Asthma - not a contagious disease

Photo: STAR

Unfortunate but true, some people in our society believe that Asthma is a contagious disease! They usually prevents the little children of the family to come in contact with the elderly family members (e.g. grandpa, grandma, etc.) having Asthma for fear that the former might get infected by the latter as Asthma being a contagious disease, of course according to their assessment. In fact, Asthma is neither a contagious (infectious) nor a communicable (transmitted by the patient to healthy person either by direct or by indirect contact) disease. Asthma is actually a disorder of the respiratory air-passage. Many people around the world suffer from Asthma. The actual cause of Asthma is yet to be identified but several factors which include allergies, hereditary connection, environmental elements, etc., are responsible for triggering asthma. For instance, the present changing of weather in our country is triggering asthma in the patients.
Asthma can be triggered by anything ranging from dust, pollen, cigarette smoke, dry air, strenuous exercise to sensitive immune system. The major symptoms of Asthma include shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, headache, mood swings, etc. To keep Asthma under control, the patient needs to learn to recognise the triggers of his/her asthma and what intervention(s) provides him/her relief and comfort. There are many allopathic and herbal treatments available to prevent and control Asthma. A medical practitioner can prescribe an appropriate treatment plan with necessary drugs plus use of inhaler or nebulizer.