Asthma Essay - English 102 PDF

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Asthma: Should there be a Cure? Introduction There should be a cure for asthma because it is a life-threatening disease that affects many people. In some cases, asthma can cause depression. A person who has asthma, an asthmatic, my become depressed due to fatigue. There are many treatments to manage asthma, but the triggers allow an asthma attack to happen. The most common trigger to cause an asthma attack is allergies. Body What is Asthma? What is asthma? According to “Asthma Matters” by Andy Whittamore, he defines asthma as “Asthma is a long-term condition that affects the airways.” (Whittamore 22). It causes the airways of the lungs to swell. When an asthma attack occurs, the lungs become swollen and makes an asthmatic have difficulty breathing. When an asthmatic tries to breathe, he/she will cough and wheeze. If he/she does not feel better after using an inhaler, he/she should call an ambulance and seek medical care. According to “Asthma” by Johnathan Arm and Albert Sheffer, they state, “The inflammation involves mast cells, eosinophils, macrophages, fibroblasts, and neutrophils, and the inflammatory changes are associated with widespread airflow obstruction, which is variable and improves (reverses) spontaneously or with appropriate therapy.” This means that inflammation causes the airways of lungs to close. Asthma attacks can happen spontaneously based on an asthmatic allergies and condition of his/her symptoms. Asthma can either can be under control mild, moderate, or severe. An asthma that is under control involves few to no symptoms. A mild asthma contains tightness of chest, coughing, difficulty breathing, soft wheezing, some shortness of breath. A moderate asthma contains continuous coughing, talking in some sentences, tightness in chest, loud wheezing, and difficulty breathing. A severe asthma contains persistent coughing, wheezing may be silent, paleness, severe difficulty breathing, and under distress and anxiety. The wheezing comes from the oxygen trying to pass through the mucus that start to close the airway of the lungs. If the person is having a severe asthma attack, the wheezing may be silent due to the lack of oxygen that is able to pass though. “...it’s a complicated condition that varies tremendously and is different for everyone. Some people have good weeks, good months or even good years with few or no symptoms.” (Whittamore 22). According to Allergy and Asthma: Effects of the Exposure to Particulate Matter and Biological Allergens by Baldacci "More than 300 million people worldwide are affected by asthma [29] and asthma accounts for about 250,000 annual deaths worldwide with large differences between countries." (Baldacci). Many people suffer from asthma. It can kill hundreds of people a year due to the lack of oxygen people are getting into their lungs during an asthma attack. The country with the most asthmatics is the United Kingdom. The second is the United States. Since the United Kingdom is mainly cold weather, the coldness reacts with the cell of an asthmatic and causes an asthma attack. The cold weather causes the throat to dry and the attack can become severe. In the United States, people are prone to asthma because being overweight or obese can lead to being diagnosed with asthma. When a person is or obese, the body is strained and is prone to catch an illness. Commonly, it is asthma because if he/she moves around for a certain amount of time, his/her body will become tired and can cause him/her to start wheezing. Once the wheezing begins, he/she is having a mild asthma attack. According to the journal Supporting Self-Management of Asthma through Patient Education by Bridget Murray and Mary O'Neill WHO (World Health Organization) (2018) states that approximately 235 million people live with asthma, and that the low to lower-middle income countries account for 80% of asthma-related Jones 1

