Asthma risk factor- Part -1

Asthma Risk Factor: Indoor pollution

Asthma is not only caused due to internal health problems but many other factors of the environment are also responsible for increasing the risk factor of asthma.
Many people have allergic reaction to indoor air pollution like cigarette smoke or second hand smoke, mold, and noxious fumes from household cleaners and paints which set them at higher risk of developing asthma. Gas stoves being a source of nitrogen dioxide is also counted among indoor pollution that causes wheezing, breathlessness, asthma attacks in some people.

Asthma Risk Factor: Outdoor pollution

Individuals who are living in urban areas are almost pervaded all around by various types of outdoor pollution. So, urban life style increases the risk of developing asthma due to environmental pollution, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, ozone, cold temperatures, and high humidity which are considered as triggering factor for asthma. Ozone and sulfur dioxide are the major destructive ingredient in smog that irritation and constriction of airways along with coughing, shortness of breath, and even chest pain.

Asthma Risk Factor: Weather changes

Weather changes also contributes to increase the risk factor of developing asthma or asthma attacks in asthma susceptible people. Especially the children are at higher risk of developing asthma during such changes. Cold air alone can causes many problems like airway congestion, bronchoconstriction, secretions, and decreased mucuciliary clearance. With the increases in humidity there may arise breathing difficulty in certain people.

Asthma Risk Factor: Occupational asthma

In many cases, asthma is found to be related with the occupation of the individual. The regular exposure to certain chemicals or other substances works as irritating substances and increases the risk of developing asthma. Certain other irritating substances that are listed in this category includes farming, hairdressing, and paint, steel, plastics, and electronics manufacturing etc.

Asthma Risk Factor: Obesity

Studies revealed that asthma is somehow relatedwith obesity. Obese people are at higher risk of developing asthma. Wheezing is more common in obese people.

Asthma Risk Factor: Pregnancy Asthma

pregnant mother who are addicted to smoking have their infants born with lower pulmonary function incompare to non smoking mothers. Even Premature birth is also a risk factor for developing asthma.

Tweet This Post 

Asthma Risk Factors

Asthma risk factors are certain personal traits or events, the exposure to which increases the likelyhood of experiencing asthma disease or some health problems associated with the disease asthma.

Though there are many factors that are considered as risk factors for triggerring Asthma symptoms in human body. Family history, gender are also some of them. Though we cannot resist gender, our family history but there are many risk factors, the exposure to which we can control. In this section, we will learn about various risk factors associated with the cause of asthma. This will help you to consult your doctor about what you can do to reduce your risk.

Asthma Risk Factor: Gender

Gender is considered as one of the risk factor that cannot be controlled. Since childhood boys are more likely to develop asthma in comparison to girls. Though the reason for such things being unknown but research suggest that female airways are wider in size in comparison to males. This may be a active contributer to the increased risk of wheezing sound after cold or viral infection. But the risk factors vary with the age. The ratio of asthma around 20 years of age is almost same for male and female whereas the ratio of female asthma is higher in age group of 40 or above in compare to male.

Asthma Risk Factor: Low birth weight

Low birth weight or the children who are smaller than normal child during birth are also found to be at higher risk of developing asthma.

Asthma Risk Factor: Family history

Genetic factor or family history plays a crucial in increasing the risk factor for developing asthma in their children. In fact about three-fifth of all asthma cases are found to be inherited from their immediate blood relations. Children having family history of asthma are at 6 times higher risk of developing asthma in comparison to children without any such family history.

Asthma Risk Factor: Hyperactivity of airways

People susceptible to asthma are often found to have hyperactive or sensitive airways. This disease causes the airways to get inflammed and narrowing of bronchial tubes. The airways often tends to react when comes in contact with triggers as cold air or allergens. Though everybody who has hyperactive airways doesnot develop asthma but such people are at higher risk of developing asthma.

Asthma Risk Factor: Atopy

Atopy is also known as hypersensitivity to allergy that affects different parts of the body without being coming into direct contact with it. Studies revealed that 40% to 50% of children who are hypersensitive to allergy like eczema or atopic dermatitis are at higher risk of developing more severe and persistent asthma as adults.

