Asthma Overview
This disease generally starts at early age. Around 50 per cent of children get rid of asthma up to adult stage in case of correct treatment. This disorder occurs due to hypersensitivity to stimuli. Asthma may be connected with genetic predisposition or environmental factors (including allergic factors or frequent respiratory infections).
Episode of asthma may be caused by:
- Allergens: animal hair, dust, alimentary products, mites, pollen, spores;
- Viral and bacterial infections: bronchitis, cold, flue, sinusitis;
- Environmental stimuli: exhaust gas, sprays, scents, tobacco;
- Medicinal products, such as acetylsalicylic acid and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents especially if taking into account that this asthma variant may be very severe and episodes occur very fats;
- Stresses, anxiety, fear;
- Intensive physical activity especially in a cold room.
Asthma Symptoms
Although asthma is a rather widely-spread disorder, its symptoms may be diverse in different people. Most patients experience the first symptoms at an early age: around half of patients at the age of ten years and around one third – up to forty years. Nevertheless, asthma may occur in any person, regardless of his or her age.
Asthma has different severity degrees and aggravations frequency. Its symptoms may have different manifestations, such as labored breathing, hissing respiration, cough, respiratory distress, chest tightness, or choking spell.
Cough that is usually accompanied by hissing respiration or labored breathing is a worrying sign and a reason to consult a doctor immediately. In case a diagnosis has already been made, but a patient feels necessity to use the inhaler more often than was prescribed, it is recommended to consult a specialist beforehand.
In case symptoms escalate or do not disappear within 24-48 hours, immediate medical attendance and further hospitalization are required. If a patient has a choking spell, stammer, he or she are to phone for an ambulance.
Doctor’s Help
Here is the list of doctor’s necessary actions:
- Conduct examination and select a therapy: bronchodilators in the form of aerosols or inhalers and prescribe steroids in the form of inhalers for peroral usage, if required.
- Prescribe therapy with antibiotics of accompanying infection;
- Instruct a patient of how to apply the remedies (various types of inhalers and aerosols) in order to obtain the best result.
Asthma Prophylaxis
It is important to know for sure which factors may provoke asthma attack and avoid these factors if possible. Keep your house or apartment clean and get rid of all allergens, such as dust, animal hair, mites, etc. Avoid cigarette smoke, exhaust gas, etc. Give up smoking if you smoke. Take the prescribed medications in order to reduce the frequency of attacks. Go in for sport in order to improve heart and lungs functioning.
Are Climatic Changes Dangerous for Asthma?
According to experts’ forecasts, in 2030-2050 around 250 thousand people will die because of climatic changes annually. The list of factors influencing population health includes precipitations, air temperature alteration, natural disasters and infectious diseases. According to the World Health Organization, people suffering from asthma, respiratory pathologies and cardio-vascular diseases will have a grueling time due to elevation of atmospheric temperature. This process will lead to growth of pollen and contaminants (including ozone) concentration. It is noteworthy that temperature on the planet has elevated by 0,85 degrees Celsius for the last 130 years. Moreover, the rate of global warming has reached 0,18 degrees Celsius for the last 25 years per a decade.
Asthma Connection with Climatic Changes
Coalition of medical organizations has started campaign appealing to politicians and society to recognize danger of climatic change for public health care. It was announced that climatic change took impact on asthma affection as well. Coalition of medical experts draws people’s attention to the fact that such impacts are perceived first of all by children, elderly people and people with low income or chronic diseases. As of today, climate aggravates health condition due to various ways leading to asthma and other respiratory disorders. There is an enhanced distribution of disorders transmitted by insects. Seven of ten Americans consider that climatic change occurs because of Yale program of climate reversal. Although, more than a half of them hold by an opinion that climatic change is harmful not only for public health, but also for other spheres. And according to specialists, doctors are able to play important role in this matter.
Scientific and public health care and medical literature have a widely-spread opinion that actions directed on climatic change are one of the greatest possibilities of public health care of our age. Children fall into the number of the most vulnerable to the consequences of climatic change. It is partially connected with the fact that frequency of child’s breathing is higher than the one of adults; therefore, they are sensitive to bad quality of air. Increased risks of infectious diseases and extreme weather may be even more destructive when it happens during critical years of development. According to the World Health Organization, 80 per cent of climate alteration impacts influence the health of children at the age of five years.
Asthma heads the list of health problems due to climate in many communities where this disorder gained high rates, for instance, in Cleveland (where every fifth Afro-American appears to have asthma).
Family physicians, birth attendants, and allergy specialists are the best source of information on how to keep safe of climate influence. Specialists concerned about the issue of climatic change struggle and air pollution consider that it is important to redouble efforts of searching for comprehensive solutions in order to eliminate the imbalance in asthma issues. Two main restrictions of research study lie in the fact the not all states may be included to work due to difference in data capture. There are also some distinctions in visitation of emergency care and hospitalization which could be connected with the way patients seek medical advice for asthma therapy.
Asthma, Global Warming and Fungus
New research study discovered that influence of one widely-spread fungus may increase cells damage (oxidative stress) in respiratory passage. This process weakens their protection system which normally removes organisms causing infection and allergy (mucociliary clearance). Alternaria alternate is fungus which produces spores in dry and warm weather in the end of summer and beginning of autumn. Preceding research studies have shown that it produces three times more spores when the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are high. The impact of fungal spores on respiratory channel may cause allergic symptoms and asthma in some people.
Medical experts from Canada and America took cells from epithelium of human respiratory organs and exposed them to impact of fungus. Researches have analyzed these cells in order to determine fungal influence on permeability and barrier function of epithelium. When permeability was damaged, proteins and nutrient materials may flow from epithelium in respiratory channel. Besides, decrease of barrier function allows bacteria and other allergens to penetrate in respiratory channel enhancing risk of inflammation and infection. The trial team has also measures oxidative stress and damage of processed cells. Alternaria impact caused a lot of damages. Processed cells had higher calcium concentrations which induced epithelial cells to produce more salt and liquid than usual. Saline and fluid secretion is generally associated with improvement of mucociliary clearance, but long-term fungal impact leads to impaired function of epithelial barrier resulting in decrease of mucociliary clearance and worsening of allergy symptoms. Researchers have noted that today’s tendencies of climatic warming may aggravate this problem. The results testify that constant increase of carbon dioxide level in atmosphere will enhance both: Alternaria influence level and capacity to produce immune response on spores action which come in contact with respiratory tract.
