There are ways to control asthma among seniors, in the same manner as is done with children. There is no need for senior adults to feel helpless everyday at the hands of this disease and its effects. But first and foremost, we have to identify the symptoms of asthma and determine a proper diagnosis.
We need to allow doctors prescribe medicines that will ease your discomfort.
Only a few symptoms of asthma like regularly recurring coughing episodes or wheezing and sometimes shortness of breath and chest tightness are witnessed in some senior citizens.
It is also often observed by sufferers that symptoms worsen after exercise or at night.
Asthma is often directly related to heredity. Therefore another indicator of the disease is the incidence of asthma or similar illnesses among family members. Onset of asthma cannot necessarily be attributed to smoking. But COPD may be associated with a history of smoking.
It is often much more difficult to treat senior asthma patients than juvenile patients suffering from the same disease because of the existence of other diseases or disabilities or due to the effects that ageing may have on the body. It may result in grave danger if interaction of asthma medications takes place with other medications for problems like depression or anxiety, tremors, glaucoma, arthritis, high blood pressure and especially heart disease. If the patient is suffering from dementia, retarded cognitive function or other mental disorders, he may find it difficult to properly manage metered-dosage inhalers as well as other such common medications for asthma.