Prevalence of Asthma - Essay Example

? Asthma Content Plan Topic page I. Introduction……………………………………………………………3 A. Historical context………………………………………3 B. Prevalence of Asthma…………………………………..4 C. Whole body context…………………………………....5 D. The morbidity of asthma……………………………….5 II. Patho-physiology and pathology………………………………………5 A. Mechanisms responsible for causing asthma………….6 B. Symptoms of asthma…………………………………..7 C. Types of asthma……………………………………….8 III. Pre-hospital/Medical Management……………………………………9 A. Diagnosis of asthma……………………………………9 B. Family/Medical history of the victim………………….10 C. Taking a physical exam………………………………..10 D. The Lung Function test……………………………….11 E. The challenge test……………………………………..11 F. Treatment of Asthma…………………………………12 IV. Conclusion…………………………………………………………….12 V. References………………………………………………………………13 Introduction Historical context Asthma was there in the ancient Egyptian periods; scientists have dug up evidence that asthma was there even before the ancient Egyptian times. One of the evidence that was discovered was some writing that contained more than 700 prescriptions of remedies. One of the remedies included burning a mixture of herbs on stones and inhaling the fumes from the burning mixture. The term asthma originates from the Greek word aazein which means to breath in with ones mouth wide open and having a unusually sharp breathing system. Asthma was more likely to infect people like tailors, cobblers and even blacksmiths. Asthma was said to be a respiratory problem which they treated using owl’s blood mixed with wine (Michael, 1999). This was said so in the 130-200 AD. In the 1135 AD, a philosopher in Egypt revealed that the symptoms of asthma started off as the common cold in the wet seasons. In 1579 AD, Baptiste Van Helmont from Belgium said that asthma starts in from the lungs and recognized exercise induced asthma, and in the period between 1633-1714 AD a link between asthma and dust was detected by Bernardino Ramazzini. In early 20th century, any medical breakthrough was undermined because asthma was seen as a psychological disease. The ancient people used some therapeutic therapy to try and cure asthma. In 1960 scientists started to consider asthma as an inflammatory illness hence they started using anti-inflammatory prescriptions to cure the illness. The prevalence of asthma in the United States of America Statistics show that around 40,000 people in America miss going to school every day because of asthmatic issues. In the everyday activities, more than 30,000 people get an asthma attack. In America, 5000 people are checked into hospital emergency rooms because of asthmatic issues, and approximately eleven people die every day because of asthma. The statistics estimate that over 20 million people in America are suffering from asthma. This give the prevalence ratio of asthma to be 1 person in 15 people have got asthma. The statistics also show that around half the population has got asthma related allergies. The rate of people with asthma has been on the rise since the 1980s. This rate is spread across all gender, racial groups and ages; the statistics say that asthma is most prevalent and extremely dangerous in children. Adult women are more likely to have asthmatic problems than adult men. Among children, the male children are more affected than the female children. 5 million of people suffering from asthma are likely to be below the age of 19. What this shows us is that children are more vulnerable to asthma than adults. In the racial backgrounds, the African American race is more prone to asthmatic problems than the Caucasians (Paquette, 2009). Whole body context The morbidity of asthma This inflammatory allergy is accountable for a quarter of emergency visitations each year in America. The emergency rooms in hospitals accounts for more than two million asthmatic cases. The number of outpatient cases is like ten million patients out of which five hundred cases are hospitalized due to asthmatic cases (Paquette, 2009). Asthma has got negative impact on the social economic costs of the country. Asthma costs the country around 18 billion dollars annually, of the 18 billion dollars, 10 billion goes towards settling the hospitalization costs while 8 billion is accounted for as indirect costs of asthma. The indirect costs are like; loss of income due to sickness or death due to sickness. It is stated that there are many female deaths than male in the case of asthma as the female account for more than 65 percent of the deaths. In regards to races in the country, African American ladies have the highest prevalence of asthma than any other race in America. Patho-physiology and pathology Asthma can be defined as an extremely dangerous illness that inflames the lungs and narrows the air pipes of the body. It causes some noise when a person tries to breathe. This is because the chest is exceptionally tight and the person also has some shortness while breathing. The person also has a consistent coughing more so in the mornings. The air pipes are usually swollen and also extremely sensitive. They seem to be highly reactive to strong scents. When these air pipes have reacted to strong scent, the muscles in the pipe tighten hence allowing very little air to pass into the lungs (Graham, 2005). For example, asthma affects the lungs by burning the linings of the lungs of a person. This makes it very