Asthma and Bronchitis as respiratory disorders Respiratory disorders Respiratory disease is a medical term that involves pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange possible in higher organism, and include conditions of the upper respiratory tract, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, pleura and pleural cavity, and the nerves and muscles of breathing. Respiratory disorders range from mild and self-limiting such as the common cold, to life threatening entities like acute asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis and lung cancer. [1] The study of respiratory diseases is known as pulmonology. A doctor who specializes in respiratory diseases is known as a pulmonologist. Introduction …show more content…
Is characterized by inflammation and spasm of the airways. The inflammation makes the airways smaller and it becomes difficult for the air to move in and out of the lung. The inside walls of airways become swollen, making it very sensitive and they may react strongly to things that you are allergic to or find irritating. [3] Fig: Airways of normal and asthma patients Epidemiology According to the recently collected data ~334 million people worldwide are affected by asthma, and approximately 250,000–345,000 people die per year from the disease. Rates vary between countries with prevalences between 1 and 18%. In adults, women have a higher rate of asthma than men and it is more common in the young than the old. Global rates of asthma have increased significantly between the 1960s and 2008 with it being recognized as a major public health problem since the 1970s. Rates of asthma have plateaued in the developed world since the mid-1990s with recent increases primarily in the developing world. Asthma affects approximately 7% of the population of the United States and 5% of people in the United Kingdom. Canada, Australia and New Zealand have rates of about 14–15%. [4]
While unfortunately asthma is not a curable disease, for most asthmatics its can be well controlled meaning there will less symptoms or flare-ups and limits to your life. With correct medication, knowledge about the disease and skills, asthma shouldn’t stop you. There are many treatment options available when it comes to asthma. Asthma treatments vary from your basic asthma inhalers to steroids and other anti-inflammatory medicines and asthma nebulizer (Breathing Machine). (Anon., n.d.) The role that medical practitioners play with asthma is a very precise job. This role includes assessment, diagnosis, prescription of regular medications, provision of written action plans, and regular review as well as managing asthma flare-ups. Asthma-related visits to a general practitioner may occur for a variety of reasons, including: the acute or reactive management of asthma symptoms, a visit for maintenance activities, such as monitoring and prescription of regular medications and referral to other health professionals. (Anon.,
As of 2009, studies conducted by the CDC have shown that asthma impacts approximately one in every twelve people, and the numbers only continue to grow (CDC, 2011). Some of the most common symptoms can range anywhere from coughing (especially at night or during exercise), wheezing and chest tightness, to shortness of breath. Asthma is often a chronic condition and while many times it can present itself as being mild, it can also sometimes lead to death if a person suffers an asthma attack. Asthma can be genetic, but it can also be caused, as well as exacerbated by, environmental factors such as air pollution. Studies have shown that children living in the Bronx are experiencing asthma at levels eight times higher than the national average. In addition, rates of death from asthma are a whopping three times higher than the national average, and hospitalization rates at about five times higher.” (Ruppell, 2000). Asthma is not a disease that targets only one group of people, yet the Bronx still exhibits disproportionately high levels of asthma especially in neighborhoods that are poorer areas of the city. In fact, people from these poor areas are 21 times more likely to be hospitalized due to asthmatic conditions compared to people from more affluent parts of the city (Ruppell,
Respiratory disorder, mostly affect the upper or lower respiratory tract, however bacterial or viral infection are the causative agent and the disease is common in all ages. In addition, the lungs and the bronchi can also be affected, causing inflammation and obstruction of the airflow resulting in wheezing, chest tightness, stridor, low grade fever, cough, and hemoptysis due severe damage to the lung tissues. Most common diseases of the respiratory system include; pneumonia, croup, asthma, bronchitis, laryngitis, and tuberculosis, affected disease location determines the signs and symptoms. Hereditary and environmental factors such as allergens and other irritants can be a contributory factor, especially in children. However, respiratory compromise occur as a result of incomplete airway development among this vulnerable population predisposing them to chronic asthma (Huether & McCance, 2012).
To give you some information on what is respiratory disease is. The composition of the walls of the bronchi and bronchioles changes. Smaller tubes don’t need a lot cartilage to hold them open, so the incomplete rings of the cartilage supporting the bronchi are slowly replaced by plates of cartilage in the bronchioles. Also without that cartilage the small tubes can be completely shut by contraction of the smooth muscles. So dealing with asthma and other obstructive respiratory diseases, this smooth muscle becomes irritated and tightens,reducing the diameter of the tubes, sometimes even effectively closing it. Take Bronchitis is a diease of the lower respiratory tract. It is an inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the bronchi.
