Etiology Of Asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway that impacts a person’s and their family’s quality of life. In people with asthma, their airway becomes constricted with swelling and excessive mucous. This constriction or narrowing of the airway makes it difficult for the person with asthma to breath (Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2009). If asthma is left uncontrolled, it leads to further wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, tiredness, and stress. (Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2009).

Asthma is a long-term lung disease. Those with asthma have sensitive airways in their lungs which triggers a flare up. When this flare up happens the muscle around the airways squeeze tight and the airways swell, become narrows and produce more mucus. (Anon., 2016) All these things make it harder for a person to breathe. Asthma effects the human body’s respiratory system. Asthma causes a spasm and constriction of the bronchial passages and the swelling and the inflammation of the mucous lining. The body responds by defence cells from the immune system, which causes the airways to swell and the muscles surrounding the airways to contract. Which is what cuts off the airflow. While a person is in asthma attack, the asthmatic cannot breathe which

Water loss in the airway triggers exercise-induced asthma through the development of hypertonicity of the liquid at the surface of the airways. As cool and/or dry air is inhaled, heat is transferred away from the airway mucosa to air passing through the bronchial tree. When the inhaled cold air is heated, the saturation with water vapor consequently drops, which results in the evaporation of water from the mucosa, thus cooling of the respiratory tract. The evaporation of water results in

To better understand the impact of asthma, a brief overview of the causes (aetiology) and disease progression (pathophysiology) must be shown. As common as asthma is, not much is known about its aetiology, according to findings presented by Subbaroa, Mandhane and Sears (2009, pg. 181-187) in a review from the Canadian

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the bronchial mucosa and hyperreactive bronchial tubes. Its etiology has been linked to both genetic and environmental factors. Several genes, including those that influence the production of proteins and cells involved in the immune response (such as interleukins, eosinophils, mast cells) have been linked with asthma. A decreased number of T-regulatory cells is also associated with asthma. Environmental factors linked with asthma include exposure to allergens, urban residence, and smoking (or exposure to secondary smoke). Recurrent respiratory tract viral infections may also contribute to the development of asthma. Decreased exposure to certain infectious organisms during early childhood, and the consequent underdevelopment of the immune response, can also lead to the development of asthma--this is known as the hygiene hypothesis (McCance & Huether, 2014, p. 1263-4).

The purpose of this paper is to describe the pathophysiology of chronic asthma and acute asthma exacerbation, with explanation of arterial blood gas pattern during an asthma exacerbation. Also, explain how ethnicity might impact pathophysiology of asthma and asthma exacerbation. The diagnosis and treatment plan needed to relieve the presented signs and symptoms will be reviewed. Lastly, constructs two mind maps for chronic asthma and asthma exacerbation including its epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment.

Hay fever is the single most common chronic allergic disease. This is the most common trigger for someone with asthma and allergies to get symptoms. Exercise-induced asthma-This is caused by exercise or physical exertion. With exercise-induced asthma, airway narrowing peaks 5-20 minutes after exercise begins. An asthma inhaler will help to prevent these uncomfortable asthma symptoms. Cough-variant asthma-With this type of asthma, severe coughing is the predominant symptom. Cough-variant asthma is vastly underdiagnosed and undertreated. The main triggers for this type are usually respiratory infections and exercise. Occupational asthma-This results from only workplace triggers. Many people will suffer with a runny nose, congestion, eye irritation, or have a cough instead of wheezing. Some jobs associated with this type of asthma are animal breeders, farmers, hairdressers, nurses, and painters. Nighttime asthma-If you have asthma, the chances of you having symptoms are much higher during sleep because asthma is powerfully influenced by the sleep-wake cycle. So your asthma symptoms are particularly dangerous at nighttime (WEBMD).

Susceptible Individuals are at risk to curtain airborne allergens and things that trigger frequent attack. According to Barnes, (2003) allergic reaction comes from factors, such as allergens, viral infections and exercise .Other triggers such as family pets, which includes dogs, cats and hamsters can cause an allergic reaction. Smoking, dust and fumes plays a part in the environmental factors. Asthma symptoms include tightness and cough chest, wheeze and breathlessness. Airflow obstruction results from twitchiness of the muscles in the airways and inflammation resulting in swelling of the airway walls as well as accumulation of secretions (Asthma UK, 2014) over time symptoms might vary. In young children symptoms in the severity

“Asthma is an example of an obstructive lung disease in which the airways obstruct the outflow of air. In contrast, pulmonary fibrosis is an example of a restrictive lung disease in which the functional size of the lung decreases” (Michael G. Miller, John M. Weiler). Exercise-induced asthma is when the airways are narrowed in the lungs when doing the high-energy activity. In the Journal of Athlete Training, it states that at least fifteen to twenty percent of athletes show evidence of having exercise-induced asthma. Athletes that are affected by exercise-induced asthma may not able to withstand high-intensity training. If not properly treated the athlete would experience symptoms that could worsen. Exercise-induced asthma in athletes requires

Explain the pathophysiology behind this event. For example a person inhales an allergen may be dog hair, pollen, dust, or even mould. This person will be either fine then take a turn or it can take allot of exposure to react now the irritant is in the lungs and

Asthma sufferers are among some of the most sensitive disease sufferers on the planet. The smallest thing can set off an attack such as dust,

There are three features that can clearly distinguish asthma: i) persistent inflammation of the airways leading to ii) airflow obstruction and iii) bronchial hyperresponsiveness ([2] - [3]). However, asthma can be identified as a heterogeneous disease. That is, not a unique disease, but consists of several distinct diseases, each of which are caused by a specific underlying pathophysiological mechanism. These distinct diseases have been labelled as asthma endotypes, as proposed by [4]. Endotypes are defined as subtypes of a condition which have identical clinical symptoms, but each being caused by a unique pathophysiological mechanism [1]. Furthermore, there exist various factors which play a significant role in the persistence and development

The pathophysiology of Asthma includes inflammation of the airway. The way in which this works is from an irritant which can include dust, pollen, cedar, or cat hair. When a reaction occurs, the airways become inflamed and narrow. The narrowing occurs because once the inflammatory response is triggered by an irritant, histamines, immunoglobulin E antibodies, and leukotrienes are released. Because of this, mucous production occurs. Since the bronchioles are inflamed and narrow, breathing becomes difficult. Wheezing sounds can be heard due to the lack of air being able to easily move in and out of the narrowed bronchioles.

Understanding the genetic etiology of asthma is critical not only to the development of successful

Airborne substances can cause asthma. Airborne substances such as pollen, dust mites, and mold spores can contribute to the cause of asthma. A lot of people work in areas where they’re outside most of the time. This can cause them to breath in a lot of pollen or dust. This can accumulate in the lungs, which will therefore cause asthma. Usually when people work in these type of environments, they need to have special