Medical Help Desk

  Bronchial asthma (or asthma) is a lung disease. Your airways get narrow and swollen and are blocked by excess mucus. Medications can treat these symptoms. What is asthma? Asthma, also called bronchial asthma, is a disease that affects your lungs. It’s a chronic (ongoing) condition, meaning it doesn’t go away and needs ongoing medical management. Asthma affects more than 25 million people in the U.S. currently. This total includes more than 5 million children. Asthma can be life-threatening if you don’t get treatment. What is an asthma attack? When you breathe normally, muscles around your airways are relaxed, letting air move easily and quietly. During an asthma attack, three things can happen: Bronchospasm:  The muscles around the airways constrict (tighten). When they tighten, it makes your airways narrow. Air cannot flow freely through constricted airways. Inflammation:  The lining of your airways becomes swollen. Swollen airways don’t let as much air in or out of yo...

  A well-working immune system prevents germs from entering your body and kills them or limits their harm if they get in. To keep your immune system healthy, get plenty or sleep, stay active, eat healthy foods, manage your weight, reduce your stress and follow other healthful habits. What is the immune system? Your immune system is a large network of organs, white blood cells, proteins (antibodies) and chemicals. This system works together to protect you from foreign invaders (bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi) that cause infection, illness and disease. Your immune system works hard to keep you healthy. Its job is to keep germs out of your body, destroy them or limit the extent of their harm if they get in. When your immune system is working properly:  When your immune system is working properly, it can tell which cells are yours and which substances are foreign to your body. It activates, mobilizes, attacks and kills foreign invader germs that can cause you harm. Your i...

  Ear infections (acute otitis media) occur when a virus or bacteria infects the space behind your child’s eardrum. Symptoms include ear pain that may cause your infant or toddler to be especially fussy or irritable. Often, ear infections clear on their own. Sometimes, children need antibiotics, pain-relieving medications or ear tubes. An ear infection, also called acute otitis media, is a sudden infection in your middle ear. The middle ear is the air-filled space between your eardrum and inner ear. It houses the delicate bones that transmit sound vibrations from your eardrum to your inner ear so you can hear. Eustachian tubes are canals that connect your middle ear to the back of your throat. They regulate air pressure in your ear and prevent fluid from accumulating in your middle ear space. If a eustachian tube doesn’t function well, fluid has a hard time draining from your middle ear space and can cause muffled hearing. Ear infections (from viruses...

  Allergies are your body’s reaction to normally harmless substances. Allergy symptoms range from mild to life-threatening. Treatments include antihistamines, decongestants, nasal steroids, asthma medicines and immunotherapy. What are allergies? Allergies are your body’s reaction to a foreign protein. Usually, these proteins (allergens) are harmless. However, if you have an allergy to a particular protein, your body’s defense system (immune system) overreacts to its presence in your body. What is an allergic reaction? An allergic reaction is the way your body responds to an allergen. If you have allergies, the first time you encounter a specific allergen, your body responds by creating immunoglobulin E (IgE). Your immune system makes antibodies to form IgE. IgE antibodies bind to mast cells (allergy cells) that live in your skin, respiratory tract (airways) and the mucus membrane in the hollow organs that connect to each other from your mouth to your anus (gastrointestinal or GI tr...