Monthly Archives: October 2017

Asthma Treatments And Other Ways Of Managing Asthma

If you have asthma you need to know how to manage it for you to live a productive life and also avoid complications. To help you out, here are tips on how to manage the condition:

Take the medications regularly

Most asthmatics make the mistake of stopping taking their asthma treatments as soon as the symptoms go away, but this shouldn’t be you. Remember that when you stop taking a given medication, you expose yourself to the condition. To be on the safe side, you need to know the controller and rescue medications.

To protect yourself, take the controller medications daily. You should take the rescue medications when the symptoms come up.

Watch the weather

You need to know how your body responds to the various weather conditions. In most people, the situation is triggered when they spend time in cold, dry air. To protect yourself, wear a scarf over your mouth and nose when you are going out in the cold.

If you suffer from seasonal allergies and are affected by high pollen and mold count, avoid going out in the middle of the day or when there is a lot of wind.

Watch the air getting in the house

The most common asthma triggers that get in the house with the air are: smoke, pollen, and polluted air. To protect yourself, watch the quality of air that you allow into the house. One of the things you should do is to install an air conditioner. You also should make a habit of keeping your house windows closed all the time, especially when there are many triggers in the air.

If insects trigger your condition, consider installing a window screen that will prevent the bugs from getting into the house.

Disinfect your home

According to allergy experts, there is a direct link between hygiene and allergy-triggering agents. If you have pests in the house, it’s only a matter of time before you develop the condition. If there are cockroaches in the house, install cockroach traps. You also should consider hiring a pest control company to help you out.

To ensure that no pests get access to your home, seal any leaks and cracks that might be in your home. Also, avoid leaving drinks, dirty plates, and food on the table.

Conclusion

These are tips on how to effectively manage asthma. Whenever you notice the symptoms, visit an allergist who will undertake a number of tests and recommend the best medications to go for.

What You Need To Know About Food Allergy And Other Forms Of Allergy

Do you suffer from food allergy and other types of allergies? Here are a few things you should know about them:

Allergy stages

If you didn’t know, now you know that allergy goes through a series of stages that include:

Sensitization: This one comes about when you come into contact with allergens that you are sensitive to. Due to the contact, the plasma cells in the body produce immunoglobulin E (IgE).

Ready and waiting: If you are allergic to a particular allergen, this stage will come about almost immediately you come into contact with the allergen. During this stage, the body receives the allergen and prepares for it to come in again.

Inside the body, the IgE antibodies latch onto the cells of the immune system found in the skin, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, blood, and skin.

The battle: As you might have guessed, the battle happens when the IgE antibodies try to get rid of the allergens. The IgE antibodies bind to the allergen, and this signals the mast cells and basophils to respond to the allergen that has invaded the body.

Due to the signaling, the cells spew out over 30 chemicals, which include histamine. The effects of the chemicals include: itching, redness, inflammation, swelling, and many other allergy related symptoms.

Late phase: The late phase happens in people and often comes about between four and 24 hours after the third stage. During this stage, the cells of the immune system move to the tissues that might have been affected in stage three.

Mistakes to avoid when having allergic reactions

When you are suffering from allergy, you need to avoid making mistakes that expose you to more risks. Some of the mistakes that you need to avoid include:

Treating the condition without knowing the cause: Studies show that most of the people rush to the drug store and buy the medications when they are suffering from allergic reactions. While this might give you some relief, it isn’t good as it results in complications.

To be on the safe side, when you regularly have the attacks, visit your local allergy clinic and take the necessary tests and the doctors will recommend the best medications that you should take.

Conclusion

These are some of the things you need to know about drug allergies and other forms of allergies. To keep yourself safe, avoid the allergy triggers.

How To Survive The Holiday Season While Suffering From Food Allergy

As we are heading into the holiday season, the biggest worry with people suffering from food allergy is how they are going to survive the season. If you suffer from the condition you don’t have to worry as there are many strategies, you can use to ensure that you enjoy the season. Some of these strategies include:

Contact your host early enough

The main aim of any host is to organize a party that everyone will enjoy. To help the host do it while keeping yourself safe, you should contact him/her early enough. You should let the party organizer know about your condition and tell them the foods that you are comfortable taking. When you do this, you will help the host prepare food that will be appealing to everyone.

Carry your food

Another option that you can go with is to prepare your food at home and carry it to the party. You should do this if you don’t want to bother the host to cook different meals or you don’t have enough time to notify him/her about your condition.

After you have prepared your food, you should pack it safely and go with it to the party. It’s common for people to ask you why you are taking food that is different from yours. You shouldn’t shy away from explaining it to them.

You should note that it’s easy to develop the allergy at the party even if you are taking safe food. This often comes about when you take food in a plate that has the allergen. To avoid the condition, you should put the food in safe dishes. This calls for you to ask the host to give you plates that haven’t been used by other people.

Eat in advance

If you are attending a small party and you aren’t sure if there will be safe food there, you should arm yourself by eating in advance. Just like when eating different foods, people will ask questions. For example, they will want to know why you aren’t eating. Again, don’t shy away from explaining it to them.

Conclusion

These are some of the strategies that you can use to survive the holiday season safely even if you are suffering from food allergies. As mentioned above, it’s common for you to develop the allergies even if you are observing all the caution.

In addition to using the above strategies, also consider visiting an allergy clinic and take the necessary medications that will help you in the event you consume an allergen.

Allergy Doctor: Tips On How To Keep Allergies Away

If you suffer from seasonal allergies or any other types of allergies, you should avoid the situations that expose you to the allergens. To help you out, here are tips on how to keep the allergies away:

Keep the house clean

This is crucial when you are allergic to mold, pet dander, dust or any other materials. At least once a day you should vacuum the house and get rid of any dirty materials. You also should make a habit to regularly clean the shower curtains, bathroom windows, indoor trash cans, and damp walls.

If you suffer from mold allergies, you shouldn’t only get rid of it—you also should strive towards eliminating it. You can do this by mixing water and chlorine bleach and then use the mixture to clean the walls.

Stay away from the allergens

If you are allergic to allergens that you can stay away from, you should do it. For example, if you suffer from food allergies, you should avoid taking the food that you are allergic to. If you are allergic to pets, stay away from the pets. For example, if are allergic to cats, stay away from them.

Most people are allergic to pollen. If you are, you should make efforts of staying indoors thus reducing your contact with the allergen.

Increase airflow in the house

Adequate airflow in the house makes the house fresh-smelling. Allergy experts also report that by increasing airflow you prevent specific allergens such as mold from growing in the home thus your house is allergy free. While it’s wise to open the doors and windows thus allowing as much air in as possible, you should avoid doing it if you are allergic to pollen.

As you might have guessed, when you open the windows and doors, you allow a lot of pollen in the house thus you develop the condition.

See a doctor

Another highly effective way of keeping the allergies away is visiting an allergy doctor. This is a professional who is experienced in handling allergy cases. The professional will give you medication that will not only reduce the symptoms from showing up, but also prevent them from showing up in the future.

The professional will also undertake tests that will help you know the primary allergy causative factors so that you can stay away from them.

Conclusion

These are some of the tips that you should consider for you to avoid the allergy symptoms. To have an easy time, visit an allergy clinic where you will get professional guidance on how to handle the issue