Controlling, not curing, asthma
Medications and lifestyle changes help manage asthma, but they will not actually cure it, according to an expert at Baylor College of Medicine.
“You still have airway inflammation that needs to be treated,” said Dr. Nicola Hanania, associate professor of medicine at Baylor.
Asthma has a higher prevalence in the inner city population. Treatment incorporates anti-inflammatory medications and lifestyle changes.
Tips for controlling asthma
Hanania stresses controlling indoor allergens such as dust mites and mold, as well as controlling exposure to second-hand smoke.
Although asthma symptoms may not be as apparent when medication and lifestyle changes are incorporated, asthma is not actually cured. If medication or lifestyle changes are stopped, signs of poor control, such as exacerbations and an increased use of an inhaler, will appear and can lead to emergency room visits, hospitalizations and sometimes even death.
Hanania suggests proper education about asthma and having an action plan and knowing when to get help or when to go to the emergency room.
It is possible for adults to develop asthma even though it was not present previously.
See more information or make an appointment with a Baylor College of Medicine physician.
-By Dipali Pathak
I have a rare mold in my lungs called shizopyllum commune. This has been confirmed by not 1 but 2 cultures. They didn’t believe the first results. I am getting worse by the day and no one wants to even attempt to treat it. I waited 12 weeks for cultures and estimate this has been in my lungs for 4 to 6 months. I am only 57 and was reasonably healthy until a battle with Klebsiella Pneumonia which we are assuming all the life saving medications compromised my immune system. I have been waiting for to weeks for an infectious disease specialist to call and my pulmonologist seems to not be concerned about it growing in my lungs and the fact that I have started going downhill more rapidly in the last month. I am going to DIE if I don’t get help. Any suggestions?
Hi Mary, thanks for reading Momentum. Dr. Hanania’s contact information is hanania@bcm.edu or 713-798-2500. Best, -Nicole