World Asthma Day is organised every year on the first Tuesday of the month of May by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), a collaborative organisation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was founded in 1993. The day is celebrated as a global asthma awareness day and is being held on May 7th, 2024.
The Global Initiative for Asthma celebrates World Asthma Day every year around a theme. If you ask what is the theme for World Asthma Day 2024, “Asthma Education Empowers” is this year’s theme, emphasising the dire need to empower people suffering from asthma with pertinent education to manage the disease and to realise when they need to seek medical assistance. Doctors and other medical practitioners, too, need to understand how to prevent asthma from turning into a life-threatening condition for their patients and how to help those suffering from asthma to manage it.
As per the World Health Organisation, in 2019, asthma was affecting around 262 million people worldwide and was the cause of 455,000 deaths. This article explains everything you need to know about Asthma in line with celebrating World Asthma Day 2024 to create awareness among the masses. Stay connected.
What is Asthma?
Asthma, now known as bronchial asthma, is a non-communicable disease affecting your lungs. It is a chronic condition which cannot be cured and requires continuous medical treatment.
The symptoms of asthma are caused by the small airways in your lungs getting inflamed and narrowed and may result in any combination or all of the following conditions:
- Cough which persists and increases at night
- Wheezing sound when you breathe mainly when you exhale, but also during inhaling
- Shortness of breath or having difficulty in breathing, even when you are resting
- Tightness in your chest making normal breathing difficult
Therefore, an asthma attack, also known as an asthma flare-up, may cause the following, which affects your airways and the muscles around them:
- Bronchospasm: Tightening or constriction of the muscles around your airways, narrowing them and making it difficult to breathe
- Inflammation: The lining of your airways gets inflamed and swollen, reducing the volume of air in and out of your lungs.
- Mucus Production: Your body increases the production of mucus clogging your airways.
Types of Asthma
There are several types of asthma, and each type is triggered in different ways. The most common types of asthma are as follows:
- Intermittent Asthma: Intermittent asthma is the type that comes and goes away, which feels like normal attacks.
- Persistent Asthma: This form of asthma means that you suffer from the symptoms of the disease most of the time, in mild, moderate or severe forms.
- Allergic Asthma: Asthma may be triggered by your allergies. Common allergens would include pollen grains from flowers, dust-like moulds formed by spores of certain fungi and pet dander from the fur or feathers of animals or birds.
- Non-Allergic Asthma: This type of asthma is caused by external factors. Such asthma flare-ups may be a result of illness, stress, weather or exercise.
- Seasonal Asthma: People suffering from allergic asthma face it only during certain times of the year. The triggers may flare up due to allergens appearing only during certain times of the year, such as hay fever season or when it is cold.
- Occupational Asthma: Occupational asthma is caused by the presence of irritating substances like dust, fumes, chemicals or fur in the workplace. The symptoms from this type of asthma disappear as soon as you stop your exposure to the irritants triggering it.
- Exercise-Induced Asthma: This type of asthma is triggered by the narrowing or squeezing of your airways during exercise. It may cause coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing or other such symptoms during or after completion of exercise. This is medically referred to as bronchoconstriction.
Causes of Asthma
Research has not been able to provide any concrete answer as to why some people are affected by asthma while others are not. However, there are certain factors which increase the risk of getting asthma:
1. Allergies: Allergies increase the probability of you suffering from asthma.
2. Environmental Factors: These are especially harmful for infants and toddlers who are yet to develop their immune systems. Such factors include exposure to substances that may irritate their airways, such as toxins, allergens, and fumes.
- Note: Exposure to smoking or tobacco smoke in any form, including second-hand smoking (being in the presence of someone who is smoking) or third-hand smoking (getting exposed to the clothes of someone who has smoked or being in a place where someone has smoked) may be a reason for development of asthma.
3. Genetic Factors: If there is a family history of asthma or any other allergic diseases, you are at a greater risk of developing the same.
4. Respiratory Infections: The lungs of young children could also get damaged in the development stage by certain respiratory diseases.
What are the 4 Stages of Asthma?
Asthma may be classified into 4 stages depending on the symptoms and to determine the extent of asthma in a person. These are the 4 stages which are generally used in medical parlance:
Stage 1 – Mild Intermittent Asthma
- Your symptoms flare up less than twice a week.
- You do not face any problems during these flare-ups.
- You only face short flare-ups ranging from between a few hours and a few days.
- You experience these symptoms at night-time less than two times in a month.
Stage 2 – Mild Persistent Asthma
- Your symptoms flare up more than twice a week but do not happen more than one time a day.
- Your activity levels get affected by these flare-ups.
- You experience these symptoms at night-time more than two times in a month.
Stage 3 – Moderate Persistent Asthma
- You show symptoms every day.
- You need to use your rescue medication daily.
- Your symptoms flare up two times a week or more frequently.
- Your activity levels get affected by these flare-ups.
- You experience these symptoms at night-time more than one time in a week.
Stage 4 – Severe Persistent Asthma
- You have symptoms constantly.
- You face a decrease in the levels of your physical activity.
- You have frequent attacks or flare-ups.
- You experience these symptoms at night-time frequently.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma
Asthma is diagnosed by reviewing your symptoms and medical history, including your family health history. You will need to provide details of any previous allergies and lung diseases. The doctor may ask you to undergo spirometry, to measure the airflow through your lungs and x-rays, blood and skin tests, if necessary.
The following options may help manage your asthma:
Bronchodilators
Medicines relax the muscles around your airways to allow free movement of air and move mucus through your airways. These are used to treat your symptoms as they happen and are used in cases of chronic and intermittent asthma. These may be administered through an inhaler or nebuliser.
Anti-inflammatory Medicines
These are used to reduce the swelling and production of mucus in your airways, thus making entry and exit of air in your lungs easier. These need to be taken daily.
Biological Therapies
These are used in the treatment of severe cases of asthma when the symptoms remain despite regular and proper inhaler therapy.
Concluding Lines
You may prevent an asthma attack by avoiding the triggers that cause the symptoms to flare up. However, you cannot stop yourself from getting asthma. Thankfully, in the case of children, there is a very high chance of their asthma going away as they grow up. You may live a normal life with asthma, taking part in sports and other activities. However, you need to be careful, avoid the triggers causing the attacks, and manage the symptoms.
Asthma, being chronic in nature, is considered to be a pre-existing disease or pre-existing condition by health insurance companies. Care Health Insurance covers asthma as a pre-existing disease with a mandatory waiting period as per policy terms and conditions. Policies like Care Supreme and Care Advantage offer an optional add-on rider – Modification of PED Waiting Period where you may choose to pay an additional amount to reduce the waiting period to 1 year, 2 years or 3 years as per the terms and conditions of the plans.
>> Also Read: Does Your Health Insurance Provide Coverage for Asthma
Disclaimers: The above information is for reference purposes only. Kindly consult your general physician for verified medical advice. The health insurance benefits are subject to policy terms and conditions. Refer to your policy documents for more information.
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