Asthma as a Chronic Inflammatory Disorder - Essay Example

Asthma as a Chronic Inflammatory Disorder Introduction Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder with acute exacerbations. It is a reversible obstructive lung disease, triggered by exposure of airways to antigens. Asthma is among the most common maladies prevalent in childhood. The total number of people suffering from asthma in the United Kingdom is 5.4 million. Out of which 1.1 million are children, under the age of 14. In the year 2011, 1167 deaths were reported to have occurred from asthma, 18 of these mortalities included children under the age of 14. Asthma is treatable, but one needs to take proper care, it is suggested that 90% of the deaths caused by asthma can be prevented if proper measures are taken without wasting time(Anderson et al., 2007). In the United Kingdom the overall percentage of the asthma patients has slightly declined, however, the number of patients has increased. This is because the population continues to increase, and the rate of increase of asthma patients in the population is lower to the population growth rate. Some of the common triggers of asthma include respiratory infection, cigarette smoke, and allergen like pollen grains, dust and other particulate pollutants, sudden changes in temperature, stress / anxiety, and exercise. The asthma attack is characterized by the narrowing of airways; which occurs due to the tightening of muscles, excessive secretion of mucus, and swelling of epithelial lining in lungs(Bisgaard et al., 2012). All these events are triggered by one or more afore mentioned causes. Asthma can prove lethal if it is not managed properly, thousands of children lose their lives every year at the hands of asthma due negligence on the part of parents and healthcare professionals. Though, asthma is a reversible lung disease, but slight negligence or delay in providing proper care may cost one’s life. Children with asthma are at a disadvantage; their activities are limited because of the fear of acute exacerbation. The restricted life style coupled with precautionary measures builds psychological stress, which obviously not ideal for children during their growing years. Psychological stressors like fear, anxiety, and depression lead to impairment in learning at school, and restrict their participation in activities enjoyed by their age fellows(Chait, 2015). Impact of Asthma on Child’s Psychosocial Development and Learning Asthma does not have a specific cause; the inflammation of respiratory tract can be triggered by numerous sources. Therefore, there are multiple events, stimuli, and allergens that can affect the associative learning, and result into confused responses, leading to a helpless zone(MacLean et al., 1992). These effects on the psyche of a child may establish unwanted traits, and develop estranged behavior; shrinking the child’s capacity to adjust in a competitive environment. Playground is an institute in itself, and it is as important as schooling, when it comes to learning and psychosocial development. Negative reinforcement is the strongest method for training, or making an organism learn a particular behavior(Akinbami and Schoendorf, 2002). In this case the organisms learn for the sake of avoiding the consequences. Learning depends on the universal principle of reward and punishment. According to most of the behaviorist avoidance of punishment is stronger motivator than the reward, because escaping punishment is in other words is a reward in itself. When one applies the case of asthma patients, especially children, one finds these individuals refraining and avoiding outdoor activities(Lehrer et al., 2002). This is because they have experienced severe asthma attacks in the past as a result of excessive exercise and running. Association is one of the simplest methods through which organism learn and memorize events, information, and behavior. It refers to the act of developing links between or more sets of information. This information can be anything that is sensible or measurable. The two most widely discussed approaches of learning are the Classical Conditioning and the Operant Learning. Despite the differences between the two behaviorist positions, one find a great deal of similarity, and the most obvious one is the ability of human brain to develop links and form associations, between two independent events. Human behavior is perhaps one of the very few psychological elements that can be studied in an empirical way. The wellbeing of a person depends on various factors; it includes bodily health, mental state, and emotions(Janssens et al., 2009). Dealing all these factors individually is definitely the way to go; however, these factors are not at all independent. This is to say that each of these factors is dependent on one another, and it is not unusual for a psychiatric patient to suffer from health issues or vice versa. In the same manner, the case of asthma has been discussed. Several studies have been conducted over the past years for the sake of undermining the correlation between bodily health and mental health of patients suffering from asthma(McQuaid et al., 2003). Moreover, outdoors do not have controlled