Exercise and weight control provide benefits for asthma treatment
Asthma is treated with drugs. However, exercise, a healthy diet and sufficient sleep can also treat asthma and reduce its symptoms.
Asthma is treated with drugs. However, exercise, a healthy diet and sufficient sleep can also treat asthma and reduce its symptoms.
Regular exercise increases fitness, and this applies to everyone. Asthmatics who increase their level of fitness will also reduce their sensitivity to the exertion that makes the airways constrict and this will reduce the symptoms of asthma. Forms of exercise that involve breathing control, such as yoga, help to reduce the symptoms of many asthmatics.
Weight management and asthma management go hand in hand. Fatty tissue produces several kinds of inflammation transmitters, which may worsen the symptoms of the disease. Weight loss reduces the need for an overweight asthmatic to take medication.
Special diets are of no use to asthmatics. However, foods which trigger allergy symptoms should be avoided on an individual basis. Alcohol worsens symptoms for some asthmatics. Asthmatics are generally able to drink alcohol in moderation.
Waking and coughing at night and tiredness in the morning are signs that asthma treatment is not balanced and medication should be increased.
There is no need for asthmatics to live in sterile surroundings, but it is a good idea to keep moveable objects in drawers and behind closed doors, to choose materials that are easy to keep clean and dust free, and to clean regularly.
Expert advice provided by Terttu Harju, Specialist in Pulmonary Diseases.
