Asthma Symptoms and Causes
Discuss about the Case Study of Jessica.
The case study in the slide talks about the medical condition of a five-year-old girl Jessica. After going through the process of diagnosis, Jessica is reported to be suffering from asthma condition. Apart from that, the writing is going to outline on how the two drugs, Salbutamol and Prednisolone, work in the body of Jessica to fight asthma. In this paper, it is going to outline how the two drugs, Salbutamol and Prednisolone, can help Jessica in the treatment and management of asthma. Pharmacology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study of how drugs function in one’s body (Bisgaard, 2013). Every medication that people take have effects, and even some results may be harmful due to excessive consumption. Pharmacology focuses on how to improve the life of the individual by discovering new drugs that fight diseases.
Asthma is a respiratory disorder that attacks the paths followed by air to and from the lungs. Asthma disease causes inflammation and swelling of air paths. When these airways swell, the trails become narrower, and little air can get their way to the lungs. The air paths become highly allergic and sensitive. In the case of Jessica, the disease might have been caused by exposure to some respiratory defects, inhalation of airborne and cold infection (“National Asthma Education, Prevention Program,” 2013). Asthma attack has severe defects to children of age five like Jessica. It causes interference to the routine activities such as sleep, school, and playing. Jessica will always become bored and inactive in class. The following are the signs Jessica is going to experience due to asthma attack.
Breath shortness at all times. Frequently feeling of pain in the chest. When breathing out, Jessica produces a whistling sound at all times. Jessica also thinks that his or her chest is tight and congest (“National Asthma Education, Prevention Program,” 2013). There is frequent coughing in Jessica, which is uncontrollable. Jessica develops the complication and cannot play with others the because of the shortness of breath. The constant coughing makes the Jessica lack enough sleep. There is the worse respiratory infection in the body of Jessica.
The causes of asthma vary, but in the case of Jessica, the most vital thing that may cause asthma in her is the drug lifestyle of her parents (Wallace, 2013). When Jessica’s father was smoking, she was exposed to the tobacco smoke, frequently breathes in the smoke, and those results in the asthma attack. However, there are some other common causes, which may also influence the case such as: Exposure to some environmental factors such as air pollution, inheriting some traits from the parents (Burks et al., 2013). Changes in the weather conditions or just exposure to cold air lead to the asthma attack and attack by airborne diseases at a very tender age.
How Salbutamol Works in the Body
The signs and symptoms of asthma are many but the main one is the breathing problems. This is the most common symptom in an asthma patient which is the same case in Jessica. That’s why the medication below are very important because they help solve this issue.
Salbutamol is a drug that falls under the category of bronchodilators medicine. It belongs to B2-adrenergic agonists. Salbutamol is used in the treatment of chronic bronchitis, asthma together with many other breathing problems When this drug is inhaled, it prevents the occurrence of asthma in the body that comes because of the exercise. There is a specific way in which this drug operates in the human body (Burks et al2013). The drug gets into the air paths located in the lungs and stretches the muscles found in the walls of these airways. When stating earlier on the effects of asthma, it makes the air paths narrower thus preventing maximum passage of air. The salbutamol drugs try to correct this defect by relaxing the tight muscles in the walls of the airways.
The drug always comes in an isotonic solution form, and the doctor is the one who recommends the best dose to Jessica. Then Jessica should not start taking the drug without consulting the doctor. There are ways to apply this medication. Each form of salbutamol drug is used for the specific age group (Wallace et al., 2013). Another thing that depends on the dosage is how severe the pain is. For instance, the aerosol inhaler is a type of a dose used to counter one, and two inhalations usually referred to as puffs. The aerosol inhaler is mostly recommended for patients of twelve years of age and above. On the other hand, in the case of Jessica, she is a child and can take one puff of the drug. The doctor making the diagnosis may recommend more winds depending on how severe the asthma disease has reached on the body of Jessica.
Every day may also defer according to the age of the patients. As the children of fours and above consume four puffs a day like in this case of Jessica, the adults of twelve years and above may take up to eight whiffs in a day. The inhaler is also recommended before going for an exercise. The individuals who have asthma usually develop difficulty in breathing when taking part in the activity. Jessica should bring one puff as the adult can take up to two winds to prevent shortening of breath. The other type of salbutamol drug is the nebulizer solution. It always comes in the milligram (Breuer et al., 2015). The adults of twelve years consume 3.0mg to 6.0mg, four times a day while in this situation of Jessica; she should consume only 3.0mg in a day.
