The genetic basis of asthma heritability has been extensively studied and the studies are yielding some understanding. There is, as yet, no set genetic pattern that predicts presence of asthma or defines it severity. There are usually reasons or risk of asthma factors that makes someone susceptible to asthma and respiratory allergy problems. Asthma doesn’t just happen randomly to anyone without asthma gene factors risk factors.

Let’s consider some asthma risk factors and see how they increase the chance that a individual will have the asthma signs or symptoms of cough, wheezing, as well as shortness of breathing associated with the disease. After determining your personal risk factors for asthma, decide on the ones you can control as well as try to make some lifestyle changes. Avoidance of the risk factors you can control is important in preventing asthma symptoms. While you cannot change your own gender to family history, you can avoid smoking with asthma, breathing polluted air, and obesity. Take control of your asthma by controlling the asthma risk factors. By understanding all of the risk factors, you are able to prevent to control your asthma.

Genetic factors cannot explain the rise in asthma prevalence, morbidity, or mortality. However, a small change in the prevalence of relevant environmental exposures could explain a significant rise in disease prevalence among genetically susceptible individuals. Gene-environment interaction, defined as the co-participation of genetic and environmental factors, is particularly relevant to the etiology of asthma morbidity, especially in individuals who experience a disproportionate burden of environmental exposures. Relevant exposures include smoking, stress, nutritional factors, infections, allergens, and occupational asthma exposures. In addition, racial/ethnic variability in the distribution of genetic polymorphisms can potentially modify the response to pharmacotherapeutic agents, such as the ß 2 -adrenergic receptor. A genetic polymorphism in the ß 2 -adrenergic receptor gene has been associated with asthma severity, as well as with the susceptibility to develop asthma among individuals who smoked.

Childhood asthma happens more frequently in boys than in girls. It is still not known precisely why this occurs even though some experts find a young male’s airway size is small compared to the female’s airway, that may contribute to increased risk of wheezing after a cold or perhaps other viral infection. Around age 20, the ratio of asthma between people is the same. At age 40, more females than men have adult asthma.

The inherited genetic makeup predisposes you to having asthma. In fact, it’s thought that three-fifths of all asthma cases are hereditary. Based on CDC report, if a person has a parent with asthma, there is 3 to 6 times more probably to develop asthma than someone who does definitely not have a parent with asthma.

The induction of immune tolerance and specific immune suppression are essential processes in the control of immune responses. Regulatory T cells (Treg) play a central role in immune control in the periphery. Two broad categories of Treg have been described: naturally occurring Treg that are present in all individuals and antigen-induced Treg that secrete inhibitory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-10 and/or transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß. (more…)

Routes by which infectious organisms gain entry into the body include the skin, respiratory tract, gastro-intestinal (GI) tract and GU tract. There are fundamentally two ways in which infectious agents cross the physical and chemical barriers: either they are able to penetrate the intact barriers at one or more anatomical sites, or the physical barriers are damaged and breached, allowing entry of the organism.

Bellow are some possibles pathogens entry into human body:

Penetration of intact skin or mucosa

• Skin. Few organisms are able to penetrate intact skin. However, some parasites (e.g. hookworm) or their larvae (e.g. schistosoma) can do this. Other agents, such as wart viruses, set up infection in the skin and do not enter further into the body.

• Mucosa. Mucosa, being softer and damper than skin, are much more frequent sites of entry and all intact mucosa can be penetrated by some organisms. Examples are shown in table bellow. Pathogens can cross epithelia by passing through epithelial cells, as in the case of the meningococcus (a bacteria causing meningitis), or by passing between the epithelial cells, seen with Haemophilus influenzae.

Mucosal Sites of Entry for Pathogens

Penetration of damaged skin or mucosa

There are many ways in which skin or mucosa can be damaged, allowing entry of infectious organisms that could not cross intact skin or mucosa. Damage to skin is a particularly important route of infection and can occur in a number of ways:

• Burns. Burns, especially severe ones, pose a major risk for infection, particularly with Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Pseudomonas and Clostridium tetanus.

• Cuts and wounds. These can allow entry of similar organisms to those seen after burns.

