If you or your child is an asthma patient who makes frequent trips to the doctor’s office or emergency room for out-of-control symptoms, then do some Internet researching so that you can understand what classification of asthma you have, and you can know what medications you should be on to keep your asthma in control.
Deaths from asthma, and they still happen, can often be prevented by the use of peak-flow meters which are very inexpensive. Every asthma patient should have one on hand– it’s a lifesaver, and the only way a serious asthmatic can know exactly how much trouble he’s in, and get emergency care if needed, before it’s too late.
Asthma patients are particularly sensitive to errors caused by medication mix-ups.
“To improve asthma disease management, the National Asthma Education Panel (NAEP) Expert Panel, published Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma. Although the NAEP guidelines were published 7 years ago [when this study was done], compliance with the guidelines was low. It was especially poor for use of preventive medication and routine peak-flow measurement.”1
Studies, Footnotes and Resources:
- Legorreta, Antonio P., Jennifer Christian-Herman, Richard D. O’Connor, Malik M. Hasan, Reaburn Evans, and Kwan-Moon Leung. “Compliance with National Asthma Management Guidelines and Specialty Care.” Archives of Internal Medicine 158 (1998): 457-464.