Different Forms and Dosage of Salbutamol
On the other hand, there is another type of dose to control the signs and symptoms of asthma. It is taken through inhalation. Jessica may inhale one puff as the adults survive with four winds. Some factors determine the type of medication the patient undertakes. These factors include medical conditions, body weight among other factors. According to these factors, it is good for Jessica to seek the doctor’s advice before taking any dose. However, there are some other common side effects when taking this drug (Lambrecht and Hammad, 2015). These side effects include faster heartbeat, dizziness, headache, nervousness, fatigue, nausea, weakness, coughing, irritated throat, and restlessness.
Other health conditions may complicate one’s body when he or she is taking the drug. For instance, if Jessica is suffering from diabetes. Taking salbutamol leads to increase in sugar in the blood. It is vital that the parents discuss her condition with the doctor before taking any drug. Secondly, if Jessica is having heart problems may have some difficulty while consuming this drug. The drug may lead to some health problems if Jessica was suffering from high blood pressure among other heart diseases (Wallace et al., 2013). The other precautions that Jessica should check while taking these drugs is when she is allergic to various ingredients of medicine should not make the drug. Jessica’s parents should guide her while consuming the drug.
How does the drug work? The work of this medication is to expand the lungs of the patient who in this case is Jessica. When the lungs are extended, the breathing problems cannot be a problem again (Chung et al., (2013). It is one of the best medication ever since it simple but works in an extraordinary manner.
Prednisolone refers to the oral steroid that helps in curbing the movement of essential substances from the body that leads to inflammation. This steroid is used in controlling many defects including ulcerative colitis, arthritis, and psoriasis among other disorders. The drug also deals with the allergic diseases and any other complications that may affect lungs, skin or blood cells of Jessica. In many occasions, the medication is recommended when the signs and symptoms of asthma persist in the body of Jessica. Unlike salbutamol drug, which is mainly inhalant, prednisolone, is oral (Akinbami et al., 2012). When this drug is consumed in the mouth, it is directed to the blood cells. The inhalants usually go to the lungs while this steroid move into the bloodstream. Other drugs accompany prednisolone in the fight of severe signs caused by asthma.
Precautions and Side Effects of Salbutamol
The amount of drug that Jessica should takes depends on how severe the asthma is with her. For instance, at the beginning of the dose, Jessica may consume high amount to reduce effects of the disorder on the body (Stringer, 2017). However, as the time goes, she should reduce the amount of steroid. When considering the drug, Jessica should stick to the instruction the doctor prescribes (Oshikawa et al., 2001). The doctor always provides Jessica with a syringe to measure the amount of drug every time she consumes. Every medicine has the side effects. There are some changes that Jessica will always observe the body while taking this drug (National and Prevention, 2007). The results include a feeling headache, weakness on the muscles, feeling dizzy and swelling of the ankles or hands. The swelling of hands comes because of the retention of fluid in those parts.
However, there are some effects that when Jessica observes in the body, she need to seek the advice of the doctor. The results include changes in the way she thinks, the occurrence of wounds in her body that do not heal quickly, feeling pain in the upper part of the stomach, running out of breath and the last issue is the abnormal weight gain. In addition to that, some situations may not cop up with the drug. For instance, the homemade medicines, the medicine bought over the counter and vitamins (Breuer et al., 2015). When consumption of the above things happens, Jessica’s parents should inform the doctor to ensure that any complications are dealt with at the correct time. There are other cautions that Jessica should take into account before making medicine (Burney et al., 2016). The first thing is that Jessica should not be allergic to the drug. Secondly, in the case Jessica was suffering from a fungal infection, the defects should heal entirely before taking this drug. Lastly, Jessica’s guidance should inform the doctor any disease she might have been suffering from to enable correct prescription.
The above asthma medication is only best when they are not misused; however, there are several situations where Jessica may be tempted to misuse the drugs. Misuse can be through overdosing or under dosing. The case of abuse is typical in the younger ages like Jessica, and there are ways to detect when she has misused the drug. For instance, when the parent observes worsening signs in Jessica’s body, it is evident that there is the misuse of the drugs. When Jessica takes the drugs such as salbutamol more than twenty times in a day, the situation gives room for the attack by other diseases. The lungs are the ones attack mostly; they can even fail due to more expansion (Kaiser et al., 2016). Another side effect of misuse of asthma drugs possible in Jessica is the going through the inhalers quickly than the usual circumstance. The last sign is that Jessica may be requesting her parents to buy more asthma drugs than usual. Parents need to be keen and monitor Jessica during the process of medication. Besides that, awareness is essential to the parents, teachers, and Jessica on how to deal with asthma medication (Giovannini-Chami et al., 2015). When she consumes more drugs, the reason may be that she is unaware of possible complications that come because of the misuse. Teachers, on the other hand, should teach Jessica about the dangers associated with sharing these drugs. Prevention is better than cure that is the reason why education is inevitable.
