Epidemiology of Asthma - Essay Sample

Introduction

Recently, Asthma prevalence has been on the rise because of the lifestyle risk associated with the disease. The disease is also influenced by genetics. It causes a significant health problem across the world, and also it is an economical burden. According to the report by centers for disease control and anticipation in America, it shows that nearly 26 million American have asthma with a mortality rate of 3500 people per year (Al-Abri & Al-Balushi, 2014). In a nutshell, Asthma is defined as an inflammation in both the trachea and the manic bronchia responses. The symptoms of the disease include coughing, tight chest, breathlessness, and wheezing.

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A person who is infected with the disease usually has limited activities because of the discomfort caused by the disease. The USA spends nearly $50 billion in the indirect and direct expenses of management and treatment of Asthma (Al-Abri & Al-Balushi, 2014). This shows that the disease is at a steady rise over the past few years. The victims of the disease usually have a poor perception abort the symptoms, and this causes the patient to delay in seeking medical attention. This paper aims to give an overview of the Asthma Epidemiology

Pathophysiology

The start of asthma is defined as hyper bronchial responsiveness due to the proclamations. An example tryptase, prostaglandins, histamine, and leukotrienes which are caused by the introduction of allergens, chilly air, and aggravations (Al-Abri & Al-Balushi, 2014). The epithelial cells of the airway, macrophages, mast cells, activated T-Lymphocytes, and eosinophils are some of the cells that are involved in the inflammation of the airways. Once these cells inflame, they make the cytokines and mediators to amplify and initiate long term pathological changes and acute inflammation. Once the mediators have been released, they can produce an intense inflammatory reaction. The inflammation of the cells has a direct effect on how a person breathes. This is because there is resistance in the airway, expiratory volumes, which cause difficulty in breathing.

According to the majority of Asthma patients, Asthma begins in infancy. Though a lot of research has linked asthma to environmental and genetics interplays, it is essential to note that the mechanism that leads to asthma are very complex to interpret (Asosingh & Erzurum, 2009). In a nutshell, likely, the genes always interact with environmental factors to determine the level of severity of asthma. The other things that determine the prevalence of asthma are ethnic and racial disparities, which are also caused by socioeconomic and environmental factors. Asthma pathophysiology attacks both adaptive immune and innate immune responses (Asosingh & Erzurum, 2009). Once the natural immune system recognizes a foreign molecule, it triggers the inception of asthma.

Pharmacological Treatment

There is a need for the use of pharmacotherapy in controlling the symptoms amicably. These guidelines are stated in the National Asthma Education and Prevention Project. There is a classification of treatments used in the utilization of asthma therapy. These are relievers and controllers. The use of relievers is to relieve any symptom associated with asthma and reverse bronchoconstriction (Behera & Sehgal, 2015). The controllers are only utilized when one has an inflammatory effect since the drugs have an anti-inflammatory effect which controls asthma on an ongoing basis.

In the management of inflammation plus airway obstruction, the most used operational drugs are Beta2-adrenoceptor and Glucocorticoids. This is not the only therapy that can be administered, there are there and second-line therapy medicines such as anticholinergics and leukotriene receptor antagonists' theophylline (Behera & Sehgal, 2015). According to the pharmacological studies, it is evident that conventional treatment is effective if corticosteroids are used. They result to decrease in the differential eosinophil count. If the inhaled corticosteroids are used in the right measure, they can promote asthma control.

Figure 1: The Pathophysiology of asthma (Asosingh & Erzurum, 2009)

The resources needed in the management of asthma would reduce since there would be an improvement in pulmonary psychological characteristics. In case the patients experience persisting symptoms even after having inhaled corticosteroids regularly, it will be wise for the extensive interim v2-agonists to be used (Behera & Sehgal, 2015). The above drugs have some side effects such as tremor, cramps, and tachycardia. These side effects are a non-issue if the drugs are administered correctly. Other people would always experience persisting symptoms regardless of the treatment therapy outlined above. The doctors or physicians handling such patients should be able to relate the symptoms to asthma and not use the gastroesophageal reflux.

Assessment, Diagnosis and Patient Education

It is not always easy to diagnose Asthma by just using the results of one test. In most cases, the patients' medical history is always assessed based on the accompanying symptoms that are associated with it. In children, the most common symptom is the wheezing sound during breathing, though wheezing does not necessarily mean that the person has asthma (Behera & Sehgal, 2015). The other symptoms that can portray itself include; cough, hyperreactivity of the airways, chest tightness, and breathlessness (dyspnea). Medical researchers have come up with a different recommendation on the number of tests that must be run on a patient to determine whether he is fit or he or she is asthmatic.

Also, the tests can help determine the level in which a patient has been affected. One of the tests includes lung function tests (Behera & Sehgal, 2015). They give information on how the disease might be treated. It is essential for the government to create awareness to help victims who might be suffering from the disease but fear to go to the hospital because of lack of education. Their many ways that the government can use during education. These methods include use of door to door education and testing patients whether the disease infects them or not (Martin, Press, Nyenhuis, Krishnan, Erwin, Mosnaim, McDermott, 2016). The other way is through the use of media houses to raise awareness to control the disease. The community nurses should also take the initiative to ensure that they teach the community on how to health healthy and to keep a clean environment that would prevent the spread of the disease. The other important factor is imparting knowledge on the allergen and their exposure.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Asthma epidemiology can be managed effectively if patients and families live in healthy environments, have a coordinated care system, and the patients and families to understand the regimens of medication. As noted earlier, one of the conditions that lead to the disparities includes the difference in income, which lead to environment inequalities, health literacy, poor living conditions, and exposure to allergens. The poor conditions could lead to the patients and victims living in this area not access quality health care. The government could also start a campaign to create awareness of the disease. The government could also set aside funds that could be used in helping victims' access to quality health care through affordable health care.

References

Al-Abri, R., & Al-Balushi, A. (2014). Patient Satisfaction Survey as a Tool towards Quality Improvement. Oman Medical Journal, 29(1), 3-7. http://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2014.02

Asosingh, K & Erzurum, S. C. (2009). Angioplasticity in asthma. Biochemical Society Transactions, 37 (4) 805-810; DOI: 10.1042/BST0370805

Behera, D., & Sehgal, I. S. (2015). Bronchial asthma - Issues for the developing world. The Indian Journal of Medical Research, 141(4), 380-382. http://doi.org/10.4103/0971-5916.159237

Martin, M. A., Press, V. G., Nyenhuis, S. M., Krishnan, J. A., Erwin, K., Mosnaim, G., ... McDermott, M. (2016). Care transition interventions for children with asthma in the emergency department. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 138(6), 1518-1525. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2016.10.012