Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. In asthma, the bronchial tubes tend to become inflamed, making them more closed than they should be. This results in air not circulating through them well. Because the bronchi are responsible for air and the pipes are responsible for water, people with asthma find it more difficult to breathe. The causes of asthma are not clear. There seems to be a genetic predisposition. This does not mean that a specific gene is involved, but that in some people there is a certain genetic weakness and certain stimuli, such as allergies or viral infections, trigger a series of signals that cause the body itself to produce chronic inflammation of the bronchi.
To control inflation, inhalers based on drugs called corticosteroids are mainly used. These drugs act on the lungs, practically do not enter the systemic route (the rest of the body) and reduce inflammation. As the inflammation subsides, breathing returns to normal. It is also true that patients do not respond in all cases. Sometimes higher doses of inhaled corticosteroids are required, in other cases biologic drugs may be required.
Biological drugs are injected and act on specific cells that cause inflammation, such as eosinophils or their receptors in the lung membrane. And what they achieve is that the eosinophils practically disappear or their number is greatly reduced and in this way the inflammation is also achieved. This treatment has been used for the past fifteen years.
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Most often, asthma in boys and girls begins with an allergic disease. And there are cases of minors who have asthma in childhood and can disappear in adulthood. We do not know, why. This is not the case when asthma begins in adults. These cases, in which the disease occurs in adulthood, tend to be more common in women. Patients living in polluted environments, such as cities, are more likely to suffer from the disease.
Uncontrolled asthma can cause a feeling of suffocation, making it difficult to breathe and making you unable to exert yourself. If it is something very sudden, because crises sometimes occur and the bronchial tubes close abruptly, the person may need to go to the emergency room for corticosteroid injections to try to relieve the inflammation.
Years ago, when there were no treatment options, a person could die from an asthma attack. It is now much rarer because there are effective treatments and people respond to them and there are usually no problems. But it is also true that we see that asthmatics who smoke can suffer more serious attacks and may need to be admitted to an intensive care unit.
Belen Gomez She is a pulmonologist at the Virgen de la Victoria Hospital in Málaga and a researcher at the Biomedical Research Institute.
Question emailed from Ada Veiga
Coordination and writing:Victoria Toro
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