Preventing Asthma

Asthma is an ailment that does not leave out the young ones in primary or secondary schools who are still under the care of their parents/guardians.

 

In order to prevent attack rather than spending money on treating one, I have highlighted some tips below based on personal experience, which when adhered to strictly can reduce attacks to the barest minimum:

Use carpet instead of rug: Rugs accumulate dust a lot and cleaning it is not as easy as cleaning a carpet. Additionally, when it is wet, the strong odour oozing out is enough to trigger or aggravate attack. 

Cloth Hanger and Shoe Rack: Ensure you remove unused clothes or shoes from the rack because the more they stay there the more they accumulate dust which could cause attack. In addition, you should try as much as possible to clean and dust the racks regularly.

Kitchen: When you have to fry food or when you are preparing soup with lots of pepper, an Asthmatic patient should cover his nose with a neat handkerchief to avoid inhaling the smoke.

Your electric gadgets i.e. television set, radio, DVD player etc act as host to dust, cleaning them often is a wise decision.

Avoid wearing strong perfume as this may trigger attack in some patients. If you cannot do without wearing a perfume, you may want to choose a mild one.

Move away from where a dusty floor is being swept.

Avoid eating certain foods which may cause or aggravate attack. This food may but are not limited to the following; beans, cassava flour (Garri), biscuit, coconut, boiled or roasted corn, yam, bread etc. It is advisable to soak some of them like garri or biscuit in water or beverage to soften them before eating.

Do not expose yourself to cold and make sure you put on sweater during cold season. Also, avoid very cold drinks.

Always have your inhaler with you in case of unexpected attack.

Exercise your body moderately; in fact, anaerobic exercise is advisable.

Stress at times could trigger attack, take things easy!

If you are a library attendant or maybe you keep piles of books, papers, magazines/ newspapers in your home or office, cover your nose with a neat handkerchief if you have to work on them. Better still, ask someone to help you dust them regularly.

Do you keep pets? If you do, ensure you keep them dust free. It is even advisable to do away with pets as some patients suffer attacks after playing with them.

Avoid use of rug in your room or living room because they accumulate dust a lot. Try using carpet or tiles, they are easy to clean.


You may consider using a white handkerchief to cover your nose when on dusty roads.

Make sure you change your bed sheet and pillow case regularly.

Related to the above is your door and window blind. Ensure you change them regularly.

Your shoe rack and cloth hanger are some of the places dust settles. Ensure proper cleaning as soon as you notice dust on them.