Asthma is a hypersensitivity disease characterized by attacks of severe breathing difficulties.
Between attacks the patient has no symptoms. Asthma attacks are caused by constriction of the bronchial tubes because of contraction of broncial smooth muscle and increased production of mucus. This leads to cough and difficulties in breathing. Attacks can also cause anxiety.
The agents that the allergy sufferers react to are called allergens. In addition to the agents listed above, nuts, fruits, shellfish, additives, and preservatives can be allergenic. Asthma can also be elicited by other external factors such as cigarette smoke and other kinds of smoke or fumes, polution, chemicals, and changes in the weather and temperature. Hormonal fluctuations, blood sugar related problems, stress, and a high level of physical activity can also contribute to the development of an asthma attack.
The symptoms of asthma are caused by an overreaction of the cells of the immune system upon meeting with the allergen. Approximately 20 seconds after the meeting with the allergen, the cells of the immune system release histamine and other potent chemical agents.
These are the actual cause of the well-known symptoms described in the introduction. If left untreated athma can develop into a life-threatening condition.
Asthma can strike people within all age groups, but there are large regional differences in the incidence of the disease. The disease is most often seen in children. The incidence of asthma has doubled over the last 20 years and has not topped yet. The same is true for the severity of the reported cases, the symptoms are getting more pronounced.
Statistical data on asthma:
- The incidence of asthma is greater in children whose mothers used antibiotics during pregnancy.
- More frequent in the western world; in countries with high hygienic standards.
- Less frequent in children whose parents are farmers and have lifestock.
- Less frequent in the younger siblings.
- Less frequent in families that have a dog.
In children and teenagers the attacks are most often provoked by dust, animal hair, fungal particles or pollen. It turns out that children are particularly sensitive towards air pollution and increased levels of ozone to which they react with worsening of symptoms. Children who are often exposed to chlorine-containing water in swimming pools seems to have a higher risk of becoming asthmatic. In theory, many different agents can provoke the immune system and cause hypersensitivity.
Researchers have found a gene on chromosome 12 which makes one susceptible to asthma, caused by environmental factors.
Asthma can be divided into two major groups:
Congenital asthma is predominantly caused by allergy. This type is the best known, and the etiology can be determined by a dermatologist or a specialist in allergic diseases. The specialist can determine the agents that cause allergic reactions by use of an allergy test.
The other type is not caused by allergy, but can be elicited by chronic infection in the upper airways, by toxic agents, chemicals, and even large emotional upsets.
Asthma and antibiotics
In recent years there has been increasing attention paid to the development of asthma after the use of antibiotics, but also to the growth of candidia fungus which may follow a treatment of antibiotics. It has been realized, that children less than one year of age who are treated with antibiotics, have twice the risk of developing asthma, than do children who are not treated with antibiotics. In children who receive several rounds of antibiotic treatment, the risk is increased further. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are in this case worse than narrow-spectrum, just like children who have a predisposition are more at risk than those without.
A British investigation has directed some suspicion to the Whooping cough vaccine as a potential cause of the development of asthma in children. This suspicion has, however, not yet been confirmed.
Food intolerance also seems to play an important role in asthma and is always worth considering. Experience shows that the symptoms can be immediate or delayed according to the food in question. Typically, foodstuffs like eggs, fish, shellfish, and nuts will cause immediate reactions while foodstuffs like milk, chocolate, wheat, citrus fruits, and colouring agents will cause delayed reactions.
Some people believe that the immature immune system of the young child is dependent on the stimulation of regular, mild infections and stress factors for achieving sufficient encoding of the immune system, so that in the future the system will neither under- nor overreact to the agents that can cause asthma. Both exposure to too many and not enough allergens in early childhood can, therefore, cause disease.
Some asthma patients do not produce enough gastric acid. In addition, the mucosa of the intestinal canal can be leaky, giving way for diffusion of non- or partially catabolized foodstuffs into the bloodstream. This can lead to overstraining of the immune system and incorrect responses of the immune system with reactions towards the uncatabolized alient foodstuffs.
