Asthma cases are on the increase.

Yes, you heard me right! Asthma cases are on the increase and who knows... if we all don't try to prevent it, you, your friends, your relatives, your loved ones or even your innocent children might be the next sufferers of this disease.

You see, there is now a greater prevalence of asthma cases than previously. It is estimated that there is an increase in more than 60 percent between the period of 1982 and 1994, and the trend has continued through to 2007! This is a staggering increase. And the worse news is that this increase is more prevalent in children.

Asthma is still predominantly a childhood disease, and it is usually diagnosed in childhood, but some people do also develop the condition during adulthood. Studies carried out recently predict that by 2025, some 400 million to 450 million people will have asthma. That is a worrying increase of up to 50 per cent, and since 1980, the largest increase in asthma cases has been in children under the age of 5 so the unfortunate sufferers will usually be troubled throughout their lives. Asthma affects about one in 20 adults. 

In the last decade there has also been an increase in asthma morbidity.  So, this is a very serious problem indeed.

What exactly is causing the increase in asthma? 

Some of the factors that trigger asthmatic attacks, and which have been known about for many years, include:

• Weather changes
• Environmental pollution
• Upper respiratory infections
• Allergies to smoke, dust mites, pollens, animal dander, mold/mildew etc.

Despite our being able to produce this list the underlying reasons for the increase in asthma are not clear.  Since the 1960s there has been a massive increase in asthma cases, but no cure, although god medication is available to reduce the severity of attacks. 

Changes in temperature, an increase or drop, can trigger asthma attacks as can sudden changes in the weather. However, weather changes have always been with us, and although research has also associated an increase in asthma attacks with thunderstorms, particularly in the UK and Australia, the rise in occurance can hardly be occurring from this source.

The increase in asthma may, on the face of it, be due in part to deteriorating air quality. In most nations air quality has tended to deteriorate with greater vehicle traffic, but could this really cause such a rise, after all there are tight regulatory control on air pollution both in the US, and many other countries which have stabilised air pollution from vehicle use.
Upper respiratory infections are known to cause asthma, and that much is self evident, but again, with good health-care availability and rising affluence in the countries affected by these big rises in asthma the rate of these infections tends to reduce. The presence of sinusitis, however, does not appear to increase the severity of asthma. So, the reason for the increase would not seem to lie here.
Asthma normally results from allergies to smoke, dust mites, pollens, animal dander, mold/mildew etc. The inflamed airways and broncho constriction seen in the asthma sufferer usually starts with an allergy which is the cause. 

So, is the increase in asthma related to lifestyle or housing?  Some have highlighted the parental obsession with cleanliness which exists in many homes. They blame the dramatic increase in asthma on the reductions in childhood infections that have occurred through modern hygiene and antibiotic use. They say that the any young person needs to be exposed to a fair measure of dirt before their immune systems become fully functional. The worry is that many children are simply not getting this exposure, especially when even at a very young age they spend a more sedentary life than previously watching TV, and videos, and playing computer games. This is known as the 'hygiene hypothesis', and some say that it may explain the increase in asthma in affluent populations.  With a large increase in sensitivity, the frequency of asthma could go up even if the triggers themselves were decreasing. There seems to be an increase in the amount of asthma all over the world, especially in children, and this hypothesis could calibrate well against the rise in affluence of the populations of countries experiencing rises of occurrence.

It was only when East Germany started adopting the practices of a Western lifestyle that asthma started to increase.  The British medical journal, Lancet, noted a startling increase in asthma among that country's school children.
Another view has been that modern central heating and now pressures, both financial and environmental to insulate homes, to reduce external ventilation and re-circulate air, has raised the level of indoor air pollution. This has occurred by insulation measures and air-conditioning tending to raise the count of dust mites, pollens, animal dander, mold/mildew etc by reducing the presence of fresh air in all our homes, and most workplaces as well
Also the atmosphere in modern workplaces can be poor, especially where dusty and dirty activities are present. Some solvents and low toxicity chemicals may also, when persistently present in the workplace, cause asthma. However, although occupational exposure is responsible for a few thousand new cases of asthma in Britain, (for example) alone every year, it clearly does not explain the apparent increase in asthma prevalence, which we see especially in children.

Are there any other possible causes?

Smoking and asthma in adults undoubtedly promulgates attacks. Both maternal smoking and prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke also increases the risk of developing asthma, for those children which are exposed.

Can the increase in child body mass index explain the rising trend in asthma in children? Trends in overweight and obesity coincide with the rise in asthma incidences, but many experts think that they may only partly explain the increase in asthma. Evidence for a link between the two continues to grow, with an increase in asthma prevalence reported throughout the world for overweight adults and children.

Although an insight into the relevance of the home environment to the increase in asthma, suggests that overweight families probably also exercise and go out less, so obesity is likely to go hand in hand with an elevated child asthma risk.

Some scientists theorize that the decline in serious illness these days, may be one factor in the increase of allergic asthma.  Collaborative health care teams that include the individual with asthma and the family increase the control of asthma.  Experts agree that the increases in asthma are real and not just an increase in reporting due to increased awareness, and better reporting.   

There are other reported asthma causes. Perfumes, for example, can be very potent in triggering asthma.

The rise in acetaminophen use may also have coincided with an increase in the prevalence and severity of asthma in the US, no link between the two was considered likely—until recently, and this is being studied.

Stroking a cat can sometimes trigger an asthma attack, and the presence of other pets may have a similar effect on the asthmatic person. 

To summarize this article, the prevalence of asthma in most developed countries has been increasing at an alarming rate, but the main underlying reasons for this increase are not clear.  New strategies are needed in the medical management of asthma, until the reasons for allergy development are better understood by scientists, and a cure is in place. 

The effects of air pollutants, and obesity on childhood asthma should be given urgent consideration by parents and the medical profession alike, and everyone, especially people with asthma, should be encouraged give up cigarettes. Surprisingly, given the strong links to asthma, not all those affected are willing to do this, and according to some estimates about ten per cent of people with asthma continue to smoke. 

(This article is provided for general informational use. It has been researched by the author, but the author is not trained or qualified in this subject. All information must be checked and verified by the reader/user before any action is taken, and the author accepts absolutely no liability for the correctness of the articles on this site, which are intended for entertainment use only.)