What is Asthma?
In response to a trigger the air tubes of the lungs become narrower or
completely blocked due to inflammation thus restricting normal breathing.
In severe cases, this inflammation can lead to death. The condition
affects the bronchi or bronchioles (airways); it does not affect the
lungs' air sacs. Narrowing results when the lining of the airways becomes
inflamed and the muscles surrounding the airways contract. Despite its
worrying implications, however, the condition is both controllable and
reversible.
Cause for Concern
Fact: asthma is on the increase. Today, in the United States and
Australia, an estimated five percent of adults and ten percent of children
suffer from the condition. In the UK, the number of new cases of adult
onset and childhood asthma amount to a total of nearly three million
people (around five percent of the British population).
Increased air pollution and other factors associated with 21st Century
lifestyles have resulted in an alarming escalation in the number of newly
diagnosed cases of bronchial asthma.
New Departures in Asthma Research
According to Dr. Robert Youngson, an authority on
respiratoy disorders, research into the mechanisms that can
cause the condition has revealed that, in the allergic type,
blood cells called eosinophils can release highly irritating
substances that cause inflammation of the air tube linings. In
the non-allergic type, however, helper T-cells are also
present, along with eosinophils. Until this discovery, helper
T-cells had not been associated with the causes of asthma.
Types of Asthma
Asthma can strike anyone at any time and under any circumstances.
Until recently, the condition was divided into two clearly defined types:
"extrinsic" (allergic) and "intrinsic" (non-allergic). Nowadays, however,
a more group-type approach is preferred.
Common Causes of Asthma: Allergic and Non-Allergic
Although
clear patterns do exist, the specific causes of asthma are far from
straightforward. Research has established that the causes cannot
simply be divided into allergic and non-allergic. Allergic asthma is
triggered by allergens: substances capable of stimulating the body's
immune system into bringing about an allergic reaction.
Many other factors also come into play. These can be as diverse as
emotional upsets, environmental stress and even exercise. Exercise
induced asthma can be particularly severe if exertion occurs in cold,
dry conditions.
Common Causes
The causes of asthma are wide ranging. Some causes, however, are
more commonplace than others. At the top of the list are specific
allergens. People suffering specific allergy induced asthma are
usually very aware of the offending allergen and try to avoid it.
Pollutants, dust, smoke, irritants, chemicals, viral infections,
bacteria, stress, emotion and exercise are other frequently diagnosed
causes.
Facts:
Allergies
cause approximately ninety percent of the cases of asthma in children
under the age of sixteen.
The
causes in approximately seventy percent of sufferers under age 30 are
allergy related.
Approximately
eleven percent of the non-asthmatic population experiences exercise
induced asthma. Many of these people have allergies
or a family history of allergies.
- In
the elderly, the condition is less often of allergic origin, and more commonly
associated with heart conditions or emphysema.
Asthma in Children and
Passive Smoking
Research has concluded that maternal smoking can
seriously impair infant lung function, even before the
child is born.
Experts agree that inhaled cigarette smoke increases the
tendency of the respiratory tract to react to other asthma
triggers. Babies and younger children are particularly
vulnerable. |
The Genetic Link
A study of the possible genetic link was conducted by a group of
British and Japanese scientists in Oxford, UK. The researchers
concluded that a variation in chromosome 11 was linked to the causes
of asthma. Of those individuals carrying the gene variant, 85 percent
showed some symptoms, 60 percent had a wheeze, and 20 percent were
asthmatic. This gene appears to be sex-linked and is inherited only
from the mother (Youngson, 1995).
Is asthma hereditary? Not in itself, but the tendency or
predisposition to develop the condition can be.
Expert opinions regarding the degree to which the condition is
hereditary vary widely. One fact that all experts agree upon, though,
is that the likelihood of becoming asthmatic increases significantly
if one or both parents already suffer from the condition.
Asthma in Children: The Hereditary Link
Dr. Glennon Paul, in All About Asthma and How To
Live With It, concludes that if neither parent suffers
from asthma, the chance of their offspring becoming
asthmatic is as low as 10 percent. The likelihood
increases to 25 percent when one parent is asthmatic, and
to 50 percent when both parents are. |
What causes asthma?
Asthma, like its related allergic conditions eczema and
hay fever, often runs in the family and may be inherited.
There are probably a number of other, environmental,
factors that contribute to someone developing asthma –
many aspects of modern lifestyles, such as housing and
diet, might be responsible. We also know that smoking
during pregnancy increases the chance of a child
developing asthma. There is currently no evidence that
traffic pollution causes asthma, although poor air quality
can make your asthma worse.
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