• Insect bites. Numerous infections pathogenesis are transmitted via insect bites. These include malaria, typhus and plague.

• Animal bites. Animal bites can provide direct transmission of infection, such as in rabies. Because they cause significant damage to the skin, bites can allow the entry of the same environmental pathogens as burns, cuts and wounds (see above).

• Human behaviour. Various aspects of uniquely human behaviour can result in the skin being penetrated. Sharing of syringes by intravenous (IV) drug users exposes them to risk of hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A number of viral infections (hepatitis, HIV) have been transmitted by blood transfusion and blood products (e.g. factor VIII for haemophiliacs) before appropriate screening procedures were developed. Transplantation has also resulted in transmission of infection before the introduction of appropriate donor screening.

Damage to mucosa may not increase the likelihood of infection to the same extent as damage to the skin. However, physical or chemical damage may allow entry of some organisms (e.g. smoking increases the risk of respiratory bacterial infections or respiratory allergies). Furthermore, infection of the mucosa with a virus may cause damage and facilitate the entry of bacterial pathogens spread.

Asthma is characterized by Th2-dominant cytokine profiles. The risk of developing asthma is lower in children attending day care in the first year of life. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the interaction between day-care attendance, T-cell cytokine profiles and atopic phenotypes in early childhood. Children (n = 208) in the Childhood Onset of Asthma (COAST) study were genotyped for 72 polymorphisms in 45 immune response genes. The COAST cohort was selected on the basis of a high risk of asthma. Measurements of IFN-y (Th1), IL-5 and IL-13 (Th2), and IL-10 (Treg) were made at birth and at age 1 year and the children were stratified by day-care attendance. Wheeze and atopic dermatitis phenotypes were documented in the first year. (more…)

Diagnosis of food hypersensitivity is a clinical challenge and the only current definitive test is the Double Blind Placebo-Controlled Food Challenges. Although the Double Blind Placebo-Controlled Food Challenges is the current gold standard, it is difficult to perform and is very time-consuming. Hence, researchers are continually evaluating new tests and assessing the value of the available serum tests. (more…)

The geographical variation in the prevalence of asthma in children does not coincide with variations in air pollution levels. The increase in the prevalence of asthma and allergies seen over the last decades was paralleled by a decrease in emissions of SO2 and particles from coal combustion, and an increase of emissions from motor vehicle traffic. There is a growing number of studies suggesting that increased exposure to traffic exhausts, particularly diesel exhausts, may be a risk factor for the new onset of asthma. (more…)

The effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on children have been extensively studied and numerous surveys have consistently reported an association between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and respiratory diseases or respiratory allergies. Strong evidence exists that passive smoking increases the risk of lower respiratory tract illnesses such as bronchitis, wheezy bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and young children. (more…)

The most crucial element in the assessment process of a possible allergic problem is patient’s allergy history. An allergy history is made up of a chief problem, resolve of seasonality or diurnal variation of symptoms, detection of triggers, occupational asthma exposure, and reaction to medicines, family history, and some other relevant medical history. An allergy history looks for to define the patient’s chief complaint(s) and concentrates on the details with regards to those complaints. There is a lexicon typical to patients with allergy complaints. Sinus dizziness strain and headaches are often cited as symptoms. The history taker should be attuned to the patient’s viewpoint as a possible allergy sufferer. Exactly where and when does the symptom happen? Or is it happened during sleep? (more…)

This article focuses on symptoms of exercise induced asthma. Exercise can be a trigger factor when asthma is not well controlled. People with asthma should not avoid any form of exercise. It is advisable to exercise to keep the lungs and body in good physiological state. Doing regular exercise will strengthens the respiratory muscles. It will also increase your immune system and maintain a healthy weight. Those advantages can improve body health condition in the long term. The key to asthma exercise is to have a total control of asthma symptoms before to starting a fitness program. (more…)

It is very common in asthmatic children where overprotective parents prevent a normal level of exercise to their kids. However, a controlled sport appropriate to the course of their disease is very healthy.

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable bronchial obstruction and reversible, either spontaneously or with treatment, (more…)