Asthma Case Study

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Introduction Today, the world has approximately 334 million people living with asthma. . Currently, there is an increasing rate of asthma infections among the people living in the middle and low-income nations. In the United States, statistics published in 2012 indicated that approximately 19 million adults lived with asthma whereas 7 million children had the condition. In 2013, asthma accounted for approximately 3,630 deaths in the United States. Several factors increase the chance of developing Asthma (CDC, 2015). They include obesity, overweight, smoking and exposure , occupational triggers and having close relatives with asthma. Asthma is a respiratory condition that causes inflammation of the air passage and the lungs. The recurrent attacks cause wheezing and breathlessness whose frequency and severity vary depending with the individuals (Nanda, 2015).
Pathophysiology
Patients with this condition experience an attack when exposed to stimulating factors, such as dust, smoke, perfume, animals and pollen among others. The stimulus causes inflammation on the walls of bronchus, causing the secretion of mucus. The muscles of bronchus also respond by causing repetitive spasms that constrict muscles of the bronchioles in the lungs. Stress and panic during an …show more content…

In children, doctors assess them for nasal flaring accompanied by intercostals and supraclavicular retraction. The heart rate increases to 120 beats per minute. Apart from the abdominal breathing, the patients also experience loud wheezing during expiration. Adults with this condition remain breathless as they talk, whereas the infants encounter feeding problems together with softer cries. Unlike other cases, patients with severe strains of asthma remain breathless when inactive, lack appetite, experience speech difficulties and are agitated easily. The heart rate also increases in addition to wheezing when breathing (Nanda,

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