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 definite 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.
