Asthma patients suffer from breathing disorders. Gasping for air, panting and sweating are few of the common symptoms of a person suffering from an asthma attack. One of the best but an appalling remedy for all the patients suffering from asthma flare-ups that are very sudden and spontaneous in nature is implementing miniscule electrical stimulus under the neck.
Renowned researchers from five institutions in USA have concluded that electrical stimulus is a safe option. It plays a significant role of unblocking the air passage that has been obstructed that causes lack of oxygen to reach the lungs. It is a great medication that can be used during severe asthma attacks and even when medicine fail to show wonders. According to the American Lung Association, approximately 23million Americans are suffering from this deadly disease.
The scientific study that was conducted by eminent researchers from five different esteemed US institutions had four alert and receptive adults between the ages of 26 years and 58 years that suffered from asthma. These patients had been brought to a hospital in the emergency room while suffering from mild to severe asthma attacks that failed to improve despite using inhalers and effective anti-inflammatory medication (steroids).
The treatment was considered a disappointment if the patient was successful in attaining a maximum score of 70% or less in the lung function test that calculated the amount of air that could be easily forced out of the patient’s lungs after inhaling a deep breath. This activity is generally referred as force expiratory volume, or FEV. FEV1 is the amount of air that is let out by the patient in the first second.
Electrical Stimulation Procedure
The electrical promptness during a severe attack or when medicines fail to work is a modest and an omnipresent technique that is carried out while the patient is conscious and awake. The neck area is the place where the electrical stimulus is given hence anesthesia is applied to the same. The doctor would proceed by plugging an electrode under the skin of the neck and thus the surrounding tissue including the carotid artery and vagus nerve are encompassed as well. The display of live ultrasound graphics would facilitate the placement further.
The subjects of this particular research received placid and incessant electrical stimuli for a span of three hours that ranged from 1-12 volts. The enhanced voltage resulted in easing the symptoms or it even resulted in facilitating muscle contracting and a sense of discomfort.
The researchers meticulously measured the breathing patterns before the electrical stimulus was given every half an hour during the implementation of the electrical remedy and also after the entire method was implemented.
After half an hour of injecting electrical stimulus for severe asthma flare-ups the subjects were able easily propel more air out of the lungs and the FEV1 score increased for half an hour after the electrical remedy.
The team of researchers state that electrical stimulus is an easy and medicine free method that helps in gushing out more air from the lungs after a deep breath. It is a non-air-flow pattern that has great results. It is effective in opening the obstructed airways in a quick manner. The findings of this research will be announced in San Diego in CHEST 2009 at American College of Chest Physicians.
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