World Asthma Day is commemorated every May 2, starting in 1998, to raise awareness about the disease and improve care around the world. The event is held every year, on the first Tuesday of May, and is sponsored by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA).
The “Worldasthmaday” is an initiative to raise awareness among the population about the seriousness of this disease for those who suffer from it. This year the theme is Asthma Care for All.
What is asthma
Asthma is a chronic disease of the upper airways, which affects children and adults. The airways that carry air to the lungs are narrowed due to inflammation and compression of the muscles that surround the fine airways.
Regarding this disease, the Global Asthma Report of the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that it affects at least 330 million people in the world and it is estimated that by 2025 this figure would increase by 100 million at all ages. and for all ethnicities.
Asthma: its symptoms
These symptoms are intermittent, and are usually aggravated at night or when exercising.
The signs that indicate the existence of the disease are essentially four: coughing, wheezing when breathing, dyspnea, and chest tightness.
Other common triggers that can aggravate asthma symptoms include viral infections (colds), dust, smoke, fumes, weather changes, grass and tree pollens, animal fur and feathers, strong soaps and perfumes.
While there is no cure for asthma, proper treatment with inhaled medications can help control the disease and make it easier for people with asthma to lead normal, active lives, but it is a disease that is underdiagnosed and undertreated. Asthmatic people generally must use an inhaler daily, depending on the mild, moderate, severe degree, they use it 1 or 2 times a day.
Asthma: treatment
Your treatment always depends on the frequency of symptoms and different types of inhalers are indicated:
- Bronchodilators (such as salbutamol), which clear the airways and relieve symptoms, which are used as a rescue.
- Steroids, which must be used daily. They reduce inflammation in the airways, improve asthma symptoms, and reduce the risk of severe asthma attacks and death.
Asthma treatment will depend on the frequency of symptoms. And in the face of certain bronchoconstrictions it is necessary to indicate bronchodilators, rescue medication, always indicated by the specialist.
On some occasions, oxygen should be administered, and the frequency of bronchodilators should be increased, as required (their use should always be supervised by medical personnel).
When people do not receive medication or adequate treatment, they suffer a very poor quality of life and in the face of crises they may experience a thirst for air, a feeling of suffocation, a lot of fatigue, and they or their relatives may have to be absent from school or work. Therefore, it has strong economic repercussions for the family and the community in general.
Asthma: its causes
The reasons why a person has asthma are varied. It may be that something that happened early in life could affect the developing lungs and increase the risk of asthma. Also important are low birth weight, prematurity, exposure to tobacco smoke and other sources of air pollution, as well as viral respiratory infections.
In this line, urbanization was associated with an increase in the prevalence of asthma, probably due to several factors related to lifestyle and, together with this, exposure to a series of allergens and irritants in the environment increased the risk of asthma, such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, house dust mites, molds, and occupational exposure to chemicals, fumes, or dust.
Overweight or obese children and adults are at increased risk of asthma.
Asthma: the recommendations
According to the information collected by Infobae from Dr. Stella Maris Cuevas, people who suffer from asthma and their relatives need to have knowledge about the disease, about its treatment, the triggers that must be avoided and how to treat it at home. And it is important to raise awareness in the community to end the myths and stigmatization that are often associated with asthma.
For this reason, it is essential not to underestimate the disease, not to stigmatize the sick and, above all, to raise awareness in society.
In Argentina, the time of year when hospitalizations for asthma are more frequent is autumn, given the concomitant effect of viral and bacterial respiratory infections on inflamed airways. Hospitalizations can be avoided with adequate control of the disease.
Asthma control means the absence of symptoms or their minimal expression, which significantly reduces the risk of developing asthmatic exacerbations that can endanger the patient’s life.