AsthmApp

Peak Expiratory flow (PEF) measurements are simply a measurement of how quickly one can blow air out of the lungs using a simple flow meter. These hand-held flow meters measure air breathed out in litres per minute (l/min) with the measured value displayed on the side of the PEF meter. Expectations of how much air you can blow using the meter varies based on age, height and gender . Peak expiratory flow measurements can sometimes be used to diagnose quickly if someone is having an asthma attack. If you are not breathing in air well into the lungs, there is no way you will be able to breathe a big volume of air out into the meter. Imagine your usual PEF reading is around the 500 mark. Recording, say a 300 reading, when the asthmatic patient is feeling unwell is a sure sign that the asthma condition could be flaring up and the airways are getting narrow. The user may need to ask for help at this time. Apart from helping to determine if an asthma attack is taking place, PEF readings

Depending on where you look, there are said to be two or three major types of asthma inhalers.  Some health professional insist there are two types…and even those that agree that there are two main types disagree on the categorisation! Some say that the two types of inhalers are – Preventer inhalers and Emergency inhalers.  Others say the two main types of inhalers are: Metered dose  inhalers (MDIs) and Dry powder inhalers. And yet, some other health professionals suggest that there are three types (or classes) of inhalers – preventer inhalers, emergency inhalers and combination inhalers! All in all, it’s safe to say, there are so many types of inhalers available to treat your asthma condition and you should check out what your doctors have prescribed and ask questions if you don’t understand why you have been prescribed the particular type of inhalers you have. We tried our best to see if we could summarise the types of inhalers and eventually decided to go with these definition

An asthma attack happens when the asthmatic person has bouts of wheezing, coughing, daytime fatigue, sleeplessness or shortness of breath.                                                © EAACI on Twitter: The state of asthma epidemiology Sometimes, this asthma bout passes with the use of an 'emergency' inhaler, and one is not sure if it was a 'full blown; asthma attack or not. Whether it is recognised as an asthma attack or simply an asthma incident, it is recommended that one makes a note of exactly what happens, situation preceding the happening, and how long it occurred for, for further review by health professionals.   Is it easy to recognise an incident happening? Obviously for many people, they recognise when they are getting breathless or feeling faint. And when such happens, it is easier to ask for or get help. The worrying thing is, for many asthmatics, it is difficult to determine how bad the situation is and when the trigger point is reached when they have t

 Your pulse is the rate at which your heart beats per minute, that is, a count of how many times your heart beats in a minute (Beats/min or BPM).   Your pulse varies depending on what you are doing at the moment. As an example, if you are lying down resting or sleeping, your heart rate would be lower than when you are running or exercising. Knowing your normal pulse is important because it is a reflection of how well your heart is functioning. The heart being a central organ for the whole body, circulates oxygen and nutrient-rich blood throughout the body, and if it is not working properly, just about everything in the body is affected. How normal is your pulse? Everyone’s pulse is different and even for each person, as mentioned above, the pulse could vary depending on what you are doing at that particular instance. It is good to keep a track on how your pulse varies. A useful tool for this is  AsthmApp  which allows you record and store your heart rate, breathing rate, blood oxyg