Asthma is a respiratory disease that causes the airways of the lungs to swell, which leads to wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing. Usually the coughing happens at night or early in the morning. When the muscles around the airways become tight that limits the amount of air that can pass through. The attacks can last for minutes or days. Asthma can affect people of all ages, but often starts in your childhood. There are more than 25 million people that are known to have asthma and seven million of them are children. There are four levels of asthma, but knowing the different symptoms, knowing how asthma is diagnosed, and knowing the triggers of asthma and how to avoid them is very important. Asthma symptoms can range …show more content…
You may have symptoms only at certain times. For instance, when you playing or exercising, but they can occur all the time. An asthma attack can happen because of different symptoms; stressing too much, anticipation, and the weather itself. Asthma can impact people in different ways. Some people might break out with an attack from certain foods, and others might have an asthma attack because of someone’s fragrance. There are four levels of asthma; the Mild Intermittent, Mild Persistent, Moderate Persistent, and Severe Persistent. According to Fox (2014) Level one, Mild Intermittent asthma, does not have problems with flare ups, but one may experience night time symptoms. Level two, Mild Persistent asthma, shows symptoms two times a week, but not more than once a day. Activity levels may be affected by the flare ups and night time symptoms that occur more than twice a month. Level three which is Moderate Persistent …show more content…
Some triggers can be dust mites, pollen, tobacco smoke, pests, mold, pets, and air fresheners. About 10% adults with asthma have triggers when taking aspirin or another NSAID drug. A frequently asked two-part question; “Do you outgrow asthma or do you live with it?” which was answered in an article called Mothers of Asthmatics. “There are 24.6 million people diagnosed with asthma in the U.S. 7.1 million of these are children under the age of 18. Asthma can go into spontaneous periods of remission or may be so well controlled that symptoms are not experienced for long periods. However, once you have asthma, you always have asthma.” the article stated. Another question that was brought to our attention while doing the paper was, is asthma deadly? Many people believe asthma does not kill. However, nine people die of asthma every day. Most asthma deaths are preventable with proper diagnosis and treatment, however asthma death is rare. We interviewed a student at Alabama State University, Dominique Grant, who has asthma and who just currently went through a severe asthma attack. Dominique’s parents first noticed that she had asthma around the age of 10 years old when she bathed in pomegranate soap that made her lungs swell. During her attack, Dominique discovered she had level two asthma. We also surveyed ten students and the statement was, with proper care and medical treatment, most
It is quite a frightening experience because people with asthma have very sensitive airways. If something irritates the airways of a person with asthma, the airways become red and swollen, and this may be even more difficult for air to pass through the airways into the alveoli and out again. People become breathless and breathe more frequently, which makes them feel more anxious. Secondly, severe asthma can be life-threatening. Suffering from asthma can be frightening to experience and people often feel scared and anxious.
Imagine a young child competing with his or her fellow classmates during recess and immediately losing the ability to breathe normally. He or she stops in the middle of the competition and falls to the ground while holding his or her chest trying to find air. When you are young, being able to keep up with your peers during recess and sporting events is very important, however, having asthma restricts this. Asthma has a significant impact on childhood development and the diagnosis of asthma for children 18 years and younger has dramatically increased over the years. Asthma is known as a “chronic inflammation of the small and large airways” with “evident bronchial hyper-responsiveness, airflow obstruction, and in some patients, sub-basement fibrosis and over-secretion of mucus” (Toole, 2013). The constant recreation of the lung walls can even occur in young children and “lead to permanent lung damages and reduced lung function” (Toole, 2013). While one of the factors is genetics, many of the following can be prevented or managed. Obesity, exposure to secondhand smoke, and hospitalization with pneumonia in the early years of life have all been suggested to increase children’s risk of developing asthma.