difficult for the person to breathe hence making the person to start breathing loudly. Mechanisms responsible for causing asthma Asthma is caused by a lot of factors, and they include; when children are growing up, they have gotten very little exposure to infections hence this causes the immune systems of these children to be exceedingly weak. Nowadays people spend most of their time staying indoors hence they get infected with allergies like molds and dust. In the ancient times, the air was fresh with no industrial pollution than the air people breathe in nowadays; hence this air causes lung allergies hence leading to asthma. Nowadays people are living an ordinary life with no exercises, hence; this is causing people to have weak immunizations thus the asthma infection can easily infect a person. Scientists are saying that asthma can be hereditary although it has not yet been confirmed; the research to confirm it is still underway. Asthma can also be as a result of exposing oneself to tobacco and any kind of smoke. It can also be caused by inhaling substances like colognes or other strong scented substances. It can be as a result of getting a respiratory infection like having flu, bronchitis, sinusitis or even getting a cold. It can also be caused by being extremely addicted to certain kinds of foods and drinks. Asthma can also be caused by menstruation in some of the females, since asthma has got similar symptoms like the ones for the menstrual cycle (Graham, 2005). Symptoms of asthma People who are infected with asthma always will experience their symptoms whenever the air pipe becomes tight, whenever the air pipe inflames or whenever the air pipe is filled with mucus in the system. The most common symptoms of asthma will include the following; a person will experience consistent coughing this will occur especially at night, the infected people will have shortness in breath since their air pipes will be extremely narrow, the chests of the infected people will experience their chests to be extremely tight hence there will be short pains and pressure on the chest, the infected people will experience a wheezing, whereby, this is a sound made whilst breathing. These sounds are usually made while breathing in and out. Although it is not all the infected persons who experience the same asthmatic symptoms, rather a person might have some of the symptoms and be diagnosed with asthma. Some people can go for quite a while before noticing any sign of them having asthma. Most of these people is attacked by asthma occasionally. There are mild asthmatic attacks whereby the air pipes usually open within remarkably few minutes or hours. The mild attacks are the most common. On the other hand, there are the severe attacks which are rare but when they attack a person, they are likely to stay for a long time (Graham, 2005). Before asthma attacks a person like any other disease, it has got its own early signs. If a person experiences the following signs then the person should seek medical assistance immediately; a person might be experiencing unusually regular coughs more so at night. The person might be losing his/her breathe sometimes, the person might be tired and weak most times of the day. The person might start being extremely moody and upset over small issues. The person might be having trouble while trying to sleep by having a lack of sleep at all. Asthma can be caused by stress. People who are having stress increase behaviors such as smoking hence increasing their chances of being infected with asthma. Stressed people might also indulge themselves in activities like painting and using scented paints; this will increase their risk of being infected with asthma (Murphy, 2011). Types of asthma Below is a list of the types of asthma that are most prevalent among the human beings; The child onset asthma occurs in children. We have the adult onset asthma that affects people who are over the age of nineteen years old. There is an exercise induced type of asthma which can be caused by breathing, had during the performance of exercises. Then there is the cough induced asthma. There is another type of asthma that is triggered factors that are in the victim’s work place. There is the nocturnal type of asthma. Pre-hospital/Medical Management Diagnosis of asthma The diagnosis of asthma will be done in three main steps whereby, the doctor will base his/her treatment on the family history of the victims’ family, the physical examination of the victim and by examining the test results of the victim. A person will need to visit a doctor for treatment if he/she has suffered from an asthmatic attack that was life threatening, if the treatment that was prescribed to the person is not actually working. A person can also be treated for allergy infections, and at the same, the doctor can do a test for asthma. In diagnosing a patient with asthmatic problems, the doctors will have to consider the family history and the medical history of the patient/ victim in question. Family/Medical history of the victim The doctor will have to inquire about the history of the victim’s family in terms of allergies and the asthmatic infection. Scientists are yet to prove whether asthma is hereditary, but it is extremely essential for a diagnosing doctor to know more about the victim’s family. The doctor should inquire what times or periods of the year does the asthma