Asthma In Older Adults

Childhood asthma is a growing healthcare issue in the United States. It is a common childhood medical disorder that affects approximately 7.1 million children under the age of 18. It is estimated that 4.1 million of this population suffered from an asthma episode in 2011 (American Lung Association, [ALA], 2014). Interestingly, children make up less than 20% of the United States population; however, it estimated that 29 % of hospitalization discharges were contributed to children with asthma who are under the age of 15.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children (Kahn and Boskey). Childhood asthma is when the lungs and airways become inflamed when something comes in contact to trigger it. There are different objects or activities to trigger a child’s asthma and if not treated appropriately it can cause an asthma attack. This disease can outbreak from a cold or any respiratory infection. Daily symptoms can interfere with a child’s asthma like a cold, sports, school, or play ("Childhood Asthma."). In the United States, it is estimated that approximately 5 million children under the age of 18 have this disease. In 1993 alone, asthma was the reason for almost 200,000 hospital stays and about 340 deaths under the age of 25 (Kahn and Boskey). Normally children will outgrow this disease by the time they

Asthma is a chronic condition affecting the respiratory system and has a considerable impact on both individuals and a population. Everybody is susceptible to asthma, some more than others, depending of a variety of factors including, age, sex, geographical location and income. Asthma is particularly prevalent in younger children and the elderly and while it can be fatal, most people have mild cases of asthma that are relatively easy to treat. The condition mainly impacts an individual’s physical ability to contribute to a community.

As the world population grows, so does the amount of people in this world with Asthma. “In the last decade, the proportion of people with Asthma in the USA grew nearly 15%, with 479,300 hospitalizations and 1.9 million emergency department visits in 2009 alone”(Kaur, Bani Preet). Asthma affects the bronchi, bringing of air into and out of the lungs. When an Asthma attack happens, the airways or passages to the lungs, swell up and close so the air passing through is very minimal, causing air not to be able to reach the lungs and pain to the person. In most cases it is not deadly unless not handled properly. This disease causes it to be harder to stay active than it is for others. It is easily manageable if properly diagnosed and properly treated. “4 million americans under 18 have Asthma” (Bronson). It is mistaken in young children for their crying and hiccuping is mistaken for Asthma. Especially when they are sick since they are unable to speak. Asthma is a painful

“The population is the hallmark of public health” (Davis & Herman, 2011). It is estimated that 7.1 million children in the United States have asthma. Asthma is responsible for 14 .4 million days lost per school year. It is the most frequent

Asthma during childhood occurs more commonly in boys than girls. In adulthood, asthma is more commonly seen in women than men and is caused by exposure to allergens. Some symptoms felt during an asthma attack include wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing, especially at night. Not everyone with asthma are affected by symptoms in the same manner. Some may experience mild or severe symptoms at different times. Some people may go long periods of time without experiencing any symptoms, interrupted by periodic worsening of symptoms called asthma attacks. For example, some people may experience asthma only during exercise, or with viral infections, such as colds or the flu. The more common attacks that occur are mild. Normally,

Allergic Asthma or allergy-induced asthma is one of many forms of asthma. Asthma is a chronic lung condition that results in recurring episodes of a difficult problem breathing. According to Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America(aafa), about 25 million Americans have some form of asthma. Breathing is a basic essential part of life which is normally done without thinking about it. The people with asthma airway may become inflamed and constricted due to allergens, irritants, physical activities and/or respiratory infection. The symptoms of this chronic condition may vary in the individual person. Some symptoms are coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness.

A task force begins identifying asthma as one of the four, priority areas seeking immediate attention. The plan put together was called: Asthma and the Environment; a Strategy to Protect Children. In addition, to 5 other strategy ways that are called: strengthening and acceleration, implementation, establishment of coordination, and identification. These factors were later changed around 1999, making the task force remap a new strategy. This strategy improvised more questions, so the task team had to explain the cost of asthma. Next, was understand the primary reason for preventing the asthma rate to decrease. Studies were shown from National Health Interview Survey and Medical Expenditures Panel Survey that asthma has one of the most, common chronic condition among children’s

Asthma affects many people every year. When it comes to elderly patient’s asthma can be fatal if not treated properly, if it is not diagnosed right away or if it is misdiagnosed. With growing knowledge on asthma, elderly patients with asthma need to be educated on how to prevent and treat their symptoms. They need to also be aware of the severity of asthma as an elderly patient. The elderly population is growing larger and larger with no signs of slowing down in the future. Respiratory therapists will have a role in taking care of elderly patients with asthma, as well as helping to diagnose elderly patients that are having trouble breathing.

