Archive for the 'ASTHMA' Category

Babies born by Cesarean section may have a moderately increased risk of developing asthma compared with those born naturally, Norwegian researchers report after investigating this link in a population-wide study.

Dr. Mette C. Tollanes, of the University of Bergen, in Norway, and colleagues looked at the modes of delivery among more than 1.7 million single births reported to the Medical Birth Registry of Norway between 1967 and 1998.

They used registry data from Norway’s National Insurance Scheme to determine the number of children who, through the age of 18 or the year 2002, developed severe asthma.

Between 1967 and 1998, asthma risk was about 50 percent higher among children born by C-section compared with children born spontaneously and vaginally, the researchers report.

They found 19 percent increased risk among children born by vaginal delivery requiring the use of instruments (forceps or vacuum).

From 1988 through 1998, when the birth registry designated between emergency and planned C-section deliveries, unexpected differences emerged.

Compared with spontaneous vaginal deliveries during this period, emergency C-sections carried higher asthma risk (59 percent) than planned C-sections (42 percent increased risk). Instrument-assisted vaginal deliveries brought a 14 percent increased asthma risk during this 10-year period.

Children whose immune systems rebound after treatment with potent anti-viral drugs for HIV infection face an increased risk of developing asthma, said a federally funded consortium of researchers led by those from Baylor College of Medicine in a new report.

Important immune system components called CD4 cells increase in children treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy,” said Dr. William T. Shearer, professor of pediatrics and immunology at BCM in Houston and chief of the allergy and immunology service at Texas Children’s Hospital.

CD4 cells are thought to be associated with the inflammation in the lung tissue that accompanies asthma. When CD4 cells decline in children with HIV, their asthma symptoms also decrease.

Shearer and his colleagues evaluated the use of asthma medication among children with HIV who took the anti-HIV drugs and those who did not.

They found that about one-third of those on the anti-HIV medications used asthma drugs compared to 11.5 percent of those who did not take anti-HIV drugs.

Shearer said a study that evaluates the lung function of children with HIV on anti-viral therapy would help explain how an increase in the immune system affects the risk of asthma.

Among four year-olds attending Head Start programs in New York City, those who had older siblings were more likely to experience respiratory symptoms including an episode of wheezing in the past year than those who were oldest or only children.

Children with at least two older siblings were also 50% more likely than other children to have gone to an emergency department or been hospitalized overnight for breathing problems.

These findings from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health were recently pre-published online in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy.

One possible explanation for the association is that children with older siblings have more exposure to respiratory infections at an early age than oldest or only children. Respiratory infections are a common cause of wheezing in very young children.

This study shows that children with older siblings may be appropriate targets for interventions to reduce the risk of infections that may lead to hospitalization.

Source: Medical News Today

As spring season comes, you have to think about spraying your home quickly.

This is especially important when you are suffering from asthma.

In winter months, dust and other allergens collect, making dangerous asthma triggers in your home.

You have to follow simple steps to protect yourself and your family from potential indoor asthma triggers.

Steps to prevent indoor asthma triggers

Dusting properly:

During the months of winter, dust might have gathered, so it is the time to clean every corner by moving the furniture aside. Curtains and window blinds are the places where dust collects, so remove and clean them properly.

If you identify that dust mites can trigger your asthma, you can reduce by vacuuming and dusting all areas using a vacuum cleaner with good suction and a filtered exhaust. You have to change the vacuum cleaner filters regularly.

Even though you are cleaning your home for spring, you should be careful as dust particles will stay in the air for at least two hours after cleaning process and these particles can trigger your asthma symptoms. One thing you can do is while cleaning your home; you have to keep the doors and windows open.

World asthma day is organized by Global Initiative For Asthma (GINA) in collaboration with asthma educators and health care groups for raising awareness about asthma and improving asthma care through out the world.

The theme of this year’s event will be “you can control your asthma”. Latest research on Asthma reveals that more than 300 million people around the world are suffering from Asthma.

Plan your World Asthma Day Event at Global Intiative for Asthma

Asthma Video by Dustmitex.com

Are you an asthmatic sufferer? Then you are more prone to develop asthmatic bronchitis, an inflammation in the lining of your bronchial tubes.

Once you are affected with severe respiratory disorder for over a long period of time, it obstructs your air passages present in your respiratory system and leads to asthmatic bronchitis.

Most of you who suffer with asthmatic bronchitis are usually affected with chronic bronchitis.

When you have these two conditions, the routine treatments which you use for treating your asthma no longer work.

