The Definition of Chronic Asthma

Asthma is a disease of the lungs where the there is widespread inflammation or saddening narrowing of the bronchial tubes.

Asthma currently can be divided into 4 types according to the National Institute of Health. The 4 types are mild intermittent, mild persistent, moderate persistent and severe persistent. Asthma sufferers that fall into the severe persistent range category have chronic asthma.

So let's talk about the peak flow rate. For mild intermittent and mild persistent asthma, their peak flow rate is more than 80 percent of normal. Moderate persistent is between 60 to 80 percent. Chronic asthma has a peak flow rate of below 60 percent. Chronic asthma is a severe form of asthma.

The symptoms for this type of asthma also differ from the other three categories. Unlike people who fall into the first three categories, people that suffer from this type of asthma have daily recurrent symptoms of asthma which is characterized by breathlessness, sudden tightness of the chest and wheezing sounds. Sometimes wheezing sounds cannot be heard at all if the bronchial tubes have been almost sealed completely and air can't even pass through the lungs.

Many people that suffer from this type of asthma have been hospitalized before with the required assistance of a respirator. Whereby people suffering from mild and moderate asthma can reverse their symptoms on inhaled medications alone, asthmatics requires the need of preventive medication like oral corticosteroid courses.

Even the inhaler that severe asthmatics use is different. Asthma sufferer sometimes requires the need of nebulizers. A nebulizer is a device that is used to rapidly deliver aerosol medication containing beta adrenergic agonist. Unlike a metered dose inhaler (MDI), a nebulizer does not require good inhaling techniques and all it requires is normal breathing. A nebulizer also delivers a greater quantity of medication compared to a MDI. However, a nebulizer is more expensive than a MDI.

The treatment strategy for chronic asthma differs from age to age. The purpose of a treatment strategy so that the sufferer can lead a normal lifestyle and make the lungs function properly. Most physicians will usually take a step by step approach to treat severe asthma.

First step is to always to control the symptoms and to stabilize the lungs. This will often require a high dosage of inhaled corticosteroids and long acting beta agonist. After the patient condition has stabilized, the next step will to be slowly reduced the dosage of the medication used so as to reduce the side effects of the medication.