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Asthma - the causes and the home remedies (part 1) By Mumtaz Khalid Ismail
More Links Mechanism of asthma Risk factors of asthma Trigger factors of asthma
Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition resulting from inflammation caused by allergy. An asthma attack can last for minutes or days, makes breathing difficult and may cause wheezing and coughing along with a sense of tightness over the chest to the patient. This is one of the commonest and troubles some disease seen in all age groups and races. Thanks to the increase in atmospheric pollution, incidence of this disease is on a rise.
Patients of asthma have airways that have tendency to narrow. Airways narrowing can happen by three mechanisms. They are -
- Inflammation causes the swelling of mucousal membrane of the bronchus.
- Bronchial constriction caused by the chemical mediators.
- Increased secretion of mucous.
These changes are due to chemical mediators released by the destruction of special cells present on the bronchial covering.
Even though exact cause for asthma is not known there are risk factor identified to be associated with asthma. They are
- Sex - males especially in childhood are prone to develop this disorder.
- Family history - a positive family history is a risk factor.
- Atopy / allergy - a person who have allergic disorder noticed to have higher incidence of asthma.
- Chronic lung disease - an infant who is suffering from chronic lung disease are at a higher risk to develop asthma at later life.
- Viral contagion - risk of exposure to viral contagion is a major determinant of asthma in children.
- Low socio-economic status and over crowding - this may be due to increased risk of exposure to viral infection and also due to the poor quality of air.
- Bottle-fed babies - many studies have clearly shown an increase incidence of asthma among bottle fed babies compare to breast fed babies in their later life.
- Smoking and passive smoking - increase risk of developing asthma by increasing the risk of developing infections and causing recurrent irritation to the airways.
- Exposure to allergens - prolonged exposure to allergens increase risk of developing asthma.
In a person who is prone to develop asthma, becomes symptomatic after exposing to triggering factors. These triggering factors are -
- Viral infection - viral respiratory infection precipitate an asthmatic attack.
- Household allergens - pollen, moulds, house dust, active or passive smoking, cockroach derbies, cologne spray, mosquito coil smoke etc are found to trigger an attack of asthma.
- Pets - dogs and cats are the main culprits. Saliva, dander, sebaceous secretions and cat urine is believed to be the cause.
- Exercise - it is a major triggering factor mainly among the male children.
- Climatic changes - in this group of triggering factors, cold and high humidity are the important factors.
- Air pollution - oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide are the major factors.
- Food allergens - Common foods that may cause asthma in susceptible individuals are milk, ice cream, wheat, yeast, tomato, grapes, banana, guavas, citrus fruits, cheese, nuts, prawns, egg, chocolate, pork, and beef.
Certain food additives like sulphites and benzoate preservatives can also cause asthma attack. So it is always better to read the label of any processed and packaged food and if it contains sulphides and benzonates are better to be avoided. Sulphides are used in cider, beers, and wines and as preservatives on raw fruit and vegetables. Benzoate preservatives are used in low calorie jams, chewing gum, drinks etc.
Food colouring E102 tartrazine yellow, E104 quinoline yellow, E110 sunset yellow may also cause asthma. So always read the label and then buy all food products. How ever food allergens as a triggering factor of asthma is not that common and difficult to prove.
These triggering factors alone or more frequently in combination cause irritation to the already sensitised airway causing complex reactions ultimately result in narrowing airway and resultant symptoms.
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