Be Aware of Asthma Attacks

By Dr. Magdy Badran

CAIRO, Dec. 21 (SEE) - Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the lung airways. It is characterized by recurrent attacks of coughing, chest tightness, wheezing or shortness of breath and occurs in people of all ages.

Asthma is a public health problem, it is a major noncommunicable disease, it occurs in all countries regardless of the level of development.

During last decades, its prevalence has been increasing worldwide and it currently affects about 339 million people.

Asthma often restricts inpiduals’ activities for a lifetime. It is a leading chronic illness among children and adolescents, it affects about 10% of children, about 14% of adolescents and it is one of the leading causes of school absenteeism.

The strongest risk factors for developing asthma are a combination of genetic predisposition with environmental exposure to inhaled substances and particles that may provoke allergic reactions or irritate the airways.

Asthma symptoms can be triggered by exposure to an allergen (such as house dust mites , pollen, or animal dander), irritants in the air (such as smoke, chemical fumes or strong odors) or extreme weather conditions.

Other triggers can include physical exercise and weather conditions such as cold air ,extremely dry, wet or windy weather. There is an increased prevalence of asthma in obese adults and the link is stronger in women.

Symptoms may occur several times in a day or a week in affected inpiduals, and for some people become worse during physical activity or at night.

In children, boys are more likely to develop asthma than girls, but in adults, women are more likely than men. Almost 60% of schoolchildren with asthma are allergic, mainly to perennial allergens such as house dust mites, animal dander and molds.

Aeroallergen sensitization before the age of 5 years increases the risk of asthma with persistence into adolescence.

Exposure to prenatal and early postnatal passive smoke may have adverse effect on both the immune system and the structural and functional development of the lung; this may explain the subsequent increased risk of incident asthma.

Some people find that their asthma gets worse in response to extreme emotions or stress. Stress can weaken the immune system, increasing vulnerability to asthma attacks and infections, worsening asthma symptoms.

Emotions do not cause asthma, but if a person has asthma, emotions can trigger symptoms of asthma.

When people especially children cry or get anxious and upset, breathing becomes harder, faster and shallower and they breathe through the mouths allowing cold and dry air to hit the airways triggering asthma symptoms.

Crying also increases secretions that can make breathing more difficult and make asthma symptoms much worse.

Asthma is the most common potentially serious medical condition to complicate pregnancy. Uncontrolled asthma can cause serious complications to the mother, including high blood pressure, toxemia and premature delivery.

For the baby, complications of uncontrolled asthma include increased risk of stillbirth, fetal growth retardation, premature birth and low birth weight.

Asthma can be controlled by careful medical management and avoidance of known triggers, so asthma is not a reason for avoiding pregnancy.

Allergic rhinitis and asthma commonly coexist, due to their similarities in anatomy, physiology and immunopathology. Current prevalence rates of allergic rhinitis in countries with a western lifestyle may be as high as 40% and approximately 60–80% of patients with asthma have symptoms of allergic rhinitis.

Effective asthma treatment includes monitoring the disease, identifying and avoiding allergen triggers, using drug therapies including bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory agents and developing an emergency plan for severe attacks.

We recommend getting plenty of sleep, eating a healthy diet, avoiding junk food and limiting sugar.

Exercising with asthma is an excellent way to burn off the accumulated effects of stress and also keep the body healthy.

Recommended exercises are yoga, walking, biking, hiking, gymnastics, and swimming. Before activity, it is recommended to take reliever medication up to 15 minutes before warming up to warm up prior to exercise and cool down after exercise.

It is important for children with asthma to continue to participate in physical activity, as it can reduce symptoms by strengthening their heart and lungs.

Immunotherapy or allergy shots should be considered if asthma is triggered by exposure to unavoidable allergens, or if symptoms occur three days a week and more than two nights a month.