Occupational asthma medical therapy

Overview

• According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), better education of workers, management, unions and medical professionals is the key to the prevention of OA. This will enable them to identify the risk factors and put in place preventive measures like masks or exposure limits, etc.
• Recovery is directly dependent on the duration and level of exposure to the causative agent. Depending on the severity of the case, the condition of the patient can improve dramatically during the first year after removal from exposure.
• Three basic types of procedures are used for treating the affected workers:

Medical and pharmacological treatment

• Anyone diagnosed with asthma will have to undergo medical treatment.
• This is complementary to either removing or reducing the patient’s exposure to the causal agents.
• Two types of medication can be used:

• Relievers or bronchodilators
Main article: Bronchodilator

Short-acting beta-agonists like salbutamol or terbutaline or long-acting beta-agonists like salmeterol and formoterol or anticholinergic, etc. dilate airways which relieve the symptoms thus reducing the severity of the reaction. Some patients also use it just before work to avoid a drop in the FEV¹.

• Preventers
Anti-inflammatory agents like corticosteroids, LKTRA or mast cell stabilizers can be used depending on the severity of the case.

Compensation issues

• When a person is diagnosed as having occupational asthma, it can result in serious socio-economic consequences not only for the workers but also for the employer and the healthcare system. The employee has to be taken off job immediately to prevent any further damage to his health. And, the probability of being re-employed is lower for those suffering from OA as compared to those suffering from normal asthma. The employer not only pays compensation to the employee, but will also have to spend a considerable amount of time and energy and funds for hiring and training new personnel.