Asthma Risk Factor: Allergies

Children or adults who has hypersensitivity to certain allergens are found to be at higher risk of developing asthma. Bacterial toxin and endotoxin are found to have direct relation with asthma symptoms. Some of the allergens are as stated below

• Pollen
• Animal dander
• Mites
• Molds
• Dust and dust mites
• Certain foods
• Aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• Air pollution
• Cigarette smoke

Continued Asthma Risk factors

Tweet This Post 

Asthma Symptoms

The symptoms of asthma vary from person to person. The symptoms manifests from mild coughing to severe obstruction of airways. Though the symptoms in case of severeness rarely develop abruptly but persistent exposure to asthma triggers, cause the symptoms to get worsen over period of time resulting in occassional serious obstruction in airways. People with asthma generally experience the symptoms when the bronchial tubes or airways gets inflammed and tighten due to reaction of the tubes with external unfavourable conditions.

General asthma symptoms

The common asthma symptoms includes

• Wheezing - It is whistling sound that occurs during breathing due to narrowing of airways and excessive mucous present therein. During asthma attack, patient always produce wheezing sound during breath out. The attack usually begins with wheezing followed by rapid breathing which gradually becomes more and more severe with visiblity of active breathing muscles.
• Coughing - People having symptoms of asthma often found to have coughing specially during night and early in the morning which makes it hard to sleep.
• Shortness of breath - Some people with asthma feels high obstruction in breathing as if the air can’t get out of the lungs. This is one of the major source of distress in asthma patients. Though the sverity of this symptoms not always succeed in reflecting the impairedness of functionality of the lungs. Several patients are even unaware of the fact that they are sufferring the shortness of breath. They are as higher risk of asthma attack due to unconciousness.
• Tightness of chest along with pressure  - The sufferer of asthma often feels the tightness of chest as if something is compressing it or squeezing it. Sometimes this may be an early indicator of severe asthma attack.
• Svere chest pain- Sometimes severe chest pain occurs in few patients but the intensity of the pain doesnot always necessarily bear resemblance with the severity of asthma attack.
• Tightening of neck muscle is appearantly visible which makes it difficult for vocal chord to produce sound, in short the patient suffers difficulty in talking.
• Rapid heart rate
• Sweating
  

But it is to be kept in mind that it is not necessary that people sufferring with any or some of the above symptoms have asthma. Likewise many people having asthma may not have above mentioned symptoms.

Check out this vedio about Asthma Symptoms & Treatments : Chronic Asthma Cough in Children

Early detection of asthma symptoms

A little conciousness about the early symptoms of asthma will help to prevent asthma attack and manage daily life activities. Though these symptoms are not severe enough to knock you about coming asthma attack but these can be traced by little care towards the below mentioned problems.

• Coughing frequently during early morning and especially at night
• Problem in normal breathing with a feeling of that you are running out of breath.
• Tiredness feeling during daily activties and exercising.
• Start wheezing or coughing after high physical activity or exercise.
• Feeling tiredness, grouchy, or moody.
• Decreases in lung functioning.
• Freequent sneezing, runny nose, cough, nasal congestion, sore throat, and headache

These are the warning signs or symptoms, which will help you to consult your doctor for taking proper asthma medication chalk out a proper asthma treatment action plan.

Tweet This Post 

Asthma

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that affects all age group. This disease causes the inflamation and narrowing of bronchial tubes which together with excess mucous secretion from the wall of inflammed tube causes the tightening and constriction of airways. Asthma causes wheezing or whistling sound during the process of breathing due to narrow and constricted airways.
Asthma can cause minor wheezing problem to life threatning asthma attack. The general symptoms of asthma are tightness of chest, shortness of breath, and excessive coughing especially during the night and early in the morning.

Here is a vedio from youtube by Dr. Joshua Fink, M.D.(Specialist in pulmonary surgery) for you to understand about asthma a little better.

Though asthma attacks people of all age group but children are at higher risk of developing asthma.