Asthma is a respiratory chronic disorder affecting about twenty six million people, both children and adults, in the US. About seven million children suffer from this disease. This disease has a complex pathophysiology including airflow obstruction, bronchial hyper-responsiveness and inflammation. Factors that stimulate asthma attacks include exercise, gastroesophageal reflux, environmental allergens, obesity, tobacco smoke, NSAID use, chronic rhinitis or sinusitis, viral infections of respiratory system such as rhinovirus (Lemanske, Jackson and Gangnon), irritants, emotional stress, and perinatal factors such as prematurity.

Asthma is one lifestyle disease that affects the body’s systems greatly. In the year of 2004/05 asthma was a multi-million dollar industry at $606 million. In 2007/08 asthma prevalence is responsible for over 9.9% of the population in Australia, which is almost 2,

The control of asthma in both adults and children has proven to be a challenge owing to the intricacy involved in the management of the disease. According to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA 1), the term refers to a clinical syndrome of “intermittent respiratory symptoms triggered by viral upper respiratory infections, environmental allergens or other stimuli and is characterized by nonspecific bronchial hyperesponsiveness and airways inflammation.” The severity of the disease is measured based on an individual’s lung function (FEV1), the number of times a patient uses a bronchodilator, and the symptoms a patient portrays at night (GINA 1).

In 2011, 26 million Americans reported having asthma, or about 1 in 12 (Successes of the National Asthma Control Program 2009-2014 Stories From “Addressing Asthma From A Public Health Perspective” Grantees). In 2009 alone, there were over two million asthma-related emergency room visits and almost half a million hospitalizations; in 2010, 156 children and 3,248 adults died from asthma (CDC, 2013). Fortunately, asthma related morbidity and mortality are largely preventable through improved patient education and medical management. Thus, the healthy People 2020 Respiratory Disease Objective 3 (RD-3) aims to reduce emergency department (ED) visits for asthma (CDC, 2015).

Since there is no cure for asthma management of symptoms is crucial. Many of the articles examined focused on improving asthma self-efficacy and education to improve their quality of life especially in low-income populations. According to Martin et al. (2009) “low-income African American adults in Chicago had disproportionally higher asthma morbidity and mortality rates. Interventions that improve asthma self-efficacy for appropriate self-management behaviors might ultimately improve asthma control in the population”. Providing proper education and support to prevent acute asthma attacks will be vital. Even in an adult primary practice the adults could bring in symptomatic children with undiagnosed asthma or have questions about asthma. Patients need to manage their symptoms and take their medications because without treatment asthma can become life threatening. Medication education and teaching medication management will help keep patients with asthma healthy. Wilson et al. (2009) stated that only about half of patients with asthma take their medications at therapeutic doses. “Poor adherence exacerbates airway inflammation, and may result in suboptimal asthma control, functional limitations, decreased quality of life, excess health care use, and even death” (Wilson et al.,2009). Accurately diagnosing a cough or wheeze will be as an advance practice nurse in Richmond, Virginia will be important. Working in a clinical setting in Richmond will definitely expose a practitioner to patients with

Asthma is a chronic airway disease that can be difficult to manage, resulting in poor outcomes and high costs (Kuhn et al., 2015). It is characterized by episodes of expiratory airflow obstruction, which occurs in response to multiple stimuli or triggers. Asthma is a lifelong disease, and symptoms include wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. Attacks can be mild, moderate, severe, or even life threatening and limit a person’s way of life (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2011). There is no known cure for asthma, but symptoms can be controlled by avoiding the triggers and taking prescribed medicines that prevent or minimize symptoms.