Breathing Shouldn't Be The Hardest Thing You Do: Understanding And Treating Respiratory System Illnesses

There are three main illnesses which severely impact one's ability to breathe. Of these three, the least complicated to treat actually makes the other two much worse. To combat them all, you and your doctor need to treat them all. There are some medications that can help, as well as some lifestyle changes that make a big difference in the severity of symptoms. If you are a parent trying to help your child breathe easier and better, or if you are looking for more information for yourself, read on.

Cystic Fibrosis, Asthma, and Upper Respiratory Allergies

Cystic fibrosis is serious enough that you or your child might be on first-name basis with many of the emergency room staff. The thick, sticky mucous that floods the lungs is hard to remove, but a nebulizer with liquid medication breaks the mucous up and helps you breathe easier.  Asthma treatments are easier to control with inhalers and medication, but a person who suffers from both cystic fibrosis and asthma is in constant danger of suffocation and death. Since many patients with either cystic fibrosis or asthma have indoor and outdoor allergies as well, you can imagine how difficult it is to just catch a clean, full breath.

Choosing a Specialist

Fortunately for you and your children, asthma and allergy specialists commonly work out of the same office and receive very similar training. If a problem arises that one specialist is unsure how to answer, he or she can consult with the other allergy or asthma specialists in-house. There are also some allergy specialists who have a secondary degree in asthma, and vice versa. If you would like to see a doctor with both degrees, you can ask your family doctor for a referral to specialists who cover asthma and allergies.

As for cystic fibrosis, if you or your child has this disease, you probably see a pulmonologist for your condition and your flare-ups. A pulmonologist can address your asthma needs as well, but you would still have to consult and allergist like The Regional Allergy Asthma & Immunology Center, PC for your allergies.

Selecting the Correct Medication

Generally, your doctors will only prescribe medication in pill form for asthma and allergies if you are a teen or an adult. If you already have a nebulizer for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, it just makes more sense to receive all of your medications for these three respiratory illnesses via the nebulizer. New forms of medication for these issues are joining the market everyday, so talk to your doctors about which ones would work best for you and if they have any contraindications that would create more problems.