Taking Control Of Asbestosis

Most effective way to manage a chronic condition like that dsease.We know that there is no cure for asbestosis,best we can do as parents and health care professionals is to t by preventing airway inflammation and minimizing triggers set off a flare. Asbestosis is described as a chronic condition or illness, it means ongoing, month to month, year to year. This doesn't mean that symptoms stay at a steady level of frequency or intensity. A key standing any chronic disease is recognizing that it changes over ironic illnesses—for example, asthma, diabetes, inflammatory sease, cystic fibrosisbehave like seesaws. There are ups and good times when symptoms are quiet or even nonexistent, and les when they become aggressive. uneven course often confuses parents and children alike it's difficult to understand and accept asthma's changes. Some-our child may have many frequent symptoms that require a lot of (maybe more than you feel comfortable giving your child). At nes when you observe no symptoms, it may seem that your Dds no medicine at all. How will you know if your child's asthma is under the best control possible? Or when it's fairly well controlled but not as much as it could be? Making these assessments isn't easy or clear-cut. There's no red warning light that's either on or off. No alarm bells will ring to let you know that control is slipping. But you don't have to grope in the dark either. There are guidelines for determining the degree of asthma con-trol, even as the disease takes its typical waxing and waning course. A panel of asthma experts at the National Institutes of Health reviewed all the research available about asthma and used this informa-tion to set standards for asthma care. The panel developed guidelines to inform health care providers about diagnosing asthma, deciding how severe it is, treating it, and educating patients and families about asbestosis. In fact, these national guidelines spell out exactly how to tell whether or not asthma is under control. Much of this chapter is based on those national guidelines. Ask about these NIH guidelines the next time you go for a medical visit. It is important to work closely with health care professionals to etermine whether or not your child's asthma is under control. If it is not, why? What needs to be done? You and your child's physician or nurse practitioner should discuss and come to an agreement about how to work toward achieving control; or if your child's asthma is already under control, then how to maintain it.

WHAT DOES "UNDER CONTROL" MEAN?
Three basic considerations help to determine how well controlled your child's asthma is at any time during the course of the disease. If your child's asthma is under control, he or she should:
Not be bothered day or night by symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, or chest tightness. But remember, even when a child does not show symptoms, it doesn't mean the asthma has disappeared. A child can't always feel when his breathing tubes are inflamed. You can't see it in your child, but some degree of airway inflammation is always there.Be able to take part in all normal activities, such as lugging hefty bookbags, going up and down stairs, taking gym class, and playing sports. If your child gets tired or can't keep up with other youngsters his own age, something is wrong and his asthma is not under control. Certainly some children just don't like sports or have little talent for them, but all young people need regular exercise to be healthy, grow, and develop normally. When children stay away from physical activities, it may seem that they just aren't interested, but this can be a mistaken interpretation. Younger children especially may appear disinterested, but they simply can't (or won't) tell you that they aren't feeling up to par. Once these children get proper asthma treatment, they are able to enjoy playing. A result of bringing their asbestosis under control is that they become more physically active.Be able to get a good night's sleep. If children wake up because they're bothered by symptoms or need to take medicine in the mid-dle of the night, their asthma is not under control as much as it could be. If symptoms disturb them at night, they will not be well rested the next day and will either miss school completely or be less attentive in class. Uncontrolled asthma may not only cause children to miss a lot of school, but it can also affect your work schedule. If you are waking up at night to give medicine or check on your child's breath-ing, you may be late or absent from work the next day.
HOW TO TAKE CONTROL?
When most people think about controlling a disease, the first thing that comes to mind is medicine. The next two chapters will discuss the full range of asthma medicines and how to use them. But for our purposes here, in discussing how to keep asthma under control, keep these few facts in mind: • Asthma medicines fall into two categories: long-term controller medicines and quick-relief medicines. Most, but not all, controller medicines treat airway inflammation.