Thursday, July 15, 2010

Efficacy of portable nebulizer supplies as effective home medical equipment in managing asthma

Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition that can cause potentially fatal episodes of wheezing and difficult breathing. These episodes are caused by inflammation, constriction, and swelling of the airways in the lungs, which in turn obstructs proper airflow through the lungs. According to certain online statistics, almost 22 million people across USA suffer from Asthma, of with majority are either children or adults in their early youth. These statistics only reiterate the need for effective management of asthma. However, there is no definitive cure for asthma; the treatment primarily involves providing relief from the symptoms followed by avoidance of triggers. We will discuss the efficacy and importance of nebulizers and supplies as effective home medical equipment in managing and treating asthma in various population groups.
Asthma nebulizer supplies, also called as nebs or breathing machines, have revolutionized asthma treatment. First, let us get the basics right. Nebulizer is a device that converts liquid medication into a fine mist. Now, how does the nebulizer help an asthmatic? Though the asthma medication can be delivered orally or intravenously, they take time to show effect and can have many side effects. However, with the help of the nebulizer, the patient can directly inhale the medication into the lungs and get faster and more effective relief from the symptoms. Thus, a home nebulizer along with quality nebulizer supplies is almost essential for optimal management of asthma.
However, many argue about the handiness of an asthma inhaler as compared to the inhaler. An asthma inhaler is a handheld device, which delivers the medication directly into the lungs. An inhaler is a much more discreet and portable device as compared to nebulizer. A nebulizer requires several supplies like air compressor, nebulizer cup, mouthpiece, and compressor tubing to function. However, all that an inhaler requires is a medication canister and an optional metered dose inhaler (MDI) unit. Just looking at this, one might agree that inhalers are surely a better option. But, one must realize that taking in the medication involves several steps, viz. coordinating your inhalation with the press of the inhaler unit, holding your breath for few seconds, and exhaling. This process, though sounds simple, can be very difficult to follow by a small child or an adult during asthma attack; thus reducing the efficacy of an inhaler. On the other hand, a portable nebulizer is an easy-to-use device. Using a proper sized mask, the patient can just breathe in the medication through both mouth and nose without worrying about coordinating inhalations and exhalations. Though traditional nebulizer units are bulky, the new age portable nebulizer units are more compact and battery operated, thus enabling effective treatment on the go.
So the final verdict: Though there are equally good options available in form of inhalers and MDIs, nebulizers are more cost effective and easier to use especially when treating infants and young children. Moreover, unlike inhalers, you can administer more than one medication simultaneously using a nebulizer. Thus, with more than 6 million cases of pediatric asthma being reported annually, nebulizer units are one of the most important and effective home medical equipment in managing asthma.

2 comments:

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  2. This is a great article. I’ve read in many other places before that but
    I did not get this type of effective and more useful text. It is really important now to
    vary your anchors as this seems more natural to user.
    This article helped me a lot to understand information.

    ReplyDelete