Why Asthma's On The Rise And The New Asthma Treatments
The incidence of asthma has more than doubled - from 3% to 7.5%
since 1980. Believe it or not, nearly 25 million people in the
United States are asthma sufferers. And while there's no
shortage of theories about why asthma is becoming a major health
concern, there is a shortage of definitive answers. Which has
led many people to ask why is asthma on the rise, especially in
urban neighborhoods, and are there any new asthma treatments?
The two questions actually go hand in hand. Many new asthma
treatments have been developed based upon the various theories
doctors have come up with to explain asthma's rise. In this
light, this article is a look at some of the answers to "why is
asthma on the rise and are there new treatments?"
Let's start off with a theory that might sound odd the first
time you hear it. Some doctors have come to believe asthma's
growing prevalence is actually due to our better health. Because
there are far fewer major diseases requiring the attention of
our immune systems, these doctors believe our immune systems
overreact to minor stressors such as allergens, which trigger
histamines and other inflammatory agents in the lungs. Once the
lungs become inflamed, bringing the condition under control
again can be a major effort.
There are other theories, of course. Even though air quality in
general has improved, there are more people than ever living in
urban settings where they're overly exposed to the allergens
that commonly trigger asthma - cockroaches, dust mites, mold and
secondhand smoke. Add to that the fact that children lead far
more sedentary lives than they used to, and spend far more time
indoors where they're exposed to allergens, and we can begin to
see that one reason asthma is on the rise maybe because children
are exposed to the allergens far more often these days.
New asthma treatments go beyond medicine to a whole new way of
looking at this disease and its management. Rather than focusing
on crisis management of acute asthma attacks, new asthma
treatments emphasize managing the disease by controlling the
environment and daily medication to reduce the risk of acute
attacks. These new treatments include once a day oral
medications for children with chronic asthma, daily maintenance
inhalers, education about asthma triggers and allergens for
those dealing with asthma and outreach efforts that involve
entire communities.
While there's been a great deal of research on asthma and asthma
medications over the past twenty years, there have been few new
drugs developed for treatment. This is primarily due to the
success of the current inhaler drugs. They work extremely well
as long as they're used everyday as prescribed. However, because
so many asthma sufferers tend to ignore their doctor's
instructions, a major component of this new approach to treating
asthma is to educate patients and families about what asthma is
and how to prevent asthma attacks.
The good news is that according to the Centers for Disease
Control, this new approach to treating asthma with education as
well as medication does pay off. In a recent study conducted by
the National Institute of Environmental Health Services,
researchers found that children whose families were taught about
asthma and how to manage asthma through environmental control
had 37.8 more days per year without any symptoms than those who
were treated in the hospital, given a prescription, and sent on
their way.