Breathe without fear

Don't ignore symptoms of respiratory problems, warn experts

Infections of the respiratory tract continue to be one of the major causes of illness in the UAE. The common cold, influenza, sore throat, bronchitis and pneumonia are illnesses that form the spectrum of respiratory tract infections. Viruses are the most frequent cause of these problems. However, it can get complicated when it is accompanied by bacterial infection.

According to experts, there are all sorts of respiratory disorders in this part of the world. Dubai is a cosmopolitan city where people of various nationalities live together. There is a floating population here.

There are patients suffering from conditions like bronchial asthma, Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COLD), sarcoidosis affecting the lungs, viral respiratory tract infections and occupational lung diseases. Of these, bronchial asthma and Chronic Obstructive Lung Diseases are common.

The prevalence of bronchial asthma varies greatly from country to country according to socio-economic and demographic factors. It is clear, however, that the number of asthma cases continues to rise, leaving asthma sufferers more susceptible to serious infections, such as those caused by pneumococcal disease.

Different types of bronchial asthma have been diagnosed from mild to severe to persistent and chronic types affecting all age groups. Asthma can also be caused after a bout of respiratory tract infection like a common viral infection.

Asthma patients are specially affected by weather. When the weather changes, symptoms such as itchy and running nose and cough get worse and more frequent. This can be because the pollen count in the air is higher.

Asthma is characterised by frequent and persistent breathing problems with symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing, tightness of the chest and coughing. When asthma is not under control, a patient's breathing is not under his control. The airways of the lungs get thick, swollen and inflamed. During an attack, breathing gets difficult because of the swelling in the lining of the airways, muscles around the airways tightening and the small airways in the lungs get clogged.

Consequences of asthma may include fatigue, lack of self-confidence, and various types of mental suffering (psychosomatic effects). He may suffer behavioural and personality disorders, becoming irritable and too dependent which have to be taken into consideration.

Asthma can also be caused because of allergies. In this case, only symptomatic treatment is possible using antihistamines. Bronchodilators could be used to relieve coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. They work by opening up the bronchial tubes - the air passages to the lungs - so that more air can flow through.

Doctors advise that bronchial asthma should be identified and diagnosed properly. Patients have to take medicines intermittently or regularly on the advice of a chest physician. In the case of pneumococcal disease, it is a leading cause of serious illness. This disease is caused by a common bacterium, the streptococcus pneumoniae that can attack the body.

A person with normal lungs is able to withstand infection better that a person with diseased lungs. Those with respiratory problems can end up more sick and may have to be hospitalised. They may have to be admitted in the intensive care unit and supported with ventilators. There is the possibility of even death, doctors warn.

Usually patients with symptoms like cough or breathing difficulty tend to ignore this problem till it becomes severe. Symptoms should be picked up and addressed at the right time. With early treatment, the underlying damage can be limited to a minimum.

It is unclear why asthma increases the risk of pneumococcal disease although one theory suggests that the lung may be more prone to infection due to differences in the airway of asthmatics.

The airway and lung are entry points for streptococcus pneumoniae, the bacterium that most commonly leads to pneumococcal infections such as meningitis, otitis media (ear infection), pneumonia, sinusitis and bacteremia (blood stream infections).
-suchitra@khaleejtimes.com

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