About Asthma
If you have asthma, you are not alone
IF YOU HAVE ASTHMA,
YOU ARE NOT ALONE—
ABOUT 25 MILLION AMERICANS
SUFFER FROM THIS DISEASE
Normally, the airways of your lungs are open, allowing the air you breathe to move in and out easily. When you have asthma, exposure to inhaled irritants, or triggers, can cause the walls of your airways to become inflamed and the muscles around the airways to tighten up. This makes your airways narrower, leaving less room for air to flow.
Persistent VS Intermittent Asthma
Patients 12 years of age or older with intermittent asthma experience symptoms 2 days a week or less, wake up at night 2 times a month or less and experience no interference with normal activity
Persistent asthma in people 12 years of age or older is classified as mild, moderate or severe, depending on symptoms
PEOPLE WITH MILD PERSISTENT ASTHMA
experience symptoms more than 2 days a week but not daily, wake up at night 3 to 4 times a month, and have only minor limitation in their normal activity
PEOPLE WITH MODERATE PERSISTENT ASTHMA
experience symptoms every day, wake up at night more than once a week but not nightly, and have some limitation in their normal activity
PEOPLE WITH SEVERE PERSISTENT ASTHMA
experience symptoms throughout the day, often wake up at night 7 times a week and have extreme limitation in their normal activity
It is important to treat your asthma and have a plan that can help manage your condition.
Asthma symptoms
The most common symptoms of an asthma attack are:
COUGHING
TIGHTNESS OF THE CHEST
SHORTNESS OF BREATH
WHEEZING (a high-pitched, whistling sound)
Asthma control is about more than just treating sudden symptoms. It’s about managing your asthma daily so you have few or no asthma symptoms in the first place. Good control means being able to continue doing the things you like to do with fewer interruptions due to your asthma, fewer asthma symptoms during the day and night, and not having to rely on your rescue medicine/inhaler as much.
Asthma triggers
When managing asthma, it’s important for you to know and avoid the triggers that can cause your symptoms to come back.
Common triggers include the following:
INDOOR AND OUTDOOR ALLERGENS
- Dust mites
- Animal dander and saliva
- Mold
- Trees, grass, weeds, and pollen
CERTAIN MEDICAL CONDITIONS
- Respiratory infections (cold, flu, or sinus infections)
- Acid reflux disease
IRRITANTS
- Cigarette smoke (including exposure to secondhand smoke)
- Air pollution
- Chemicals at home and in the workplace
- Strong odors from perfumes, deodorants, cleaning products, hairspray, etc
SULFITES IN FOOD AND DRINKS
Not sure if your food or drink contains sulfites? Look for the following on food labels:
- Sulfur dioxide
- Potassium bisulfite
- Potassium metabisulfite
- Sodium bisulfite
- Sodium metabisulfite
- Sodium sulfite
CERTAIN MEDICINES
- Aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- Certain beta-blockers
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY/OTHER
- Intense exercise
- Feeling anxious
- Sudden or extreme temperature changes (hot and cold)
Is your asthma under control?
Asthma control is about more than just treating sudden symptoms. It’s about managing your asthma daily so you have few or no asthma symptoms in the first place. Good control means being able to continue doing the things you like to do with fewer interruptions due to your asthma, fewer asthma symptoms during the day and night, and not having to rely on your rescue medicine/inhaler as much.
Ask yourself:
- Do you experience asthma symptoms more than twice a week?
- Do your symptoms wake you up at night more than twice a month?
- Do you use your asthma “rescue” medicine/inhaler more than twice a week?
- Do your asthma symptoms limit your normal activities?
If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you may not be in control of your asthma, and it is important that you talk to your doctor to see if a medicine that helps control asthma symptoms, like SYMBICORT, may be right for you.
Remember: Medicines that help control the underlying causes of asthma should not be used as rescue medicines or to treat sudden asthma symptoms.
Asthma diagnosis
Your doctor will use a combination of your medical history, physical exam, and lung function tests to diagnose whether or not you have asthma.
MEDICAL HISTORY
This includes information about your symptoms, any family history of asthma or allergies, and related health conditions that may interfere with managing asthma, like a runny nose, sinus infections, reflux disease, stress, and sleep apnea.
PHYSICAL EXAM
Your doctor may physically examine you with a stethoscope to listen for abnormal breathing sounds like wheezing (a high-pitched whistling sound) and other signs of asthma. Remember—even if you don’t have these signs on the day your doctor examines you, you could still have asthma.
ASTHMA LUNG FUNCTION TESTS
Your doctor may recommend one or more tests to help determine if you have asthma. Spirometry is a lung function test that measures how much air you can breathe in and out. It also measures how fast you can blow out. You’ll start by taking a deep breath, and then blowing as hard as you can into a machine called a spirometer, which will record measurements like the amount of air you can breathe out, usually in 1 second (FEV1). If your airways are narrowed because of inflammation, or the muscles around your airways have tightened up, the results can show it.
A peak flow test is another way to measure air flowing out of your lungs. Measuring peak flow, using an instrument called a peak flow meter (PFM), can reveal an asthma attack before you feel symptoms.
OTHER TESTS
Your doctor may order allergy tests to find out what kinds of things trigger your asthma; tests to measure how sensitive your airways are to exercise; testing for other conditions like rhinitis, sinus disease, or obstructive sleep apnea that could make your symptoms worse; and maybe a chest x-ray or electrocardiogram (ECG) to see if other factors like a foreign object or heart disease could be causing your symptoms.
These tests, along with lung function tests, can help your doctor determine the severity of your asthma and guide further treatment.
Treatment options
There are many treatments available for asthma. Your doctor will decide what the best treatment option is for you based on the severity of your symptoms
Two types of medicines used to treat asthma are:
ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES
These are medications that help reduce the swelling in the airways and mucus production. They largely include corticosteroids.
INHALED CORTICOSTEROIDS (ICS) are used to reduce inflammation in the airways
ORAL CORTICOSTEROIDS AND CORTICOSTEROID INJECTIONS are systemic, which means they are delivered to your entire system, not just your lungs
BRONCHODILATORS
Bronchodilators help relax the muscles around your airways to open them up.
There are two forms of bronchodilators used for the treatment of asthma. Short-acting bronchodilators, like short-acting beta2-adrenergic agonists (SABAs), are prescribed as "rescue" treatment for quick relief of sudden symptoms. Depending the severity of your asthma, your doctor may also prescribe a long-acting bronchodilator, like long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonists (LABAs), as controller treatment to be taken along with an ICS every day to help control asthma symptoms.
SYMBICORT CONTAINS 2 OF THESE MEDICINES—AN ICS AND A LABA—THAT WORK TOGETHER TO HELP IMPROVE LUNG FUNCTION IN ASTHMA.*
SYMBICORT is delivered through an inhaler and can help you breathe better starting within 15 minutes.* SYMBICORT will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms.
LABA medicines, when used alone, can increase the risk of hospitalizations and death from asthma problems. When an ICS and LABA are used together, this risk is not significantly increased.
*Your results may vary.
LEARN ABOUT SYMBICORT, A TREATMENT OPTION FOR ASTHMA
SYMBICORT will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms
HOW IS ASTHMA DIFFERENT FROM COPD, EMPHYSEMA, OR CHRONIC BRONCHITIS?
Learn the difference, know the signs