Asthma Overview

Asthma prone people have inflamed airways which makes their bronchial tubes or airways sensetive and swollen. Due to high sensitiveness, these airways often tends to reach with any foreign particles they breath in or some unfavourable weather conditions etc. Soon after the reaction starts surrounding muscle of the bronchial tubes start tightening to resist the cause of reaction. This cause the air tubes to get narrower due to compression and the person feels shortness of breath and sometimes some other related symptoms. The problem of narrowing gets increase more and more with the excess production of mucous from the tube walls to trap any foreign particles in them and to spit them out of the tubes. This often cause anoying wheezing sound and cause problem in normal breathing.
This often set up a chain reaction that triggers asthma symptoms.

In most of the cases the symptoms are mild and goes off with the withdrawl of the cause of airways reaction or with minimal treatment of asthma. But there are cases where the symptoms continues to get more and more intense and decline the health condition. Sometimes other additional symptoms add up the worsen the condition. This is known as asthma attack.

Asthma Outlook&lt

Presntly there is no treatment available for complete cure of asthma. Avoid any asthma treatment natural or otherwise that claims complete cure for asthma. Even when we feel better, Asthma is there within, which can flare up at any time. But asthma is manageable with todays knowledge, by avoiding some of the risk factors. By doing so they can increase the posibilities of active life and sleep through the night without interruption from asthma.

For successful, comprehensive, and ongoing treatment, you should consult your doctor and follow up his guides.

Symptoms of asthma

Risk factor of asthma

Tweet This Post 

What is Dandruff?

Ans . Dandruff is white dead scale or flaky patches of skin on the scalp which are constantly replaced by new cells on the epidermal layer of scalp.

Why we Get Dandruff?

Ans. Contrary to the old believe, studies over dandruff indicate that dandruff is not caused by too much use of shampoo or dry skin. Most common result of the cause of dandruff is found to get triggered by overactive oil glands, poor metabolism, excessive perspiration and many other factors. Among the before mentioned probabilities, more often than not, it is the result of a poor metabolic process.

The scalp has general process of constantly renewing and shedding itself due to a fungus called malassezia present in every body’s scalp. Thus the Old cells die out to make way for the new ones. So, dandruff is a normal phenomenon for every body. But dandruff symptoms gets aggravated when the scalp comes in contact of harse chemical effect of some hard shampoo, excessive exposure to dust, UV light, improper metabolic function of body. Actually these factors cause manifold increase in these fungus, they in turn causes formation of the new cells much faster than the rate of shedding off old cells. This excessive formation of new cells cause accumulation of unhealthy residue on the scalp in the form of flakes.

Too much oiliness of the skin rather than dryness also cause dandruff..Seasonal changes, emotional stress, certian diseases etc triggers a flare up. Other factors include family history, excessive sweating, using alkaline soaps, yeast infections and food allergies.

Treatment & Remedies

Unfortunately there is no permanent cure for dandruff problem, but everyday care, medical treatment, home remedies are there to keep it in control.

The first step towards controlling dandruff is to keep the hair and scalp clean as far as possible, so that the accumulation of dead cells should be reduced.

General Home remedy Tips

.After long observation, it is found that Hair Messages with hot oil proves to be very effective in controlling dandruff. The scalp should be messaged gently in a circular manner using fingure tips, so that the skin of the scalp experiences a gentle movement. This message helps in dislodging of dandruff flakes, sidewise gentle message on scalp also stimulates hair growth.

Apply hot coconut or olive oil for gentle messaging at night kept it applied overnight. In the next morning apply lemon juice one hour before shampooing. Rinse the hair properly after shampooing.

The hair should be brushed regularly. This also improves hair growth and removing of flakiness. The process of combing should be by leaning or bend forward from waist and the head down towards the ground. The brush should be moved from the nape of the neck towards the top. This leaning forward will prevent the flakes to drop on your face. It is necessary as these flakes can cause pimples when come in contact with face skin.

. Applying lemon juice on scalp helps reducing dandruff little bit after several treatments.

You can read more about Home Remedies from dandruff by clicking on the link.

For clinical therapy, you are suggested to consult the best medical practitioner.

Tweet This Post