American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [391]
Preventing Asthma Attacks
Avoiding the substances, situations, or conditions that trigger your asthma is your first line of defense. Here are some steps to take to minimize contact with common asthma triggers:
• Avoid exposure to smoke from cigarettes and cigars. Smoke in the environment at home or work can be a major trigger for asthma. People who have asthma, especially children, should live in smoke-free homes.
• Reduce the amount of dust in your home. Do not sweep (sweeping spreads dust around), and have someone who does not have asthma do the vacuuming. Eliminate rugs or carpets. Use washable window coverings, and wash them frequently. Dust and damp-mop your floors once a week.
• Don’t have a pet, especially one with fur or feathers. If you already have a pet, don’t allow it in the bedroom. Keep it outdoors if possible.
• Don’t use strong chemicals for cleaning; avoid insecticide sprays and perfumed air fresheners.
• Replace feather pillows and comforters with those filled with nonallergenic material. Enclose pillows, mattresses, and box springs in covers that will keep out dust mites.
• Prevent cockroach and other insect infestations. Wash dishes and remove food from drains before going to bed. Store food and garbage inside sealed containers. Don’t leave unwrapped food out on tables or counters. Wash your pet’s food and water dishes nightly. Clean litter boxes daily.
• Limit the time you spend outdoors on days when the pollen or mold count is high. Use an air conditioner and a clean-air machine to decrease your exposure to irritants in the air.
• In cold weather, wear a scarf around your mouth or an air-warming mask (available at pharmacies) to warm air before you breathe it in. Avoid exercising outdoors in cold weather.
• Vent your furnace to the outside. Avoid wood-burning fireplaces.
• Get a flu shot (see page 650) every year, and get a vaccination against pneumococcal pneumonia (see page 145) as often as your doctor recommends. Avoid contact with anyone who is sick with a cold or the flu.
Pneumothorax
Pneumothorax is partial or total collapse of a lung that occurs when air gets between the two layers of the pleura (the membrane that covers the lungs and lines the chest cavity). The pleura keeps your chest cavity airtight. When a lung collapses, air is squeezed out. The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide cannot occur because air cannot move into or out of the collapsed part of the lung. Usually, pneumothorax results from a congenital (present at birth) blister on the surface of the lung or from a blister that develops as a result of a disorder such as emphysema (see page 656). The blister ruptures and lets air seep between the pleural membranes. A small rupture usually is not noticeable and will heal on its own. But sometimes a large amount of air enters the space and causes a large portion of the lung to collapse.
In a potentially fatal condition called tension pneumothorax, air cannot escape from the pleural space and begins to accumulate there. The air squeezes the healthy lung and may squeeze the veins in the chest, preventing blood from returning to the heart. Pneumothorax occurs primarily in otherwise healthy young women for unknown reasons or in older men and women who have damaged lungs from disorders such as emphysema or asthma (see previous article). In people with these respiratory disorders, death from respiratory failure is possible; severe tension pneumothorax can be fatal in anyone.
Atelectasis: Lung Collapse as a Symptom of Other Disorders
In a type of lung collapse called atelectasis, a lung collapses because of an obstruction of the air passages of the lungs. The obstruction is usually a plug of dry mucus or vomit, an inhaled object, or