deaths.} (Murray 396). There are many countries in which people die from asthma. Since the only method to stop an asthma attack once it is beginning is medication. Many countries cannot afford albuterol, which is the main and highly request treatment to stop or slow down an asthma attack. Fatigue-Depression Asthma has the effect of disrupting sleep at night. According to the journal, Causes and Management of Asthma by Felemban Hassan Saleh, it states, "These symptoms mostly happen in episodes or attacks, commonly at night." (Hassan Saleh 77) When lying down, the tightness of the chest increases, and it becomes harder to breathe. The symptoms intensify at night due to the common symptoms. This causes the asthmatic to become tired physically and mentally. This affects his/her view of quality of life due to fatigue that can lead to depression. Fatigue is being extremely tired. With lack of sleep, the asthmatic has trouble focusing and have a more difficultly controlling symptoms during the day. Fatigue feels like the body is drained from a majority of its energy and struggles to function properly. According to The National Institute of Health, it states, "The most common cause of fatigue is oxygen deprivation." When the body is deprived of oxygen, it becomes harder to breathe. The asthmatic is using a lot of energy to breathe and it can become tiring on the body. He/she is using more energy to breathe without realizing and wonder why he/she is tired in the middle of the day. Fatigue can lead to depression because lack of sleep affects the function of the brain and does not allow it to function properly. The asthmatic's body will feel like it wants to call it quits. He/she will feel like there is no point to continue with the treatments if there is not a cure to end the symptoms. According to the journal, Depression Symptoms and Risk of Incident Asthma in Adults Depression Symptoms and Risk of Incident Asthma in Adults by Hanan Showei H. Fageeh, “...over 18,000 adults found that those who experienced severe depression, anxiety, or stress in their childhood had a greater risk of having asthma” (Fageeh 1878). Many adults are tired of being attached to a machine that his/her life depends on. It is a struggle to carry a nebulizer and keep a positive attitude. This causes a higher risk of adults suffering from asthma and depression. When an asthmatic’s body is tired and wants to take a break from it. Sadly, there isn’t a break unless the asthma is under control. Many people do not have asthma that is not under control, and this causes the asthmatic to suffer from intense depression. “People with asthma have twice the risk of developing mood and anxiety disorders.” (Fageeh 1866). Since asthma is a chronic illness, it can develop other illnesses. It has this ability because the immune system is highly weak. Many asthmatics can become mentally unstable due to fatigue and depression. Their mood can change rapidly and suffer from disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder. An asthmatic can have a traumatic experience where he/she almost died from asthma attack. This causes him/her to stress about when the next life-threatening attack will appear. With stress, asthma can flare up and cause a worse attack in the future. “This emotional stress can add to depressive feelings and can worsen asthma symptoms” (Fageeh 1881). An asthmatic’s emotional stress has a major strain in the body. He/she will feel weak, depressed, and tired. The positivity is slowly fading, and he/she will lose interest in many things that were once enjoyable. An asthmatic will possibly cry because his/her feels too weak to continue with the treatment plans and being terrified of when the next asthma will happen. He/she will possibly cry due to the lack of hope that the disease will fade away and the symptoms will disappear. He/she will possibly cry due to the lack of sleep because, at night, asthma is stronger at night than during the day. Asthma has a major emotional stain on the body. Triggers

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In the term of medicine, a trigger is the cause of something to react with a substance. The most common triggers are: colds, dust, mold, smoke, allergies, pets, stress, cold air, and pollen. When an asthmatic has a cold, this clogs his/her nose as a source to breathe. This is a sign that the immune system is becoming weak and there is a high risk of an asthma attack to happen. “Keeping emotionally well is important because strong emotions such as fear, anxiety, stress, and depression can sometimes trigger asthma symptoms.” (Fageeh 1876). When an asthmatic is calm, he/she has more control of his/her asthma. If the asthmatic is under stress, the symptoms can flare up and cause a severe asthma attack. This has a high chance of leading to death because the more stress, the more quickly the lungs will swell, and the mucus will coat the inside of the lungs and close. It is similar to quicksand, but with asthma. “Asthmatic patients regularly experience acute exacerbations. These exacerbations are commonly triggered by allergens; comprising animal dander, pollens, dust mites, and mold; viral respiratory tract contaminations; irritants such as smoke and dust; cold air and exercise” (Hassan Saleh 76). These are the most common triggers. For example, an asthmatic can be allergic to dogs. If he/she is exposed to the fur and dander of the pet, then his/her nose will be clogged and lose a way of breathing if an asthma attack happens. This connects to stress because the asthmatic would panic because he/she cannot breathe through the nose and worries that an asthma attack will happen soon. “Depending on the type of trigger, asthma is classified as being either allergic or non-allergic” Hassan Saleh (77). An allergenic asthma is when the asthmatic has allergies as trigger and has different severity of the attack based on the intensity of the allergens. For example, an asthmatic can be 4+ allergic to cats. That means that he/she has a highly allergic to cats and should try to avoid cats. A non-allergic asthma can be based on physical activity and other outside triggers regardless of allergies. An asthmatic can be allergic to nothing, but still have asthma attacks. “Non-allergic asthma (also called “intrinsic asthma”) is caused by triggers released by the body. These triggers include bacterial or viral inflammations of the airways in particular” (Hassan Saleh 77). There are some medications, like painkillers, that can cause an asthma attack in an asthmatic. The content in the medications can react with some of the cells in the body that make it feel like there is an intruder and begin to panic. This cause a high chance of a severe asthma attack based on the strength of the medication that was taken. "… colds and flu, along with any throat and nose infections, can act as asthma triggers" (Murray 398). This means that the immune system is weakening, and this can cause an attack that can lead a quicker death. If the throat has an infection, the asthma will be more aggressive. Allergy The most common kind of asthma is allergy-induced asthma. If an asthmatic is exposed to his/her allergens, the nose will become blocked and he/she will not be able to breathe through the nose. When an asthma attack happens, the asthmatic cannot breathe through his/her nose and is struggling to breathe through his/her lungs. “Someone with asthma has sensitive airways that are inflamed and ready to react when they come into contact with a trigger, which can include cold and flu viruses, pollen, pollution and secondhand cigarette smoke.” (Whittamore 22). Secondhand smoking is when a nonsmoker is with a smoker and breathes in the smoke. This weakens the lungs. During the spring, asthmatics are commonly going to have a mild to severe asthma attack based on the strength of his/her immune system and lungs. The spring has the most pollen spreading in the air. When pollen enters the body system, it attaches to a cell and contaminates it. For healthy people, he/she will begin to sneeze. "Allergic asthma is also called “extrinsic asthma” because the trigger is breathed in with the air." (Hassan