attack any member of the family. He/she should know if it attacks during the day or at night. The doctor should also know the factors that seem enhance or make the attack worse. The doctor should also know if the victim is suffering from any other medical condition that may interfere with the treatment of asthma. The conditions that mostly interfere with this treatment are whereby the victim is also suffering from running nose, or having sinus infections. If a victim is also undergoing stress, then it is also an extremely had a job to diagnose asthma (Anil, 2004). This is why the doctor should inquire and know about these things before the treatment starts. Taking a physical exam The doctor should take a physical exam to determine the type of asthma that the victim is infected with. The doctor will monitor the breathing pattern of the victim and monitor the signs that show the presence of asthma in a person. Most of the symptoms that the doctor will be expecting to see are like the wheezing, coughing and the swelling of the air pipes. A person can also be having asthma even without the presence of the asthmatic symptoms (Anil, 2004). There are several tests that are performed on a patient to determine whether a patient has got asthma; The Lung Function test Here the doctor checks the functioning process of the victims’ lungs by the use of a test known as the spirometry test. The spirometry test will at the same time measure the strength of the lungs functionality. It will also measure the strength at which a person can be able to breathe. After the test the doctor will prescribe some medicine and after a while he/she will give the victim the test to see whether there are any improvements in the victim. The challenge test This is said to be another means of testing for asthma. This is whereby the doctor gives the victim a challenge such that to determine whether the victim can withstand it. For example, the doctor can pass some cold air through the air pipe and see how the victim will react when the cold air goes to the lungs of the victim. The doctor may also administer a test for other diseases, which are similar to asthma. The diseases similar to asthma are; the reflux disease, sinusitis and even stress related diseases. The doctor can also do a chest x-ray scan to see how the air pipes react to allergies. The other alternative test that is done is to do a CT scan of the lungs of the victim to determine the presence of asthma. Treatment of asthma Asthma has got no cure, but it can be controlled and managed so that it does not attack the victim. There are medicines that help in controlling asthma and monitor the progress of the infection. For example, there is a meter that measures the movement of air in and out of the lungs. This meter is a small, portable machine that is called the Peak flow meter. Asthma can be controlled by using the relief medicines, by maintaining normal, regular activities, the victim has to maintain his/her level of sleeping and the peak flow level should always stay above the normal percentage which is around 75 percent. The victim should make sure that he/she maintains these conditions in order to remain healthy and should note any anomalies with his/her condition and then report to the doctor. The victim should ensure that he/ she goes for regular medical checkups, to determine if the asthma is being kept in complete control (William, 2011). Most governments are trying to identify the risk sources of asthma at the same time they are trying to reduce these risk factors so that people can stay healthy. The prevention of asthma is difficult since the scientists are saying that the way in which asthma is composed is such a complex way hence understanding it is also extremely difficult hence it is not easy to develop a vaccine for asthma. People are advised to live in a healthy environment and avoid things that could give those allergies (William, 2011). Asthma can be controlled and managed easily by the infected parties. Hence, they should take care of their health needs and see doctors if the need arises. Young children should be kept in a healthy environment, and if possible the amount of dust and strong scent should be extremely minimal in places with young children since they have a weak immunity system and are prone to asthma. Asthma is currently being managed by getting a regular assessment of the asthmatic levels of patient. The patient can control asthma by correcting the factors that cause the symptoms of asthma or by using pharmacological therapy. References Anil K. Mehta, R. S. (2004). Asthma: ayurvedic cure, herbal remedies, yoga & meditation. New Delhi: B. Jain Publishers. Asthma: Stop Suffering, S. L. (2001). Asthma: Stop Suffering, Start Living. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. Bjorklund, R. (2005). Asthma. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish. Clark, M. V. (2011). Asthma: A Clinician's Guide. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Crockett, A. (2003). Asthma: your questions answered. Amsterdam: Elsevier Health Sciences. J. Graham Douglas, K. S. (2010). Asthma: Clinician's Desk Reference. London: Manson Publishing. Jackson, M. (2009). Asthma: The Biography. London: Oxford University Press. Landau, E. (2008). Asthma. New York: Marshall Cavendish. Mark Levy, T. W. (2009). 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