Asthma is prevalent in all countries regardless of level of the development. According to the World Health Organization 235 million people worldwide have asthma. It is however estimated that 80% of asthma deaths occur in low income countries (World Health Organization, 2015). Within the United States there are many climates and environmental triggers that can cause an exacerbation is asthma symptoms. According to the NHLBI hospitalization is three times higher among African Americans than white, and Puerto Ricans have the highest rate of asthma attacks and deaths related to asthma. Severe asthma is more common among women, children, low income inner city residents, Puerto Ricans, and African American. This disparity within the
diseases affect the respiratory system. This system helps your body move air in and out of the
Throughout the years knowledge about asthma has grown, as well as treating it effectively. Over 300 million people are said to be victims of this disease with another 100 million being estimated by 2025 globally (Currie and Baker, 2012). In the United Kingdom, asthma is increasingly becoming one of the leading disease affecting individual of different age, ethnicity, race and gender. British Lung Foundation (2011) stated that it is more common at childhood stage and can also occur at a later age. According to Asthma UK (2014) asthma in men is less prevalence than it is in women and children troubled more with asthma than adults. Recent data in the UK shows that in children and occupational asthma in adult is on the rise with an estimate
Asthma is not the only respiratory illness there is.Another type of respiratory diseases are Lung Disease, which is is any problem in the lungs that prevents the lungs from working properly. As well there is also Respiratory Diseases, which is conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange possible in higher organisms, and includes conditions of the upper respiratory tract, trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles.
phrase used to describe respiratory diseases characterized by airway obstruction. COPD is now a well-known and serious chronic disease, killing many and affecting a mass number of people per year. COPD is a result in restricted (obstructed) airflow in the lungs. Obstructive diseases include bronchitis, in which inflammation causes chronic bronchial secretions and narrowing of the bronchi and emphysema a permanent destructive enlargement of the airspaces within the lung.
There are an abundance of different types of respiratory diseases/disorders. Many respiratory disorders cause difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, coughing, etc. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) is a general term for a group of different lung diseases, such as emphysema or bronchitis. COPD is a progressive lung disorder which means it starts out slowly developing and gradually worsens over time. COPD, similar to other respiratory diseases, may start out with mild symptoms that the average person may not associate with having a disease. COPD is a progressive “lung disease characterized by chronic obstruction of lung airflow that interferes with normal breathing and is not fully reversible”
Asthma is a condition in which your airways narrow and swell and produce extra mucus. This can make breathing difficult and trigger coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects your airways. Your airways are tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways become sore and swollen. That makes them very sensitive, and they may react strongly to things
According to Barnett and Nurmagambetov, from the time period of 2002-2007, 886 children under the age of 15 died due to asthma. Using the 2009 figure for value of an average life of any of those children, the grand total for loss of life in the world for just those 5 years is almost 1.2 billion dollars. (145-152) Child-onset asthma may not be the greatest killer of children to plaque this planet but it is a real and terrifying experience for both children and their parents. Mothers and fathers can fight against this illness but they need to know how to deal with asthma and what to do when an attack happens can help prevent these deaths from happening.
Respiratory disease is a term which encompasses a wide range of diseases that effect the lungs. Examples of respiratory diseases include, but are not limited to: asthma, tuberculosis and lung cancer (US National Library of Medicine, 2016). Lung diseases are classified as either obstructive or restrictive.
Diseases and disorders that affect the respiratory system are influenza which is a very contagious viral infection, lung cancer, asthma which makes it hard to breath, tuberculosis which is a bacterial diseases, swine flu, bronchiectasis, the common cold, emphysema, bronchitis and more. Ways to keep your respiratory system healthy are to stay hydrated,try to be a healthy weight and work on
Traditionally, COPD affected males more than females but with the increase in female smoking in developed countries combined with the increased use of fossil fuels in the home in developing countries, there has been an increase in females developing COPD. COPD now affects females more than males, however when the age factor is taken into consideration then the death rate is 46% higher in males than females. The disease also affects more Caucasian people than people of darker orientation, again with age taken into account, the death rate being 63% higher amongst Caucasians than darker ethnicities. (Chronic obstructive pulmunary disease causes, 2012)