Health Care Advisor

What are the primary causes of asthma?

Posted by HCA on Monday, 29 November 2010 - 3:21 pm - Filled under Asthma

The cause of asthma isn’t known precisely, many suppositions have been made, but none was unanimously accepted. But we know that a mixture of factors play a role in the appearance of this disease. Genetic factors or heredity are recognized by all medical institutions that study asthma, since it is well known that a child with asthmatic parents or relatives has an increased chance of getting the illness too.

The environmental factor also must be mentioned as a cause of asthma, as more people have an overprotective way of raising the children so that they are not exposed to any environmental changes at all, even if they are perfectly healthy. In many cases such precautions leave the child unarmed against external aggression for which defenses would have been naturally stimulated. Many parents don’t understand that an inoffensive flue can trigger an allergic reaction from the child’s immune system.

Frequent use of antibiotics at the first sign of illness in combination with a poor immune system may evolve to bringing further allergy and even be the cause of asthma. Then we could also mention unhealthy habits with young children. Scientists believe that lack of physical activity in open air can slow the functioning of the immune system and expose the child to the risk of getting asthma.

Another cause of asthma is poor quality diet, including all the processed food we tuck in because we don’t find the time to cook a healthy meal. The increased amount of fat in the food, the lack of fish oil and other vital elements from our diet makes the human body more susceptible to sickness. The work place with its specific conditions may be a cause of asthma; there is exposure to dust and all kinds of irritants that favor the apparition of respiratory illnesses.

If we have a look over statistical data we find out that asthma cases have increased all over the world, the most affected places being the highly industrialized cities where one out of ten children suffer from asthma symptoms. Consequently we can’t skip pollution as a cause of asthma, by the great density of harmful gases present in the atmosphere that act as allergens responsible for the attacks specific to the disease.

Allergens vary a lot as they can be natural particles like pollen, animal hair, dust, cold air or various chemicals from detergents or smug to any other toxic substance. The hardest part with allergens is that you don’t know which one irritates you until it happens several times, so try making a sort of diary where you should note what you ate, smelt or touched every day. After each crisis take a look to your notes and see what the cause of asthma may be under the circumstances.

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More information about asthma

Posted by HCA on Wednesday, 22 September 2010 - 12:06 pm - Filled under Asthma

Asthma information is easy to find and tons of it can be accessed on the Internet. If you’re looking for more than simple suggestions and remedies serious books can be found both on digital and classical format. An asthmatic has problems especially with the airways as they are much more predisposed to irritation when an allergen is present in the atmosphere.

The bad thing with asthma is that it cannot be cured, it is only kept under control with proper medication so you can live an active life with the exception of the critical episodes. The problem asthmatics have is that they are dependent on drugs, and without them they can suffer severe trauma. Plenty of the asthma information is useful to read for the way it can keep you updated on possible recurring problems.

An asthma attack or episode is when you suffer from very intense asthma symptoms. During these episodes people may experience pains varying according to how advanced the disease may be. In some cases asthma can be deadly if no medication is present or if it’s not administrated in time. All medical personal from public places like airports, train stations and hotels know all the asthma information that is required for a life saving operation.

Asthma can be an easy burden if treated well, if you work closely with your therapist and listen to his or her advice, take your medication in time and make the recommended exercises. With the correct asthma information you will find the condition manageable. However, if left untreated, asthma can cause increased attacks that will keep you from work, school or any other pleasant activities. According to statistics, asthma is the number one reason for missing school cases.

The causes of asthma are unknown so don’t bother to look into any asthma information just to find out why all this happens to you. Doctors suspect a combination of factors that may trigger asthma in a otherwise healthy person. Hereditary predisposition, the person’s diet, the amount of stress you receive daily, the substances you enter in contact with like pollen, dust, cat hair or any other natural or chemical allergen are all very fine examples and explanations for what triggers the problem.

The hard thing to do is find out which one of them is responsible for an individual condition. If you don’t suffer from any allergy, finding the substances that irritate you is even harder as you have nothing to start from. In this case doctors recommend keeping a diary with what you ate, touched or smelt before each episode, creating a sort of personal asthma information or scheme. Then, analyze the common elements and have the results interpreted by your doctor.

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What is asthma?

Posted by HCA on Wednesday, 13 January 2010 - 12:02 pm - Filled under Asthma

Asthma is an affection of the respiratory system, very common to both children and grownups. Its symptoms are shortness of breath, coughing, chest tightness or wheezing, this disease is manifest in repeated episodes usually triggered by various factors. Asthmatics are usually sensitive to stimulants like cold air, various illnesses similar with common colds or emotional stress. Many health care associations have focused their attention on asthma as no less than a quarter of the urban children suffer from various forms of this disease.

From a historical perspective, asthma is mentioned for the first time in Homer’s Iliad in 450 BC. In the second century AD, Galen wrote some studies about this problem but he didn’t provide solutions, his research was based mostly on personals observation. In 1190 a treatise about asthma was written by a Jewish doctor, he described some methods of prevention and various treatments. Later in the the 18th century an Italian, Bernardino Ramazzini wrote about the relationship between dust and asthma. The first effective treatment was introduced only in 1901 when bronchodilators were used for the first time. Even though they appeared in the beginning of the century anti–inflammatory medication was included in the asthmatics regime only in 1960.

Asthma has many sings and symptoms, the most general involves chronic respiratory problems, crises may be triggered by any of the factors previously mentioned while others can cause problems depending on each individual’s weaknesses. Airborne allergens and air pollutants are general irritants. Acute asthma attacks can make someone blue in the face and even cause loss of consciousness, as the pains can be unsupportable. Any doctor can give a diagnostic if he/she knows the patient’s health history or the family background as asthma can also be hereditary. It is harder to diagnose in the children’s cases as they don’t have a longer health record and more investigations are needed to confirm suspicion of asthma or not.

The worst thing is that asthma has no cure, if you get an ailment such asthma then you got it for a life time, as the medical world hasn’t come up with a cure, there are just ways of preventing strikes and nighttime problems. According to the gravity of the problem, asthma can be classified as mild intermittent, mild persistent, or with more serious forms as moderate persistent and severe persistent. Many people particularly in the urban areas are more and more effected by asthma every day and science still struggles to come up with a solution.

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