Asthma is a disease marked by wheezing, coughing, and difficulty in breathing. It is a form of allergy, a physical reaction of some persons to substances that are harmless to other people. An asthma patient becomes short of breath during asthma attacks. The lining of the nasal passages swells, and spasms occur in the bronchial muscles.
Substances that cause asthma or other allergies are called allergens. Allergens may be taken into the body by being inhaled or swallowed. Some allergens enter the body through contact with the skin or by the injection of drugs. Emotional upsets also can cause or aggravate asthma attacks.
Common asthma-causing allergens include dyes, pollens, feathers, kapok, wool, cottonseed, house dust, air-borne molds, and the hair or skin of domestic animals. Many foods such as eggs, milk, nuts, wheat, chocolate, and spices can cause asthma. Antibiotics, hormones, and serums also can cause asthma.
Allergens taken into the body cause tissues and cells of the body to produce a substance called an antibody. Antibodies react upon the allergens, or attack them. This reaction produces the symptoms of asthma. Asthma may occur at any age. People do not outgrow it. Treatment of asthma patients presents many problems. First, the allergen responsible for the asthma must be found. Often, when pollen causes the condition, doctors advise their patients to move to pollen-free regions. A stone-cutter who develops asthma may find he is allergic to the dust created by his work. he may have to seek another job to find relief from the disease.
Vaccines made of the allergens are often given in increasing doses over a period of years. With this treatment, the body builds up immunity. A permanent immunity is established in some patients, but others need continuous treatment. Drugs such as antibiotics, serums, and hormones, relieve asthma in many patients, but may cause it in others. Drugs should never be used unless prescribed by a physician.
The use of epinephrine (Adrenalin) ranks as the most effective means of relieving an acute attack of asthma. Epinephrine dilates, or widens, the bronchi, or tubes leading to the lungs. Inhalation of other bronchial dilators as aerosol mists is convenient because the patient can carry the small apparatus with him, and use it when necessary. Another drug which dilates the bronchial tubes and relieves spasms, or sudden muscle contractions, is called aminophyllin. Doctors may also use it in combination with other dilators.
Expectorants, or preparations such as potassium iodide which thin the bronchial secretions, have been used for more than a century to relieve some of the symptoms of asthma. They should be used carefully, as excess usage may cause a rash.
About 3,900,000 persons in the United States suffer from asthma and a similar ailment, hay fever. It is estimated that one of every three persons with the seasonal hay fever also has seasonal asthma.