"Asthma is a pulmonary disease with the following characteristics: 1) airway obstruction that is reversible in most patients either spontaneously or with treatment; 2) airway inflammation; and 3) increased airway responsiveness to a variety of stimuli" (Enright, 1996, p. 375). There presently exist many varieties of asthma that differ in the severity, means of induction, and methods of treatment. One type is exercise-induced asthma. "Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) is a temporary increase in airway resistance and acute narrowing of the airway that occurs after several minutes of strenuous exercise, usually after the exercise had ceased" (Spector, 1993, p. 571). Perfectly healthy individuals with no history of asthma or allergies can experience EIA. EIA can be found in 5.6%-25% of the general population and in 40%-90% of asthmatics (Randolph, 1997). EIA has been recognized for over 300 years, but only recently have it's pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment been studied in detail.
Asthma is the leading cause of hospital admissions during childhood. Kumar and Robbins give an accurate definition of asthma as “a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that causes recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and cough, particularly at night and/or early in the morning” (489). Asthma is a terrifying disease, especially in children, because of the sudden attacks that could claim lives if not treated immediately and effectively. Despite recent advancements in available drugs and overall therapy, the incidence of childhood asthma is rising (Dolovich 373). In order to effectively treat and eventually prevent the onset of asthma, more effective and economical therapies are necessary; although current knowledge has already led to breakthroughs in new drug treatments, the rising incidence rate calls for more. Therefore, to advance the effectiveness of asthma therapies, researchers must first look at the changes caused by the disease, the risk factors that cause or exacerbate it, and lastly understand the mechanisms of the current drugs.
Asthma is a result of chronic inflammation of those airways and tubes that supply air to the lungs. It may be cause due to
While some people are predisposed to breathing problems because they have asthma in the family, others may find that their asthma is triggered by other factors like things in their environment. To avoid developing asthma, you can look at your lifestyle to ensure you are making healthy choices.
Asthma is chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways characterized by recurring episodes of wheeling and breathlessness. It often exists with allergies and can be worsened through exposure to allergens. In fact, asthma is complicated syndromes that have neither single definition nor complete explanation to the point. In light of its treatment, it is worthwhile to notice that asthma cannot be cured, instead can be only managed by avoiding exposure to allergens and/or by using medications regularly.
Asthma is a disorder of the respiratory system in which the passages that enable air to pass into and out of the lungs periodically narrow, causing coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. This narrowing is typically temporary and reversible, but in severe attacks, asthma may result in death. Asthma most commonly refers to bronchial asthma, an inflammation of the airways, but the term is also used to refer to cardiac asthma, which develops when fluid builds up in the lungs as a complication of heart failure. This article focuses on bronchial asthma.
Asthma is a serious ongoing disease that affects the airways of both adults and children.5 It is a type of inflammatory disease in your lungs with multiple triggers which may include the flu, indoor allergies, pets, dust mites, exercise, and tobacco smoke. Asthma has been recognized since ancient Egyptian times. Researchers found prescriptions written in hieroglyphics. Aretaus of Cappadonia an ancient Greek master clinician wrote the initial clinical description of asthma. Aaezein is the Greek word from which the current medical term Asthma come. The original Greek term mean ' sharp breath'. There are many people who have this chronic disease. Approximately 7.1 million children are diagnosed, and 18.9 million adults; 8.2 percent of the population of the United States.
An asthma attack has many effects on the body. Asthma affects the body by limiting the flow of air into the lungs. It causes airway inflammation, bronchial restriction and irregular airway obstruction. Airway inflammation is how the body reacts to something that is irritating the airways. When happening your lungs begin swelling, your breathing passageway becomes restricted and mucus is secreted. Bronchial restriction happens when the muscles in your airways tighten around the breathing tubes in your lungs. (Bronchial tubes). Mucus or fluid that is accumulated by the reaction can obstruct your airway and make it very difficult to breathe properly.
