Asthma is a long–term, otherwise known as a chronic disease, which occurs in the respiratory system. The disease causes inflammation, spasms, or tightening in the bronchial tubes, which are the passage way to the lungs, that also carry air directly to the lungs. The inflammation caused by asthma educes difficulty breathing, wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing. Asthma cannot be cured, and the true cause of asthma is unknown. Most of the population that is diagnosed with asthma finds some way to be able to control the asthmatic symptoms with treatment. Asthma can be caused by allergies to certain things, the weather (cold or hot); sport educed, or is simply acquired by genetics. Often, pulmonary specialist helps their patients find a...show more content...
Warm weather can also be a trigger to come people's asthma. Sport educed asthma is often found in the youth of our nation. Some cases are much more severe than others. Many athletes carry a rescue inhaler with them, when they are physically active to guard themselves against a possible asthma attack.
People with allergies are also at a high risk for getting asthma, or enduring a asthma attack. Not all people with allergies develop asthma though. Allergies are caused by their immune systems actually attacking their own body. Basically, one's body is confused and thinks that a body cell is actually a foreign cell, virus, bacteria, in the body that it must attack. So the immune systems response is to engulf the "invading" cells. The reaction causes an allergic reaction. Some of these allergic reactions become systemic, which simply means that ones entire body becomes affected by this mix up in the body. Swelling, itching, and many other symptoms are responses to such a reaction. In some allergic responses, inflammation of the bronchial can occur, which causes a difficulty in breathing, which is an asthma attack. Some factors the trigger an allergic reaction which can result in a asthmatic response are; tobacco smoke, dust mites, cockroaches, and animal dander.
One of the factors that lead to asthma is genetics. If a person inherits asthma they are much more likely to develop long–term inflammation
Get more content
Introduction – Not double–spaced as required
Asthma is one of the most common health problems in the United States that can not only affect patients' lives, at school or work, but also creates a significant burden on society. Diagnosis and management of asthma has traditionally been accomplished by clinical, exam, pulmonary function testing and patients perceived level of symptoms. The key factor in asthma is airway inflammation. Until recently, airway inflammation was very difficult to evaluate. It usually required invasive procedures that in some instances would not give us a complete answer. Without a knowledge of airway inflammation, clinicians can over or underestimate the severity of asthma and in turn may not provide the most effective...show more content...
Symptoms can vary from one person to the next, Asthma can be classified as be mild with intermittent symptoms to severe, with persistent symptoms that can affect a patients everyday life1 Exacerbations can occur at any time and severity of the exacerbation can vary from one exacerbation to the next.The exact cause of asthma is difficult to know and understand and currently there is no cure. Management of symptoms is the ultimate goal. Asthma affects approximately 300 million worldwide.2 Asthma can affects people of all ages, ethnicity and income levels.2 In theUnited States the number of people diagnosed with asthma continues to grow. In 2009, Approximately 24.6 million people had been diagnosed up from 20 million in 2001.2,3 It is estimated that the number of people diagnosed with asthma will continue increase to over 100 million by 2025. 4 There are significant differences in the prevalence of asthma among different population subgroups. Asthma tends to be more prevalent in female, children, non–hispanic black, and Puerto Ricans.There is also higher rates of asthma among those whose income is below poverty level and those living in Northeast and
Asthma
Pathology a paroxysmal, often allergic disorder of respiration, characterized by bronchospasm, wheezing, and difficulty in expiration, often accompanied by coughing and feeling of constriction in the chest. Also called bronchial asthma. Asthma is a chronic condition, and there is no cure for it. You can consult with your doctor about how to manage it. Knowing as much as you can about the condition, can help you understand how to live with it. Asthma affects people of all ages, more than 22 million people are known to have asthma, and about 6 million are childrenSigns and symptoms of asthma is shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing chest tightness. People that have allergies, eczema, or parents that have asthma are more at risk. In children more boys have asthma than girls, but in adults more women have it than men. You want to make sure to get a lung function test done to determine if you have asthma for sure. The symptoms are the same as to other things also, such as the flu or pneumonia.
The cause of asthma is known. Some researchers think genetic and environmental factors interact to cause asthma. For example, if asthma or atopy runs in the family, exposer to irritants may make your airways more...show more content...
Your doctor may diagnose the condition based on your medical and family histories, a physical exam, and some test results. The doctor will also find out the severity of your asthma, such as intermittent, mild, moderate or severe. The levels will determine what treatment is best to use. You might need to see an asthma specialist if you need special test to help with diagnosing you have asthma, had a life threatening asthma attack, if you want to get allergy treatments, or if you need more than one medication or higher doses to control your asthma, or if you can't seem to get your asthma under control. Your doctor may ask you a few questions. Be sure to let them know how often, when and where your asthma symptoms
Get more content
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 bronchialasthma, 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. More than 17 million Americans suffer from asthma, with nearly 5 million cases occurring in children under age 18. In the United States, asthma causes nearly 5,500 deaths each year. Asthma...show more content...
Asthma Attacks
Asthma attacks occur when the bronchi and bronchioles become inflamed, reducing the space through which air can travel through the lungs. This causes the asthmatic to work harder to move air in and out of the lungs. Asthma attacks usually begin with mild chest pressure and a dry cough. As an attack intensifies, wheezing develops and increases in pitch; breathing becomes difficult; and coughing produces thick, stringy mucus. As the airway inflammation prevents some of the oxygen–rich air from reaching the alveoli, the cells of the body start to burn oxygen at a higher rate, actually increasing the body's demand for oxygen. The frequency of asthma attacks varies considerably among asthma suffers. Some people have daily attacks, while others can go months or even years without having an attack.
Inflammation of the airway occurs when an irritant–such as pet hair or cigarette smoke–comes into contact with the airway walls. Upon detecting the irritant as a harmful invader, the body's immune system sends special cells known as mast cells to the site of irritation, in this case the airway walls. The mast cells release histamine, a chemical that causes swelling and redness in a process called the inflammatory response. Histamine also causes bronchospasms, in which the muscles lining the airway walls contract repeatedly, causing the airways to narrow even more. In addition, cells that lubricate the airways with mucus–called