Question

Case scenario

Ahmed is a 3-year-old child who presented to the emergency department with an acute asthma episode. He is currently having dyspnea, wheezing, palpitations and bouts of productive cough with whitish sputum. He has a history of four episodes of diarrhea related to eating food from outside. He also has abdominal pain and is clenching his fist, crying and closing his eyes tightly.

Ahmed’s mom says he is very adamant and behaves aggressively when he is said no to. She also says she dosent know to manage his bladder training as he is comfortable wearing diapers.

Q1: As a part of the discharge teaching you are conducting health promotion teaching on non pharmacological interventions to avoid another episode of asthma attack. Describe five interventions with the rationale to avoid another episode of asthma.    

Answer 1

1. Eat healthy diet

Eating fresh  and nutritious diet help to manage asthma as well as contribute to overall health. Food to add in diet are vitamin -D rich foods , beta -carotene rich vegetables and magnesium- rich foods

2. Maintain optimal humidity

Breathing in humid air activates nerves in lungs that narrow and tighten airways . So it is best to keep humidity between 30 %to 50 %.

3. Avoid physical activity

During physical activity breath more quickly through mouth , causing cold and dry air to travel to lungs and irritate the airways .The cold and dry air can cause muscles around the airway to tighten and thereby increasing the chance of asthma attack.

4. Avoidance of tobacco exposure

It is very toxic to the lungs because the airways are overly sensitive.

5. Clean house regularly

Dust mites , pet dander etc can trigger allergic reactions , decrease air quality and increase potential asthma problems .