Healthy humans have two types of immune systems that protect the body from invading pathogens that cause diseases. The Innate Immunity is the first barrier of protection. It is similar to a force field. Its primary purpose is to destroy any pathogen that tries to enter the epidermis cells (the skin cells) and the mucosa (mucus secreting cells found in the GI tract, respiratory tract, urogenital tract and eyes. If the first defense does not work, the adaptive immunity steps in to eradicate the invading microbe. Yet, sometimes the body reacts to harmless agents as if they were pathogens. Every day, more adults develop allergies to things in their environment. Exposure to such things as pollen, grass, mold and pet dander1 can lead to mild or harmful reactions. Other allergens can cause tingling in the throat and mouth, and in many cases severe reaction that lead to death. 2 In the last couple of decades, 75 to 100 percent of asthma and 150 percent atopy have reported.4 17.7 million adults and 7.1 million were diagnosed with allergies and hay fever.5 There are no known reasons why people developed hypersensitivity to certain agents, yet, many adults are developing allergies later in life. Statistically, children are the ones who develop allergies the most. About 3.9 percent of children have allergies, whereas 2% of adults have it. 6 Then, why are adults becoming more and more susceptible to this affliction? One possible reason is foods and every day household products are making people sick. Could it be that constant exposure to known hypoallergenic agents are causing allergic reactions to develop in adults who have never displayed any allergic reactions in their lifetime?
Asthma is a respiratory disorder marked by breathing difficulty caused by temporary narrowing of the bronchi, the airways branching from the trachea to the lungs. Attacks usually are brought on by allergic reaction to ANTIGENS such as grass and tree pollens, mold spores, fungi, animal dander, and certain foods but may also be caused by chemical irritants in the atmosphere or by infections of the respiratory tract. Susceptibility to an asthma attack is based on hyperactivity of the bronchial muscles, which constrict on exposure to one or another of these agents. Episodes of asthma vary widely in severity and may last from a few minutes to several days.
Asthma is best described by its technical name: Reversible Obstructive Airway Disease (ROAD). In other words, asthma is a condition in which the airways of the lungs become either narrowed or blocked. The results are usually temporary but they cause shortness of breath, breathing trouble, wheezing, coughing, and tightness in the chest. To know what it really feels like to have asthma, I would like everyone to pick up the straw that’s on their desk and put it in their mouth as if they were using it to drink something. Then, pinch your nose. Try breathing for twenty seconds. A real attack can last up to more than 10 minutes and you are only doing it for 20 seconds. If we had more time, I would have the class go to a stairwell and have you run up and down and see what it is like to have asthma while doing other activities.
Asthma is such a common disease. For instance, a negative response to an emotional stress can cause an asthma attack (Mark 1007). Have you actually seen someone have an asthma attack? It is the scariest thing because you cannot do anything about it. They say that there are no cures for asthma, and they also claim that there is some natural therapies that may help to manage symptoms of asthma. Weather your asthma is completely manageable and only shows up from time to time, or if you only have to deal with it on a daily basis, either way you have probably gone through your fair share of prescription medications. These medications, though, are not only expensive, but sometimes they come with their own set of problems, which only add to the ones you are already having with your condition. If you are suffering from asthma, you should consider a natural cure for asthma instead of going the traditional medicinal route.
Asthma is a disease that currently has no cure and can only be controlled and managed through different treatment methods. If asthma is treated well it can prevent the flare up of symptoms such as coughing, diminish the dependence on quick relief medication, and help to minimize asthma attacks. One of the key factors to successful treatment of asthma is the creation of an asthma action plan with the help of a doctor that outlines medications and other tasks to help control the patient’s asthma ("How Is Asthma Treated and Controlled?"). The amount of treatment changes based on the severity of the asthma when it is first diagnosed and may be the dosage may be increased or decreased depending on how under control the patient’s asthma is. One of the main ways that asthma can be controlled is by becoming aware of the things that trigger attacks. For instance staying away from allergens such as pollen, animal fur, and air pollution can help minimize and manage the symptoms associated with asthma. Also if it is not possible to avoid the allergens that cause a patient’s asthma to flare up, they may need to see an allergist. These health professionals can help diagnosis what may need to be done in other forms of treatment such as allergy shots that can help decrease the severity of the asthma ("How Is Asthma Treated and Controlled?").