Drinking coffee, warm tea helps reduce asthma symptoms?

I have heard that drinking warm coffee and tea during an asthma attack can help relieve symptoms, as caffeine can help open airways and warm liquids can help relax throat muscles. this point it? Bui Chau Anh (Hanoi)

Answer:

Asthma is one of the most common chronic non-communicable respiratory diseases today and has a significant impact on patients’ quality of life. Asthma affects both adults and children. If not diagnosed and treated properly, effectively controlled, the disease can cause many dangerous complications. An asthma attack can be a serious medical emergency.

During an asthma attack, people with asthma are often encouraged to use medications, inhalers, and sprays to relieve symptoms. Coffee is not recommended to treat asthma even though it contains caffeine, a central nervous system stimulant and weak bronchodilator. Caffeine is chemically similar to theophylline, an older medication used to treat asthma. However, it is not a replacement for approved treatments, such as inhalers. Caffeine, if taken in excess, has a high potential for side effects, which can include increased heart rate, headaches, trouble sleeping, nervousness and agitation, that outweigh the benefits.

Drinking coffee or tea during an asthma attack will not relieve symptoms immediately and can even be life-threatening. Depending on the cause of your asthma, coffee or tea can make it worse. Laryngeal reflux can irritate the lungs and throat and cause wheezing, coughing, and mucus production that accompanies asthma. If laryngopharyngeal reflux is to blame for your asthma, the caffeine and acids in coffee and tea will make your symptoms worse.

Patients with asthma often experience symptoms such as severe shortness of breath or wheezing, unable to speak whole sentences, only words or short phrases due to difficulty breathing, the respiratory muscles need to work hard to breathe. , very rapid breathing, chest pain, feeling anxious, panicking, pale, sweaty face, blue or purple lips or fingernails, condition that does not improve after using a bronchodilator inhaler quick use… immediate medical help is needed as these are signs and symptoms of a dangerous asthma attack.

Doctor Than Thi Ngoc Lan
Department of Respiratory Internal Medicine, Tam Anh General Hospital, Hanoi