The Effects Of Asthma On College Students

Asthma is the leading cause of chronic illness in children and is responsible for nearly 10% of the Emergency Room visits for children <15 year of age. It occurs in as many as 10%-12% of children in the United States and is gradually growing. Asthma can begin at any age , but most children have their first symptoms by age five. Because Camp Wapiti is for children ages 8-13 exclusively, this report will focus primarily on childhood asthma.

A quite common, yet still horrible disease that people suffer from is asthma, which my uncle suffers from. It’s a terrible thing when you see them pull out that inhaler. You see the pain in their eyes. Also, how they have suffered with this horrendous condition of simply not being able to breath. Asthma is a non-communicable disease that plagues many people around the globe.

Growing up with asthma since a very young age, I cannot participate in sports and have to take asthma medications every day. I get used to ensure my inhalers are in my bag before going anywhere and seasonal allergies following up with runny nose or nasal congestion. However I still feel lucky because many people who have more severe asthma were struggling with their schooling. For me, as I grow older, I learn to manage my medical situation. I try my best to avoid dusty places, cigarette smokers, and car exhausts. Although I was not able to do sports in school, I manage to run every week with my sister to conquer asthma. I found that the more time that I spent to warm up before running, the better I can keep my asthma from acting up. Even though

R.J. is a 15-year-old boy with a history of asthma diagnosed at age 8. His asthma episodes are triggered by exposure to cats and various plant pollens. He has been using his albuterol inhaler 10 to 12 times per day over the last 3 days and is continuing to wheeze. He normally needs his inhaler only occasionally (2 or 3 times per week). He takes no other medications and has no other known medical conditions. Physical examination reveals moderate respiratory distress with a respiratory rate of 32, oximetry 90%, peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) 60% of predicted, and expiratory wheezing.

Asthma affects 1 in every 12 Americans. According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, Asthma is affects “About 1 in 9 (11%) non-Hispanic blacks of all ages and about 1 in 6 (17%) of non-Hispanic black children had asthma in 2009, the highest rate among racial/ethnic groups.” As a mother of child with asthma, I know how scary it can be to deal with asthma attacks and learning how to treat the symptoms and minimize risk factors.

Stress, anxiety, sleep difficulties and depression were among the top five factors that students reported as having a negative impact on academic performance (having cold/flu) was the other top factors. (Hunt, J. & Eisenberg, D.,

Breathing is a vital process for every human. Normal breathing is practically effortless for most people, but those with asthma face a great challenge. During an asthma attack, breathing is hampered, making it difficult or even impossible for air to flow through the lungs. Asthma is an increasingly common problem, and has become the most common chronic childhood disease. At least 17 million Americans suffer from it(1), and although it can be fatal, it is usually not that severe(4). There is no cure for asthma, but with proper care, it can usually be controlled.

The feeling of a lead brick on your chest, desperately needing air but unable to draw a breath and the feeling of drowning in the very substance you need to survive. Shaking hands squeeze a canister and suddenly there is a rush of medication, an odd taste and then the brick gets lighter and lighter as gradually more oxygen comes in and once again air is flowing in and out properly. For an individual with asthma, an inhaler feels like the most amazing invention ever to grace the human mind or hands. Without the medicine stored in the tiny canister, life as is known by the average non-asthmatic would be but a dream for myself and around 25.7 million other people (Akinbami and Johnson, 2012). The idea of inhaling medicine to cure ailments started

“Sarah is at Children's Hospital, in the ICU”. Those are the words that changed my life. Sarah is extremely sick and it's making me want to be smart, strong, and kind. My sister, Sarah had lung failure when she was in 7th grade, she was hospitalized and stayed at Children’s Hospital in the ICU for around a week. Nearly a year later they found out what was wrong with her, she has Chronic Eosinophilic Pneumonia and Severe Asthma. When I saw her get sick I saw her being strong, nice, and keeping up on school work she made me want to have these qualities as well.

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

History of Present Illness: Ms. Johnson is a very pleasant 66-year-old woman who was previously evaluated in this office by Elvira Aguila, MD for the diagnosis of asthma. She was last seen in January 2015. She states that overall, she has done well. However, over the last two to three weeks, she has noticed increasing shortness of breath as well as productive cough, rhinorrhea and postnasal drip. She states that she has been using her rescue inhaler above and beyond what is normal for her up to 10 times a day yesterday and she states that she has had some improvement in her symptoms with her short acting bronchodilator. She denies any fevers or chills.

I sometimes hear my peers remark that even a contagious ailment would not keep them home for fear of losing notes exclusive to in-class discussion, as this would mean ravaging their grades. Though it may seem unreasonable to assume missing school for even a day can damage one’s future, eighth grade students who missed just three days of

Asthma is a respiratory disease characterized by spasms in the bronchi of the lungs, resulting in difficulty breathing as well as coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness. This condition affects nearly 26 million Americans, and causes over 5,000 deaths and 2 million emergency department visits in the US each year. While asthma affects people of every race, sex, and age, it is more prevalent in specific populations of people, such as low-income housing communities in San Diego. Various risk factors contribute to the development of asthma, such as (1) having a parent that lives with (or has a history with) asthma, (2) being classified as an overweight individual, (3) having sensitization to different irritants and allergens, and (4) struggling

In the mid-summer of 2000, I was "Twin B" born at 38 weeks. When I was a-week old, I developed a high temperature fever. After changing my formula four times, my parents found out that I was allergic to milk proteins. A few weeks later, I developed a cough that literally took my breath away, and I would cough so much that my face would turn blue. Doctors had given me several types of nebulizer treatments in order to deliver a water vapor medicine into my lungs, which did not work. Then, I lost my voice due to vocal-cord paralysis, which tied ends to a whooping cough. As a result, I was hospitalized for more than a month. When I came home, I still had no voice to cry like a normal baby. Thus began my condition of asthma, evidently inherited

According to some estimates, at least five million students miss nearly a month of school every year. Some research shows that missing just eighteen days out of the school year-- or two days out of every month-- can bear negative results on a student’s academic performance. And in the U.S., an estimated one-hundred-sixty-four-million school days are lost each year due to sickness among kindergarten to twelfth grade students. Though the average student misses four and a half days of school each year due to sickness, students with chronic or marginalized illnesses and conditions are at risk for more absences and overall lower academic performance. It is obvious, then, that chronic poor health affects student learning outcomes.