In addition to this, if mucus comes into picture, then it becomes more difficult for you to clear your air ways.

Factors responsible for inflammation:

Asthmatic bronchitis is usually developed due to exposure of your airways to external irritants other than viruses and bacteria.

Most of the experts believe that severe childhood respiratory disorders and also weak immune systems are the most important factors which mainly contribute to asthmatic bronchitis. Even hyper activity of respiratory tract can also mainly facilitate to the development of asthmatic bronchitis.

If you have a habit of smoking, then you are more prone to develop asthmatic bronchitis and also several other respiratory disorders. You can identify asthmatic bronchitis with severe cough, feeling discomfort in your chest and also difficulty breathing.

The most common symptoms of mild asthma are a persistent, chronic, night time cough.

These can also be the symptoms of several pulmonary problems.

The asthma cough is a non reproductive cough. It doesn’t bring any mucus and it may sound as if something is rattling.

The cough which brings mucus and sputum into your mouth is not an asthma cough.

The coughs of asthma are most often dry coughs which are caused by bronchial spasms.

The truths regarding asthma cough are as follows:

• • The cough of asthma will be chronic and persistent. This could be the common symptom of asthma. But, not all chronic coughs lead to asthma. But, continuous coughs which create difficulty in breathing can lead to asthma.
  • Most of the medical researchers and doctors believe that the persistent and chronic night time cough is the most common symptom of mild asthma. Yes, of course it is the mild symptom of asthma and you should not take it lightly.
  • The most important aspect you have to remember is asthma cough is non reproductive cough and it doesn’t cause any mucus. The sound of this cough will be wheezing and rattling.

Asthma attack occurs when your bronchi and bronchioles become inflamed.

The inflammation reduces the airways through which air travels through the lungs.

This causes the sufferer to work hard to move air in and out of their lungs.

Once you have the complete idea of asthma attack information, you can prevent the symptoms of asthma.

Asthma attack begins with cough and chest heaviness. When the attack grows, wheezing develops.

Your breathing becomes more difficult and your cough produces thick, stringy mucus.

Airway irritation prevents the oxygen from reaching the lungs and cells of the body start to burn oxygen at a higher rate, which increases the need for oxygen.

Frequency of attack varies from sufferer to sufferer. Some have daily attacks while others can have attack in a month or even years without an attack.

Asthma attack information on narrowed airways:

People suffering with asthma have extra responsive or hyper responsive airways. When their airways become irritated, they react by contracting or obstructing. Therefore it makes difficult to move air in and out of the lungs.

The narrowing of airways is caused by airway inflammation and broncho-constriction.

Cardiac asthma is less common and refers to wheezing associated with heart failure.

It is a condition brought by severe reflexive blocking and can be edema of lungs.

Cardiac asthma is a type of breathing caused by sudden blockage of the pulmonary circulation.

Earlier, people mistook this disease as pulmonary edema or fluid in the lungs but later it became clear that cardiac asthma can occur without fluid in the lungs.

Cardiac asthma and pulmonary edema are symptoms of coming heart failure. It usually occurs in older people who have wheezing and shortness of breathe that are due to heart failure.

Cardiac asthma is a life threatening condition and you should seek medical advice if you experience any symptoms. This disease is caused due to the major fault of the heart and poses life threatening condition.

Fault in heart occurs when left part of the heart has a disproportion between its work load and work capacity suddenly, which causes additional stress to the heart. This inconsistency can lead to cardiac asthma.

Therefore fluid in the lungs is built up due to the reduced pumping effectiveness of the heart. Fluid build up causes narrowing of air passages and leads to wheezing and other symptoms.

The latest asthma research is focusing on the inflammatory reaction that occurs as a response to an allergen because in over ninety percent of people in newly diagnosed asthma cases inflammatory reaction occurs as a response to an allergen.

According to the current asthma research, approximately 15 million Americans are suffering from asthma. Five million people affected are under the age of 18.

Asthma research has shown that most of the asthma cases are related to hospitalizations and all deaths are preventable.

The asthma research at university of Sydney in Australia is trying to stop the harmful cells responsible for the inflammatory reaction from being produced.

Chemical messengers, which are called cytokines, stimulate these cells and current medicines such as steroids act to reduce the concentration of cytokines and stop the inflammatory response.

But the steroids which are used to reduce the concentration of cytokines also affect a number of other tissues in the body and produce side effects.

The asthma research unit at the university is studying how cytokines are produced and how they can stop production and stop inflammatory response.