Asthma clinic for children opened at Ludhiana Civil Hospital

Tribune News Service

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Ludhiana, May 5

To mark World Asthma Day, the department of paediatrics, Civil Hospital, inaugurated an asthma clinic for children.

Dr Rajinder Gulati, head of the paediatrics department, said 22 children visited the clinic for various respiratory problems. He added that most of them had symptoms of asthma. Dr Harpreet Singh and Dr Rashmi Bedi were also present on the occasion.

A workshop on the topic “Asthma in Children” was also organised for students of Nightingale College of Nursing, Narangwal Kalan, at the Civil Hospital. Dr Rajinder Gulati gave practical demonstration of the gadgets available for administering drugs by inhalation therapy. He said the major advantage of the therapy was that drugs were directly delivered into airways, producing higher local concentration with significantly less risk of systemic side effects.

He further added that inhaled medications were available as pressurised metered-dose inhalers (MDIs), breath-actuated MDIs, dry powdered inhalers (DPIs) and nebulised or wet “aerosols”.

“Almost all children can be taught about the inhalation therapy. Different age groups require different inhalers for effective therapy so the choice of a inhaler must be individual. In general, a metered-dose inhaler with spacer is preferable to the nebulised therapy because of effective lung deposition, lower risk of side effects and lower cost,” said Dr Gulati.

He stressed upon the fact that during acute asthma attacks, an MDI should always be used with spacer as in that situation a child may be unable to correctly coordinate inhalation with actuation of the MDI.

Natural remedies

Mustard: Mix warm mustard oil with camphor and apply it on chest to get relief from asthma. A teaspoon of brown mustard oil can be mixed with an equal quantity of sugar and consumed to improve the condition. Ground mustard (1/4 teaspoon) can be teamed with black pepper (1/4 teaspoon) or pipali (piper longum) along with some honey in warm water and consumed twice a day.

Honey: A teaspoon of honey can be mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder and consumed just before you go to the bed. You can also add it in warm water and sip it a couple of times in a day. Mix together ginger juice with honey in equal quantities (one tablespoon each) and consume twice a day.

Ginger: You can consume it raw, mix its juice with honey and consume it or boil it in water. Take a cup of water, add a tablespoon of fenugreek seeds and a teaspoon of ginger juice, bring to boil and consume twice a day.

Onions: These are enriched with anti-inflammatory properties that can help in relieving the inflamed airway. Consume onion with salad. You can also make a mixture of onion juice (1/4 cup), honey (one teaspoon) and ground pepper (a pinch) and consume it twice a day.