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Saleh 77). For an asthmatic, the pollen reacts differently and cause the airways to swell. It generates mucus and other bacteria that clogs the airways and allows minimal air to pass through. Transition to other side It is understandable that there are many treatments and management plans to control asthma. Many people will say that there does not need to be a cure for asthma because it will eventually disappear, and the asthmatic will not have symptoms for years. They can argue that asthma is easy to control the symptoms. Treatments There are many treatments to prevent and manage asthma. A doctor prescribes every asthmatic an inhaler to carry incase symptoms flare up. “Pharmacologic management includes the use of control agents such as inhaled corticosteroids, long-acting bronchodilators (beta-agonists and anticholinergics), theophylline, leukotriene modifiers” (Hassan Saleh 77). There are many different types of inhalers. There are rescue inhalers and prevention inhalers. The most common rescue inhaler is filled with 90 mcg albuterol in propellant and ethanol. It has an inhalation aerosol and has a red case with a whit cap; it is caller Proair HFA. A common prevention inhaler is Symbicort. “recommends that patients use reliever and preventive inhalers as their main asthma treatment, together with avoiding asthma triggers” (Murray 396). Symbicort is filled with 80 mcg formoterol fumarate dihydrate. There is up to 120 inhalations. According to Dr. Uma Jayaraman, "Inhaled corticosteroid is a common and effective controller medicine." (Jayaraman). Some asthma patients use an albuterol machine, known as the nebulizer, to inhale the medication. The medication allows the lungs to slowly open and return to the normal state. The nebulizer is albuterol sulfate inhalation solution. It contains 0.63 mg/3ml of albuterol sulfate. When an asthmatic is having an asthma attack, he/she cannot take the inhaled medication. It cannot stop the attack once it started; they do not work fast enough to help. Doctors prefer the asthmatic to use the inhaler every day, not only when he/she is having symptoms, because this helps prevent the symptoms before they occur. It is important that an asthmatic carries his/her inhaler when traveling. If the asthmatic does not have the inhaler with him/her, he/she should immediately seek medical attention when symptoms arise. Management "The prevalence of asthma increased worldwide in the second half of the last century until the 1990s, but since then, there has been no clear temporal pattern" (Baldacci). Over the years, the prevention of asthma has increased. the ultimate goal is to prevent symptoms, minimize morbidity from acute episodes, and prevent functional and psychological morbidity to provide a healthy (or near healthy) lifestyle appropriate to the age of child.} (80) "Patient education on these factors is a central part of encouraging asthma self-management" (Murray 400).

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"… make an asthma action plan... It tells what medicines your child needs to take everyday to control asthma symptoms." (Jayaraman). By using the asthma action plan, it can help prevent and treat asthma attacks. The asthmatic will be able to predict when they will possibly have an attack and the intensity. It gives the parent and the child all the medications that needs to be taken everyday and the timing of the medications. This is the most common wat you manage asthma because it is simple and effective. "If your child has a peak flow meter, use it to check how well your child is breathing." (Jayaraman). By using the peak flow meter, the asthmatic can tell the severity of the attack before it happens. It also tells when the attack is going to occur. Once the asthmatic is aware of the severity, he/she can take the prescribed medication to gain control and make the attack less severe. If the asthmatic feels that the severity of the attack is too severe, he/she should seek medical attention immediately. "Controlling psychological factors may reduce the severity of their symptoms and improve the management of their disease" (Murray 397). A method of to manage asthma is to change his/her lifestyle. There are many things an asthmatic can change about his/her life to prevent and manage from having asthma attacks. He/she can try to avoid smoking and other smokers. "Try to learn what trigger's your asthma attacks before they happen. Avoid these triggers when you can." (Jayaraman). In order to stay healthy and fit, the asthmatic can create a workout plan that corresponds how his/her body and lungs can handle. He/she can change the diet to healthier options to lose weight and take the stress of his/her body.

Conclusion As of 2018, there is no cure for asthma. There should be a cure for asthma because it is a life-threatening disease that affects many people. Many triggers can cause an asthma attack. It is understandable that there are many treatments, but asthma is a long-term disease that can occur at any moment in a person’s life. An asthmatic would perceive as okay, but he/she could have an asthma attack. Based on the severity, an asthmatic can be hospitalized or die due to the lack of oxygen. Asthma is a disease that requires people to change their lifestyle to accommodate their condition.

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