity.
I will also recommend another test which is allergy Testing.
5. Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) Test
Another Clinical Test I will recommend to be carried out is the Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide
This will help to know whether there is any airway inflammation.
6. Blood and Sputum Tests
I make sure I carried out the Blood And The Sputum tests also.
I make sure that The blood test can help me to detect whether there is inflammation
Try to practice at least 3 exercises that you have learned from the lesson. Share images, gifs or videos while practising.
Alright for the sake of this Lessons, these are the list of the exercises I will be participating below;
- Box breathing
- Pursed lip breathing exercise
- Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise
1. Box breathing
Video Below 👇
2. Pursed lip breathing exercise
Video Below 👇
3. Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise
Video Below 👇
Share your review after performing these exercises either on yourself, healthy individual or patient
1. Box breathing
When it comes to Box Breathing, I make sure that I inhale using my nose and to make it quite easy, I did a count of 4. It was actually a technique that help me to calm my nervous system and I also discovered that at the end of the day, it helps to reduce stress. It will really be a great technique for meditation. I actually enjoyed it I must confess. It also helps to regulate my breathing just to add to that and help me to clear my mind because it was looking like I was meditating.
2. Pursed lip breathing exercise
This particular exercise is what I enjoyed the most among all the three I carried out. I noticed something when carrying out this exercise and that is the fact that it helps to actually improve my oxygen exchange and helps me to breathe with ease. It helps to deal with shortness of breath.
3. Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise
When I was actually doing a research about this particular exercise, I discovered it can also be called the belly Breathing. I noticed that when carrying out this exercise, my diaphragm was fully engaged and it helps to improve my lung capacity at the end of the day which is of great benefit for my respiratory health.
Thank you for this lecture, looking forward to more interesting and benefiting lectures in the more weeks to come
I invite @lovelystar , @newekemini5 and @okere-blessing to drop a very constructive comments on this post and also to participate in this contest.
https://x.com/adenijiadeshin7/status/1859257906622828936?t=0r9aImuf6gNchDeNnYEdUQ&s=19
I did the exercises yesterday and I can tell you it's worth doing, anything to help out lungs from damaging we should be serious with it. Thanks for inviting me I participated already.
That is really a great thing to hear about
Thank you for understanding the lesson and sharing your assignment; I hope that you will enjoy this week's lesson and try to implement it in your life if you see any such case.
Observations
Task 1 (2.7/3)
You have shared a great knowledge about asthma, and it's causes, symptoms, but you can also add its types and component. I appreciate your effort.
Task 2 (2.8/3)
In the second question, you tell us about how you have to assess a patient by doing physical examination and history taking, performing the investigations of patients and specialized tests. You can also add the Spirometer that measures lung functions properly also work as an exercise to improve your lung function. Great.
Task 3 (2.8/4)
You try the pursed lip, diaphragmatic breathing and box breathing. But while performing breathing exercises you have to inhale air and then hold for 3 to 4 seconds, exhale out through mouth. Secondly in pursed lip breathing you have to make a whistle like position of mouth not to twist them inward. I hope you understand and improve it. Remember always take steam or nebulization before performing exercises to relax your muscles & dislodge sputum that can excrete out easily. I appreciate your efforts.
Overall you made a great attempt to answer all the questions. I appreciate your efforts. But next time try to avoid the above written suggestions. Keep learning and try to implement your knowledge to the people suffering from any asthma as winter is the trigger of most the people suffering from asthma. Thank you.
Thank you so much