facilities; there are innumerable stimuli that may trigger severe episode of asthma. One cannot blame these children for refraining from workouts and developing a negative perception about physical activities, because they have experienced severe episodes in the past linked to outdoor adventures(Miadich et al., 2015). Sports and physical activities are very important for a growing child. They not only keep the child fit, but they also bring stability and sportsman spirit in one’s personality. Children with asthma often have to spend their free time in indoors, because of the fear of respiratory inflammation(Ellis, 1983). However, by staying indoors they protect themselves from the external agents, but they cannot control the events that are taking place in the back of their minds. They are already at a disadvantage physiologically, and then there is this stress of not being popular in friends and a spoilsport when it comes to physical activities(Mukherji and Albon, 2009). Obesity is another malady associated with asthma; it has been often reported that obese patients are diagnosed as asthmatic. This is because both the disorders have some symptoms that are common in both the states. Another study suggests that obese children are at a greater risk of suffering from asthma than non-obese kids. Further, the habit of wheezing or snoring in bed is common to both the patients; this is due to the breathlessness or the reduced capacity of lungs in both the disorders(Kaugars et al., 2004). In obese people the lungs are not properly expanded, which reduce the capacity of air exchange, while in case of asthma, the constriction of air pipes reduce the air exchange volume. People who are declared obese have the body mass index above 30; it is usually caused by excessive intake of carbohydrates and lipids. It is also linked with inactivity, and lazy life style. Sufferers of asthma might not have likeness for extra fatty diet but they tend to avoid pro-active lifestyle, which may offer some proof of asthma patients turning into obese individuals(Cremonesini, 2014). Exercise is very important; it not only tones one’s body, but also improves cardiovascular and respiratory health of the individual. There are fewer chances for athletes to become obese or suffer from cardiac malfunctioning. However, asthma patients do not have much choice but to avoid work out, because back in their minds they have a fear of respiratory inflammation. On other hand obese people do have an option of losing weight and decreasing the chances of acquiring asthma. Adolescence is one of the most tumultuous phases in the life of an individual; it comes right at the end of childhood, and leads a person into adulthood. The years of adolescence are packed with confusion and complexes. There is a certain degree of conflict that continues to develop in one’s mind, and is coupled with guilt and remorse. Along with psychological changes, a person experiences rapid physiological alterations. Adolescence is not different from childhood as it also requires great care, because if the individual is treated irrationally at this phase of life he or she might develop delinquencies that are very hard to undo. So, a child who enters adolescence with asthma history is already aware of his physical state, he/she is well aware of the limitations of his being, his inability to join the peers in field, or friends planning excursion, he is supposed to avoid most of the temptations of his age, in order to keep himself and his family safe from the unwanted episodes of inflammation. When a person has to compromise or refrain from fun, there is an automatic buildup of stress. Most of the times a person are unable to express his or her stress, and this leads to depression. In asthma patients who are not being properly monitored during their early years, there are great number of chances for the individuals to suffer from imbalance in personality, and anxiety leading to depression(Gillaspy et al., 2002). Fluctuations in respiratory system are also linked with the onset of asthmatic episode. Therefore, stress and emotional upheaval are considered among the major triggers of asthma. Sudden changes in respiratory system give rise to acute effects; which may worsen if the stress persists, and care is not taken at the right time. The link between asthma and psychological state is so pronounced that in the early 1900’s asthma was considered as a psychosomatic disorder. Psychosomatic disorders are maladies that are linked with complaints of some physiological irregularity without any medical signs. However, with the advancements in science and technology, the misconception of treating asthma as psychosomatic disorder has been proven wrong. Whenever an organism is under physical or emotional stress, its immune system is programmed to get activated. The inflammation of respiratory tract is actually an immune response which is caused by the entry of some allergen or another asthma causing agent. There is an established fact that the cells of immune system accumulate into the respiratory tract before the attack. The fluctuations in bodily capacity due to stress and depression, invite immune system to respond, and perform its duty in the line of