Patient Letter Asthma Adults

                    

Dear Sir, Madam,

Your general practitioner has registered you at Cello due to your asthma symptoms.
In this letter you will find information about the supervision that Cello can give you together with your general practitioner.

We aim to inform you as well as possible about this new situation. With the help of our supervision and treatment, you will be given the opportunity to directly improve your health.
You may suffer from symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing or continuous coughing. These symptoms are related to increased responsiveness of the airways and are caused by narrowing of the air passages.

In patients with asthma the airways show hypersensitivity to specific allergens such as house dust mite, animals, trees, pollen, grass or fungus. Also non-specific stimuli such as heat and cold transitions, steam, fog, smoke, air pollution, baking or paint fumes, perfume or physical exercise can cause asthmatic symptoms. Furthermore, infections such as a cold or the flu can cause the muscles of the airways to contract resulting in an inflammatory reaction of the mucous glands. This leads to narrowing of the air passages.

After an interview (anamnesis), physical inspection, lung function test and an allergy test (in the case of hypersensitivity to specific allergens), your specific asthma profile can be determined. Based on these tests you will receive specific advice on preventing asthma attacks by avoiding provocative factors. If you smoke, you will be offered a ‘Stop smoking programme’, because smoking causes a faster reduction of the lung capacity.

Aditionally, by using medication you can reduce the symptoms. There are several inhaler drugs. Airway expanders, either ‘quick relief’ or ‘long-term control’, already have an effect within half an hour of inhaling and temporarily expand the lungs, as it were. Anti-inflammatory drugs control the inflammatory process in the airways. This causes a reduction in swelling and mucous production.
Our programme consist of regular check-ups where medication is evaluated and adjusted when necessary. In the beginning this will be every 2-4 weeks. Depending on the effect of the medication the frequency of consultations will be reduced to once every few months. You will be explained how the medication should be used and when you need it.

You can contact the practice nurses at Cello to make an introduction appointment. If you have any questions after reading this letter, please indicate this during the next contact. We will be pleased to help you further. As a preparation for the first and subsequent appointments, you can find a lot of information on asthma on our website: www.leidenhuisarts.nl

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