Severe Asthma? A new treatment option

People with asthma have difficulty breathing because their air passages (bronchi and bronchioles) become narrowed or constricted. With asthma, every breath must travel through thinner tubes, making it hard to catch a breath or get enough air. As the air travels through the thinner passageways, it creates a high pitched wheezing sound, which most of us associate with asthma.

The narrowing and constriction is often associated with inflammation and irritations and can be caused by a variety of reasons including:

• Allergies to pollen, mold or pets
• Smoke
• Exercise
• Colds and flu
• Being born prematurely can also increase a person’s risk

Long standing asthma

For people who have had asthma for many years and have had to use medication regularly to breathe, the muscles that encircle their air passages may have also expanded causing a restricted airflow. Treating these muscle tissues with Bronchial Thermoplasty, which uses radio-frequency is how Interventional Radiologists are offering new hope for better breathing to people with long-standing and severe asthma. Dr. Ganesh Krishna, of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation explains this novel and exciting new development for people with severe asthma in this YouTube video.

Disclosure: I’m working with El Camino Hospital to provide health information to the community to help people live healthier lives.