Asthma prevalence increasing by 5% annually

[LahoreEstate]

Health experts believe task force won’t come up with desired results;awareness on prevention needed

Monday, May 11, 2009
Our correspondent

Islamabad

The prevalence of asthma in Pakistan is increasing day-by-day with an annual increase of 5% of which 20% to 30% are children between 13 and 15 years of age.

Nearly 20 million persons — 12% of Pakistani adult population — are already suffering from the disease.

Recently a task force has been formed jointly by ministries of health and environment, and Allergy, Asthma Institute of Pakistan on prevention, control and environmental risk reduction of asthma in the country. However, a number of health experts are of the view that a task force on the subject might not come up with desired results instead awareness campaign among public is need of the time.

“In my opinion, this task force will not be much beneficial in reducing the burden of asthma in the country, because in the past, several such task forces have been formed by National Health Programmes without any fruitful results. What is required is to initiate public health education campaign to raise the public awareness about the risk factors of asthma,” said Head of Community Medicine at Islamabad Medical & Dental College Professor Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry while talking to ‘The News’ Friday.

There is no cure for asthma at present and to reduce its burden, we should make public aware of the preventive measures and motivate them to follow these properly, said Dr Ashraf.

He said that individuals should reduce level of exposure to common risk factors particularly avoiding smoking and environmental smoke; damp housing conditions, indoor air pollutants and keeping indoor humidity low. Food allergies in children may be prevented by breastfeeding exclusively until six months. Healthy weight must be maintained. Pets should be kept out of bedroom and vacuum cleaning of house should be done frequently.

He said upper airways diseases (e.g. allergic rhinitis) must be treated. Get rid of dust collectors including heavy drapes, carpeting and stuffed animals. Control cockroaches with insect sprays. Use airtight allergy proof plastic covers on all mattresses and pillows. Wash all bedding and stuffed animals in hot water every 7-14 days. Avoid allowing odours and sprays in the home, he said.

Asthma is one of the most chronic diseases in the world affecting more than 300 million people worldwide and causing about 255,000 premature deaths annually. Asthma accounts for at least one in every 250 deaths. Studies reveal that asthma deaths would increase by almost 20% in the next 10 years if urgent action is not taken. Asthma occurs in almost all countries regardless of level of development, however, over 80% of asthma deaths occur in low and middle-income countries.

Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness, cough and wheezing which vary in frequency and severity from person to person.

“First sign of disease is ‘persistent cough’. Symptoms may occur several times in a day or week in affected individuals. For some people the symptoms become worse during physical activity or at night. Failure to recognise triggers that lead to a tightened airway can be life threatening and may result in asthma attack, respiratory distress and even death,” said Dr Ashraf.

He added that the strongest risk factors for developing asthma are having the family history of disease, exposure to indoor allergens such as house dust mites in bedding, carpets, curtains, stuffed furniture; pollution and exposure to cats and dogs in first two years of life, cockroaches, and outdoor allergens such as pollens, moulds, tobacco smoke and chemical irritants in the workplace used in farming and hairdressing, in paint, steel, plastics and electronic manufacturing, car paint sprays, flour and grain dust and wood dust.

“Key risk factors increase the susceptibility of a person to develop asthma, and also can trigger an asthma attack. It can lead to chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs).”

Talking of other risk factors, Dr Ashraf said that other risk factors are living in urban areas, especially the inner city, prenatal exposure to active maternal smoking, exposure to second hand smoke after birth, respiratory infections in childhood like flu and common cold, low birth weight, obesity, persistent allergic rhinitis (common cold), scented cosmetics and some medicines such as aspirin and beta-blockers (medicine for reducing blood pressure). “Nasal allergies alone may affect up to 50% of young Pakistani children, and almost 60 to 80% of these children may develop asthma later in life,” he said.

To a query, Dr Ashraf said that asthma triggers include cold air, extreme emotion arousal such as anger or fear, laughing, excitement and physical exercise. “At present, no cure is available for asthma, however, there are some very effective medicines available, which, when properly used, can very largely control asthma attacks and allow people to lead normal life. “Asthma that starts in childhood often disappear as child grows up but if it starts in adult life, it is less likely to disappear.”

He added that to reduce burden of the disease in Pakistan, we need a comprehensive strategy for its prevention. “Prevention of asthma in children involve efforts to reduce maternal smoking and to motivate mothers for breastfeeding while in adults, it should be directed towards enhancing workplace safety,” said Dr Ashraf adding general public should be made aware that prevention from common cold can save them from asthma and prevention of nasal allergy means prevention of asthma.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=176969