Asthma is one of the most common diseases of childhood. Epidemiological studies in recent years suggest that 5 to 10% of children suffer from this disease, and each year this figure increases buy ventolin online. Serious concern also causes increased mortality from asthma and the number of hospitalizations in pediatric institutions.
The disease has been known since ancient times. The term "asthma" is derived from the Greek word meaning shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. The ancient Greeks treat asthma with respect, considering it sacred disease vyzyvemoy gods. In the first century AD, the Greek physician Aretha noted that women are more likely to suffer from asthma, and men more likely to die from it, the children also have the best prospects for recovery. In the second century AD, Galen described asthma as a spastic condition of the respiratory system. He correctly assumed that asthma is associated with obstruction of the bronchi and proposed to thin the mucus to clog the bronchi. Renowned physician Van Helmont, who suffers from asthma, a disease linked to the smoke and irritants. Thomas Sydenham identified asthma as a disease in which "blocked" the bronchi, and American doctor Eberle in 1830, noted the important role of heredity in the occurrence of asthma. In 1900, asthma associated with hay fever. Further studies have shown that the disease is caused by many reasons.
Currently asthma in children is treated as a chronic disease, which is based on allergic airway inflammation and bronchial hyperreactivity [1]. It is characterized by recurring attacks of labored breathing or suffocation due to bronchoconstriction, mucus hypersecretion and swelling of the bronchial mucosa. On the basis of the typical attacks of breathlessness physician determines the diagnosis "bronchial asthma". Sometimes they put this diagnosis even in cases when a child says a long dry paroxysmal cough, which is worse at night or upon awakening.
Asthma refers to diseases with hereditary predisposition and usually develops in children with a family history that marks the patients with allergic diseases. Some children with asthma with no apparent family history may have relatives who have wheezing observed in the lungs, incorrectly diagnosed as "chronic bronchitis" and "emphysema". Recent studies suggest that asthma, starting in early childhood, most likely has a hereditary origin.
It is now well known that the onset of asthma in most children is associated with exposure to various allergens, the most common is the house dust. About 70% of children with asthma are sensitive to house dust. House dust is a complex mixture containing cotton fibers, cellulose, animal fur, mold spores. The main component of house dust mites are invisible to the naked eye (see. Figure). My favorite food mites - scales that are exfoliated with human skin and collected in mattresses, carpets and upholstered furniture. They may also be in the upholstery fabrics, bedding, soft toys, under baseboards.
Optimum conditions for their reproduction is a warm, humid climate. At 10 ° C and 50% humidity mites die. Dead house dust mite does not lose its allergenicity, as his body particles have pronounced allergenic activity. Patients who are sensitive to house dust mites, asthma attacks occur most often either at night or early in the morning. Emergence of symptoms when possible zastilanie bed because the concentration of dust mites in the air increases considerably.
The causes of asthma can be wool, dander, saliva, a variety of animals (cats, dogs, guinea pigs, hamsters and other rodents). Feline allergen contained in saliva or a dandruff wool, most powerful of all allergens and has excellent stability and ability to penetrate deeply into the lungs. It is long persistent in the environment, even after the cat was removed from the house. dog allergens (wool, saliva and dander) are able to maintain a high level for several months, even after the removal of the dog from the house. Common causes of choking attacks are also horse dander, dry food for aquarium fish, and insects, especially cockroaches.
A major cause of asthma can be mold spores in the air, air conditioners, as well as in damp dark areas (basements, garages, bathrooms, showers). In winter, when the ground is frozen or covered with snow mold on the street is no longer a problem for asthmatic children. Molds are beginning to multiply rapidly in the air since the beginning of May, reaching a peak in July or August, and can cause symptoms until the first frost. Molds are present in many foods (aged cheeses, beer, pickled vegetables, yogurt, champagne, dried fruit, products made of yeast dough, kvass, stale bread).
The pollen of flowering plants in 30-40% of children with asthma may be a cause of attacks of breathlessness. The peak incidence is usually falls on April-May and is associated with tree pollen -. Birch, alder, hazel, maple, ash, chestnut, willow, poplar, etc. If asthma symptoms occur in June-August, their cause is pollen grasses - timothy, fescue, ryegrass, cocksfoot, meadow grass. Weeds (goosefoot, ragweed, mugwort, dandelion, nettle) cause asthma symptoms in the summer-autumn period. The range of allergens and pollen of flowering dates vary depending on the climatic and geographical zones. Many pollen is so light that spreads through the air and falls freely into the airways. Heavier pollens (eg, roses and pine) is carried nizkoletayuschimi insects, ie it is less allergenic than pollen in the air.
A number of children's asthma attacks can induce drugs such as antibiotics, particularly penicillin and macrolides, sulfonamides, vitamins, aspirin. This contact with drugs can not only at their reception, but when you stay close to the children of pharmaceutical industries.
Noted in recent years, an increased incidence of asthma is largely associated with environmental pollution, especially atmospheric air, chemical compounds, usually by industrial (complex particles of sulfur dioxide) and photochemical smog (ozone, nitrogen oxides).
The adverse impact on children with asthma has an air pollution dwellings chemicals. New building technologies (more coverage, less natural ventilation, the use of modern building materials, heating and humidification technology) significantly changed the quality of the air inside the premises and increased its negative impact on the respiratory system.
In addition to the above factors, exacerbation of asthma in children can cause physical stress, emotional stress, crying, laughing, changing meteosituatsii, pungent smells of paints, deodorants, perfumes and tobacco smoke. Children with asthma whose parents smoke, there are frequent exacerbations requiring receiving anti-asthma agents. It was found that the severity of the child's illness is directly dependent on the number of cigarettes smoked daily by parents. Attacks of wheezing may develop in a child in the age of one month, if the family is smoking parents or other relatives.
Viral infections are the most common causes of asthma attacks. Respiratory viruses damage the ciliated epithelium of the respiratory tract mucosa Sheath and increase its permeability to allergens, toxins, improving bronchial hyperreactivity. Many asthmatics are prone to frequent acute respiratory diseases. The presence of foci of chronic infections, primarily in the nasopharynx, the degree of sensitization increases.
Thus, bronchial asthma - a multifactorial disease, the development of which it is closely related to the influence of genetic and environmental factors. Elucidation of the causes of asthma, significantly increases the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.