Management of Asthma Disease - Essay Example

What information in the case study suggests that her asthma is not well controlled? Her medical report has suggestions showing that her asthma is not being controlled well;

• She has been overusing her Albuterol inhaler-at least 3 to 4 days per week in the last two months and once daily over the past week
• Some of the troublesome symptoms like coughing especially at night have been persistent
• She has been hospitalized for the same problem due to poor control of asthma
• Good lung function has not been maintained
• Normal activities are not maintained leading to shortness of breath even when exercising

What factors could possibly lead to this?

There are many factors that can trigger an asthma attack or worsen it. Some of them include;

• Being exposed to air pollution or pollens for example dust, animal fur and many more
• Several health conditions may affect the management of asthma for example; sleep apnea, stress (physiological), sinus infections and so on
• Irritations from substances like cigarette smoke (even second-hand smoking), sprays
• Physical exercise

All the above are triggers in general (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2014). It is important to note that most pregnant women experience shortness of breath especially when the foetus grows and presses the diaphragm. Also from her report, it seems the symptoms worsen when she exercises and it seems due to her positive HCG results. 

How would you classify the symptoms based upon the National Institute of Health guidelines?

According to the guidelines provided in the National Institute of Health, her symptoms categorize her asthma as Not Well-Controlled; with Moderate-persistent Asthma (Schatz, 2008).

With the recognition that she is pregnant, how would you alter her treatment for asthma?

Recent studies have indicated that though one needs to have minimum chemicals in the body from drugs during pregnancy, it is important for a mother to take asthma treatment especially to save the baby’s life. Preeclampsia is common in pregnant women who are asthmatic, therefore the medication is of more benefit to the child(Schatz, 2008). From the report above, it is clear to see that the mother does not take her medication as required hence the worsening of symptoms.

The medication that she has been using is enough at the moment therefore, I would not change the medication but rather emphasize on her following the prescription instructions and give education to her on how to manage asthma during the pregnancy. The two categories usually involved in treatment involve inhaled corticosteroids and quick-relief medications, which she is already using (Batchelder, et al. 2011). Also, it would be important to do follow up checkups to monitor her lung function to ensure that enough blood is supplied to the foetus (Indi Joo & Kau, 2012).