New Treatment for Asthma Attacks

New Treatment for Asthma Attacks. New Potential Treatment for Asthma Attacks Doctors using Helium to help patients breathe easier.

A team of doctors of Sunrise Children's Hospital in Las Vegas, Nev., recently developed rescue treatment for asthma attacks by mixing helium and oxygen.According to the American Lung Association, asthma affects an estimated 6.8 million children under the age of 18 and 23 million adults.Asthma takes place when the bronchial airways become over-reactive and produce an excessive amount of mucus, swelling and muscle contraction, which cause obstruction of the airway, tightness in the chest, coughing and wheezing.

Asthma attacks block the air flow and the mixture of helium and oxygen, called Heliox, is administered in the emergency room and creates a smooth pathway for the air to travel to the constricted lungs."That helium layers out and allows the oxygen and the CO2 to get in and out of the airways in a much more efficient manner," said James Swift, M.D., a pediatric intensive care physician at Sunrise Children's Hospital.Patients are put on helium for a few days to make their breathing return to normal.Although asthma rarely leads to death, severe attacks can kill and troubled breathing can stress the heart.