How Prednisolone Works in the Body
It is given orally as explained above. It is an anti-inflammatory medication. It means after taking it, it get absorbed directly to the body unlike other kinds of medications (Fahya et al., 2015). This makes Jessica body resistant to other conditions that affect her making her experience asthma problem (Castro et al., 2015). Other medications go directly to the lungs which is not the best way, this is away better.
In conclusion, there are various ways that Jessica’s parents can use to prevent her from the exposure to many other complications related to asthma. The first step is that parents should not allow Jessica to spend on the smoking zone. The exposure to the smoke leads to the asthma attack. Apparently, that is what may have caused asthma in Jessica’s case. It is good that she has gone to stay with the grandmother. The second way is to maintain going to checkups. Even when your child is attacked, the situation of asthma changes with time and Jessica need to visit the doctor frequently. Educate her to maintain physical exercise that will help in keeping the condition of the respiratory system. Lastly, other environmental factors may make Jessica contact other disorders.
References
National Asthma Education, Prevention Program (National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute). Second Expert Panel on the Management of Asthma. (2013). Expert panel report 2: Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. DIANE Publishing.
Wallace, L. A., Mitchell, H., T O’Connor, G., Neas, L., Lippmann, M., Kattan, M., … & Walter, M. (2013). Particle concentrations in inner-city homes of children with asthma: the effect of smoking, cooking, and outdoor pollution. Environmental health perspectives, 111(9), 1265.
Breuer, O., Shoseyov, D., Kerem, E. and Brooks, R., 2015. Implementation of a Policy Change: Replacement of Nebulizers by Spacers for the Treatment of Asthma in Children. The Israel Medical Association journal: IMAJ, 17(7), pp.421-424.
National, A. E., & Prevention, P. (2007). Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR-3): Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma-Summary Report 2007. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology, 120(5 Suppl), S94.
Akinbami, L. J., Bailey, C. M., Johnson, C. A., King, M. E., Liu, X., Moorman, J. E., & Zahran, H. S. (2012). Trends in asthma prevalence, health care use, and mortality in the United States, 2001-2010.
Giovannini-Chami, L., Albertini, M., Scheinmann, P. and de Blic, J., (2015). New insights into the treatment of severe asthma in children. Paediatric respiratory reviews, 16(3), pp.167-173.
Burney, U. K., Chinn, S., Luczynska, C., Jarvis, D., Neukirch, F., Pin, I., & Allwright, S. (2016). Variations in the prevalence of respiratory symptoms, selfreported asthma attacks, and use of asthma medication in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). European respiratory journal, 9, 687-695.
Kaiser, S.V., Huynh, T., Bacharier, L.B., Parkin, P., Rosenthal, J., Bakel, L. and Cabana, M.D., (2016). B51 PEDIATRIC ASTHMA: EVALUATION AND TREATMENT: Preventing Severe Exacerbations In Preschool Children With Recurrent Wheeze: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 193, p.1.
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Lambrecht, B. N., & Hammad, H. (2015). The immunology of asthma. Nature immunology, 16(1), 45.
Castro, M., Zangrilli, J., Wechsler, M. E., Bateman, E. D., Brusselle, G. G., Bardin, P., … & Korn, S. (2015). Reslizumab for inadequately controlled asthma with elevated blood eosinophil counts: results from two multicentre, parallel, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trials. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 3(5), 355-366.
Bisgaard, H. (2013). Effect of long?acting β2 agonists on exacerbation rates of asthma in children. Pediatric pulmonology, 36(5), 391-398.
Oshikawa, K., Kuroiwa, K., Tago, K., Iwahana, H., Yanagisawa, K. E. N., Ohno, S., … & Sugiyama, Y. (2001). Elevated soluble ST2 protein levels in sera of patients with asthma with an acute exacerbation. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 164(2), 277-281. Fahya, J. V., Kimb, K. W., Liub, J., & Bousheya, H. A. (2015). Prominent neutrophilic inflammation in sputum from subjects with asthma exacerbation. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 95(4), 843-852.
Stringer, J.L., 2017. Basic Concepts in Pharmacology: What You Need to Know for Each Drug Class. McGraw Hill Professional.
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