Understanding Common Asthma Triggers

As per the Centres for Disease Control, more than twenty-five million Americans are dealing with asthma. Of these 25 million, 4.2 million are people aged less than 18 years. Understanding asthma triggers can be a great start to alleviating its impact on a person’s daily life.

Here are five common asthma triggers that you should know about.

 

Smoking

Smoking can act as an asthma trigger. If smoking is one of your asthma triggers, it’s better to quit. Someone who has asthma should also be cautious of secondhand smoke. An asthma patient should prevent sitting where people smoke, or if someone in their house smokes, they should be asked to smoke outside the building.

Medication and Food

Medication and food asthma triggers could be different for different people. If facing medication and food triggers, asthma patients should discuss these triggers with their doctor. Some common asthma triggers could be food allergens such as shellfish or peanuts or medications such as aspirin.

Pets

The proteins in your pets’ saliva, dander, or pee could act as an asthma trigger. Pet owners who struggle with asthma have certain options. They could find their pets a new home, or they could ensure things like regularly washing them, using air filters in the house, and buying irritant-proof covers and sheets.

 

Poor Air Quality

Pollutants in the air, especially in large urban centers, contain harmful dust and greenhouse gases that could act as asthma triggers. An asthma patient should therefore consider relocating to a place with cleaner air. If that’s not an option, they should avoid places with lots of pollution, such as roads during rush hours, or wear a mask outside.

Overwhelming Emotions

Someone who has trouble dealing with their emotions could start taking deep and quick breaths (hyperventilating) when overwhelmed, causing their airways to narrow and thus triggering an asthma attack. Therefore extra precautions should be taken by asthma patients in managing their emotions. Examples of emotional asthma triggers could be heavy laughing, crying, stress, or anger.

Managing asthma can be hard sometimes, especially for children. If you or someone from your loved ones is living with asthma, you may like to try our expert team of online doctors for asthma. At TelMDCare, not only do you get a consult with our virtual doctors, but also get online medication prescriptions and refills for your asthma. You might also like to try our other online doctor services.

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