Prevent
Asthma
Avoid Indoor Pets To
Reduce
Allergy and
Asthma Problems
The
number of allergy cases among children under age 6 could drop nearly 40%
if susceptible kids didn’t have pets or live in homes with smokers or
where gas stoves are used for heat, researchers say. Eliminating such
household risk factors, if they are determined to cause asthma, could
prevent asthma in more than 500,000 children a year, underscoring the
important role environmental factors play in development of the disease,
the study says. The findings, in the March, 2001, issue of Pediatrics,
are based on an analysis of data on 8,257 children under age 6. (Reported
by USA Today, March 6, 2001)
Asthma
Asthma, chronic disease characterized by sporadic attacks of shortness
of breath, wheezing, and coughing. The disease is the result of muscular
constriction of the bronchi and swelling of the bronchial mucosa. (The
bronchi are air passageways branching through the lungs.) Asthma may be
caused by an allergic reaction (extrinsic
asthma), infection in persons with susceptible bronchi (intrinsic
asthma), or malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Asthma is
common, shows a familial incidence, affects all races, and is of generally
equal incidence in males and females.
In an asthma attack, contraction of the smooth muscle of the bronchial
walls is accompanied by swelling of the bronchial tubes and the excessive
secretion of mucus
by the bronchial glands; the mucus in turn obstructs or plugs the
bronchial airways, thus causing the symptoms of an asthma attack. (The
distinctive wheezing sound made by asthma sufferers during an attack is
caused by the passage of air through narrowed, mucus-filled bronchi.) The
release of
histamine and
acetylcholine seems to play a role in producing the symptoms of asthma
attacks, since these chemicals stimulate the smooth muscles of the bronchi
to contract. Histamine is in turn released by cells that are affected by
an allergic reaction. Thus, although there seems to be a hereditary
predisposition present in asthma cases, the actual attacks themselves seem
to be triggered by a person's exposure to allergens, i.e.,
substances to which he is allergic.
Asthma attacks usually last from one-half hour to several hours. A
person having an attack can be treated by inhaling a vapour of
epinephrine (adrenaline), since this substance acts to widen the
bronchi and inhibit the mucous glands. The epinephrine may also be
injected. A person experiencing a prolonged attack that is resistant to
treatment with drugs is said to be in
status asthmaticus. Prolonged or frequent attacks of asthma may become
dangerous if the sufferer is weakened by fatigue and inadequate nutrition,
if his oxygen consumption is too low, or if emphysema develops. The
preventive treatment of asthma is aimed at determining which substances
the patient is allergic to and preventing his further exposure to them.
Extrinsic asthma usually begins before age 30, but intrinsic asthma may
have a later onset. Asthmatic patients may be
allergic to materials such as pollen, mold spores, feathers, animal
dander, and foods; established asthmatics may also experience attacks
after exposure to sudden changes in temperature or humidity or both,
exertion, emotional stress, strong odours, or smoke. Some 35-40 percent of
childhood asthma cases improve at puberty; a nearly equal number worsen,
however, so that treatment of all childhood cases is necessary.
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