Beware of Asthma

Asthma is a Greek word which means breathless or to breathe with open mouth. Basically, it is a condition that affects the airways the small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. When a person with asthma comes into contact with an asthma trigger, the muscle around the walls of the airways tightens so that the airway becomes narrower. The lining of the airways becomes inflamed and starts to swell. Often sticky mucus or phlegm is produced. All these reactions cause the airways to become narrower and irritated leading to the varios symptoms of asthma, like coughing and sneezing.

There are 4 basic reasons for Asthma:

Allergens: The exposure of sensitive persons to allergens increases bronchial hyper-responsiveness. This increase is related to the occurrence of a late asthmatic response.

Smoking: Smoking has been associated with airway hyper-responsiveness in a number of surveys as well as in clinical studies. The association is stronger in the elderly or in those with a greater lifetime exposure to cigarettes, which is strongly correlated with age in smokers.

Air pollution: There is much reason to believe that people in areas of high air pollution are more likely to suffer from Asthma attacks. For instance, the prevalence of asthma in traffic police personnel in Bangalore was 26.12% compared to 14.09% among non-traffic police personnel, indicating an 85% increase
in their risk of developing asthma.

Heredetary: There is a strong correlation between diagnosis of asthma and the family history of the disease as seen in studies where the prevalence of asthma ranged from 2.1% to 16.2%. House dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) was found to play a significant role in asthma in Mumbai.

Since, Asthma can only be managed not cured, there are a few steps that need to be taken to prevent an attack. Like, avoidance of triggers is a key component of improving control and preventing attacks. The most common triggers include: allergens, smoke (tobacco and other), air pollution, etc. Medications like pumps et all, are known to help. Alternative medicine, like Ayurveda and Homeopathy, also have been helpfull to various patients.

Quick Facts

• 25% of population suffers allergy in India, 5% of them are suffering from asthma.
• You have a 6% chance of having asthma if neither parent has the condition, a 30% chance if one parent has it, and a 70% chance if both parents have it.

ADIDAS