Dr. Sheetu Singh has also empowered her knowledge in the field of Asthma. She has a vision to set vibrant standards in her field. She is well known  Asthma Specialist in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. She is successful in achieving renowned clientele base. Being Asthma specialist in she has an exclusive team of curing diseases.

What is asthma?

Asthma is a disease of the lungs in which airways become extra sensitive to certain environmental trigger factors which lead to airway narrowing and symptoms such as cough, difficulty in breathing and chest tightness. Wheezing is the classical symptom for asthma in which a musical sound is heard while breathing.

What Causes Asthma?

This disease is caused due to interplay of various environmental and genetic factors. A patient with family history of asthma and allergy has more chances of developing the disease, especially when exposed to trigger factors. The various environmental trigger factors are dust, pollens, cockroaches, wool, strong scents, pet animals, etc.

How to Diagnose Asthma?

Asthma can be diagnosed on the basic of history of episodic or seasonal cough, chest tightness and dyspnoea which is more on exposure to certain trigger factors. The symptoms are more in the night or early morning in particular months of the year. Family history of asthma and allergy is usually present. Spirometry is a simple and cheap test that can diagnose asthma. It requires the person to blow fast and hard in a tube. Chest X ray is essentially normal in asthmatics, but may be performed to rule out other diseases.

Should allergy test be performed in patients with asthma?

The disease of Asthma can not be cured. It can only be controlled with proper precautions and medicines. The tendency to develop symptoms on exposure to trigger factors remains in the body. Thus, it is essential to identify the trigger factors to be avoided. For all types of Allergy, there are only two types of tests. First is the skin prick test, which is simple and inexpensive. However it cannot be performed in patients who are taking anti-allergic medications such as cetrizine. These medicines need to be stopped at least 3-4 days before the test. Young children and adults more than 60years are also not ideal candidates for this test. In these conditions blood allergy test may be performed. The limitation of the blood allergy test is that they are less accurate than the skin prick test and more expensive.

What is the treatment of asthma?

The treatment of asthma comprises of two types of therapies. First is the reliever therapy which acts quickly in reducing symptoms. These include medications such as salbutamol or ipratropium. Second type of medicine is the controller medications which take some time to act but help in reducing inflammation in the airways which is responsible for the symptoms. These include budesonide, fluticasone and beclomethasone. These drugs are given in inhaled form such as dry powder inhaler (DPI)  or metered dose inhaler (MDI).

Other drugs in form of tablets are Montelukast and antiallergic combinations which are primarily used for asthma with symptoms of nose allergy called as allergic rhinitis.

Should I use inhaler?

There are a lot of myths surrounding the use of inhaler such as it is habit forming, it causes side effects and social stigma of taking the device. However, if the same medicine is given in the form of a tablet it would take a longer time to reach the lung as it first goes to the stomach, gets absorbed, cause damage to other parts of body and then reach the lung. Thus, the effect takes longer to come, a higher dose is needed and side effects are more. On the other hand inhaled medicines directly act on the site of the disease i.e. the lungs, lesser dose is required, quicker action and side effects are less.