eff of old asthma on lungs

[mlkoo]

i have developed asthma in last on year or so.... earlier it used to be nominal i.e. an attack once a month or so but now it has worsened.. i m always ahving a continous breathing difficulty, though now controled with regular medication... i just want to know that as all of us know that its not cureable and one can live a free life till the time he regularly takes medicine... so does it effect the lungs if it lasts for long time... i.e. if asthma lasts for a long time, say 10 years or so, is it going to cause some other problems in lungs as well like cancer or anything????... ur response will be apreciated... tnx

[bsmsl]

Asthma is not curable, but it can be controlled.  The goal of asthma care is always control which means using a rescue inhaler no more than twice a week except for pretreatment needs (ie before exercise for excercise induced asthma or odor exposure if that is a trigger and the patient knows they are going to be exposed).

In most cases, there is no further development of problems if asthma is well controlled.  You can have flares, exacerbations, of asthma that will require a temporary increase of controller meds to get you back on track.  These typically ocur with colds or in high allergy seasons when allergies are not adequately treated.  

Asthma can also be down graded.  That means that it can become harder for a specific patient to control and require more controller meds to keep it controlled.

Consistent checks ups with your doctor to monitor where you are is essential to maintaining good control.  You may want to keep a diary of symptoms (the asthma tracker/with journal notes on medhelp is excellent for that).  It can be helpful to identify trends and seasons of increased symptoms.  

I hope that answers most of your questions.  If you have more, please feel free to ask them.  That is why we are here.

Feel better and "A cheerful heart is good medicine."

[meggyxin]

Just like doctors say, try to stay with your disease ( heart problem and asthma) happily. They can't be totally cured but could be controlled if you are careful enough. Keep warm, not too much stress, laugh often. :)

My asthma is normally ok but get aroused when taking beta blocker( for my arrhythmia), then I learn to control entire chain by the path: relax, more laugh, joyful heart, no stress, less arrhythmia attack, less medication of beta blocker, less asthma aroused.....

So far it works much better than taking all mixed medicine which have side effects to one another, that's horriable cycle. I won't say it a good idea to pretend you don't have asthma, but try to make your heart peace and joy is really the good treatment.

Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine.

Asthma and lung cancer is totally different cause. I don't know whether lung could be damage "gradually" for my experience it is as fatal as we can imagine.

[mlkoo]

thank u so much for ur kind comments.... act wat i want to know is that if i keep on taking medicine.. it is going to keep asthma under control but not cured??? so is this controlling medicine just enough??... i hope this controlled asthma will not lead to problems in future with my lungs!

[jbaurley]

i have had asthma since i was 12 and yes uncontrolled asthma can cause lung damage.  mine was controlled for years and now is not... u can live a full,normal life with it controlled.  

[bsmsl]

Untreated asthma CAN cause irreversible lung damage.  Emphasis on the word CAN.  It can but doesn't always cause lung damage.  As long as it is treated and you take care of youself, there will be no problems.  Asthma does not lead to cancer.  That is a whole different condition and unrelated.