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Asthma Bronchitis Research Paper

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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]

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