Steroids Blog

In the recently held World Asthma Day, Prof. Dr. Nadeem Rizvi, Pakistan Chest Society explained the main causes of asthma. He stated that asthma cases in urban areas are relatively higher due to the presence of pollution. Professor Rizvi also added that asthma symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough and wheezing should be properly addressed by doctors to avoid further complications. However, he mentioned that these signs are usually taken for granted by most doctors who just give antibiotics to the patients. He said that this procedure is wrong because physicians should examine the patients properly.

From The International News:

Asthma cannot be cured, but in majority of the cases it can be effectively controlled if we change our urban lifestyle, said Prof. Dr Nadeem Rizvi, Pakistan Chest Society Vice President and head of the chest medicine department at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

“Due to the misconception that asthma’s symptoms only include shortness of breath, most doctors tend to ignore other symptoms such as cough and wheezing, especially amongst children. For persistent coughs, patients are immediately prescribed antibiotics, which is wrong,” he said.

He said that inhaled steroids is the best available treatment for asthma patients to date but due to the taboo attached with using an inhaler in public, most patients avoid opting for this line of treatment. “Also, steroids taken through an inhaler have no side effects as against taken in the form of tablets. Inhalers work best as it directly prevents inflammation of the airways,” he said stressing.

According to Prof. Rizvi that inhaled steroids is still the best treatment for asthmatic people. The professor stated that steroids in asthma inhalers bear no side effects compared to oral forms. Lastly, he pointed out that people should disregard the misconceptions on inhaled steroids, so that the disease can be treated.