From Kathleen MacNaughton, R.N.,
Your Guide to Asthma.
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About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by Sanja Jelic, MD
INTRODUCTION: The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) has set five goals for asthma treatment:
- Control your asthma
- Prevent asthma symptoms
- Decrease the number of asthma attacks
- Help you use quick-relief medicines less often
- Do normal activities without having symptoms
Your asthma treatment should be part of an overall asthma management plan that you develop with your asthma doctor. Your doctor is guided by current asthma treatment guidelines published by the US National Institutes of Health and / or the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA).
Learn More About Asthma Treatment Guidelines:
THREE APPROACHES TO ASTHMA TREATMENT:
There are 3 main approaches to asthma treatment:
- Asessement and monitoring
- Avoidance of asthma triggers
- Asthma medication therapy
Each of these areas is an important component of asthma management and control.
1. Assessing and Monitoring Your Asthma
To manage asthma effectively, you and your doctor need to monitor your health. This can be accomplished by:
- Tracking asthma signs and symptoms and asthma attacks
- Monitoring pulmonary function via a peak flow monitor
- Assessing how much asthma is interfering with daily life
- Tracking your response to medication
Help With Monitoring:
2. Avoiding Asthma Triggers:
Asthma is your body's response to something it perceives as a threat to your health. These "threatening" substances or events are known as asthma triggers.
A Tool for Tracking SymptomsHere is a tool you can use to track your asthma symptoms. You can also record and identify your asthma triggers, which are the things that set off asthma symptoms or asthma attacks.
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