defense. Further the constriction of air pipes due to stress is also linked with acute asthmatic episodes. Co-morbidities like depression, anxiety, behavioral problems, and disabilities are common in children with asthma. The occurrence of these co-morbidities in asthma patients is directly proportional to the severity of chronic inflammation of respiratory tract(Thoresen and Kirmil-Gray, 1983). Adding to this is the child’s irregularity at school, limited participation in co-curricular and sports activities; which is not only problematic for the child but also for the children to cope with the problems. Parents and caregivers are often found lost when they ask these questions to themselves(Rand et al., 2012). Moreover, a child who is not attending the school regularly, and is visiting the hospital on regular basis, often suffers from the disadvantage of lagging behind in the developmental cycle. How to Deal with Childhood Asthma at National Level? Students in early years of schooling need health to concentrate on the new set of information that is being delivered to them at school; and if they are unable to adjust with the academic system it is a problem for them as well as for their parents(Horne and Weinman, 2002). Asthma is among the leading causes for the hospitalization of children under the age of 15; this fact makes it evident that it is also one of the leading causes of absenteeism at school. To ensure healthy development, it is compulsory that the child is allowed to express and grow with his age fellows at school and in play grounds. Unfortunately, for children with severe asthma this is quite difficult; as a result of which the burden comes onto the parents, who are responsible for the psychosocial wellbeing of the child. If one analyzes the current trends in the populations of the United Kingdom and US; there is an increase the prevalence of asthma among the young ones(Program et al., 2011). This is an unhealthy sign for the policy makers, and it demands immediate actions(Adams et al., 2002). Some of the possible solutions for minimizing the occurrence of asthma include building of ventilated school buildings, and use of air filters at public places; further, genetic screening on national level must be conducted an individuals with traits indicating potential for asthmatic liability must be screened out, and prevention protocols must be made clear to them(Hall and Elliman, 2006). At school level, teachers must be given the charge for facilitating asthma patients, so that if a student has to stay out of school at the hospital his academic record is not suffered.Another important aspect of asthma is psychosocial hindrances in the development of a child with asthma. Therefore, measures must be taken in order to provide psychosocial counseling. Attempts should be made to minimize the occurrence of asthma related psychological co-morbidities. This can be done by arranging awareness campaigns, providing counseling to the patients, and arranging family therapy for child’s family in order to minimize the development of unwanted psychological stress. In the recent years UK has passed certain rules for controlling the air particle contamination, which id develop to minimize the available concentration of contaminants that may instigate asthmatic attack. Treatment Asthma is treatable, according to a study over 90% of the deaths caused by asthma are revertible if care is taken properly. There are two kinds of medication used to overturn asthma; they are long term medication and quick relief drugs. Long term medication is used to deal with chronic prevalence of the disease, while the quick relief drugs are to overcome the acute attacks of asthma. The quick relief drugs include Short-acting beta agonists; Ipratropium (Atrovent); and Oral and intravenous corticosteroids. The purpose of using quick relief drugs is to avert acute exacerbation of asthma instantly. The long term therapy of Asthma utilizes inhaled corticosteroids, leukotriene modifiers, long-acting beta agonists, combination inhalers, and theophylline. The purpose of using long term therapy is to prevent the onset of asthma attack, which may sometimes prove lethal; therefore, these drugs are used to control asthma on day to day basis(Broide et al., 1992). Conclusion Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of airways. It does not have a specific cause. It can be transferred genetically, or acquired individually. Apart from affecting the respiratory system of the sufferer it also affects the psychosocial development in childhood. From a wide set of studies it has been observed that children with asthma are at a greater risk of developing phobias, depression, anxiety, and stress; which impairs learning and psychosocial development. Moreover, there is also a close linkage between obesity and asthma, and people with BMI over 30, are considered to be at a greater risk for acquiring asthma. Apart from the patient, it is the family that is also under psychological stress that is caused by the physical and the mental state of the patient. The prevalence of asthma is increasing on annual basis in UK; this is not a good sign for the policy makers. 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