| | |  | 1. Life / Health & Healing / Medical Conditions, Procedures & Prevention
The Causes of Asthma | |
Asthma is a condition in which the small airways of the lungs become inflamed, causing difficulty in breathing1. The usual symptoms are coughing, wheezing, getting short of breath or a tight feeling in the chest. Around one in 25 adults and one in seven children2 in the UK have asthma. Facts and Figures Whilst the number of people diagnosed with asthma is rising3, the number of people dying of it is falling. Deaths peaked at just over 2,000 in 1988 and have fallen to around 1,500 per year in England and Wales. The majority of asthma deaths occur in those aged over 45, with around 40% occurring in the 75+ age group. Only a very small proportion (1%) occur in children4. Causes of Asthma Asthma attacks can be triggered by viruses, pollens, mould and fungus spores and other indoor and outdoor air pollutants. It is a common but mistaken belief that air pollution from traffic is the biggest cause of asthma. Outdoor air pollution was much worse in British cities in the early part of the century, and if that were the direct cause, then the UK would have experienced a sharp fall in asthma sufferers since then, and there would be a clear difference between city and country-dwellers. In actual fact, children across the UK have fairly similar levels of asthma. Most people in Britain spend over three-quarters of their time indoors, so exposure to indoor air pollutants is probably more significant. Indoor air pollutants include house dust mites and their droppings, pet dander (bits of skin), feather-bedding5, tobacco smoke, bird droppings, mould spores, tobacco smoke, and nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide emissions from gas cookers and appliances. House dust mites thrive in a warm, moist environment and live in carpets and soft furnishings, so modern centrally-heated, double glazed homes are just the right for them. It is much easier for people to blame fumes from cars and lorries for the increase in asthma, than it is to blame the dog and the fitted carpet and the double glazing that you just paid thousand of pounds for.
1 Usually there is more of a problem breathing out than breathing in.
2 Boys are more likely to have asthma than girls.
3 There is an increase in awareness of the condition, so that doctors are now more likely to correctly diagnose it than in the past. Despite this, asthma prevalence is rising, even taking into account greater awareness of the condition.
4 Source of data: ONS (Office of National Statistics).
5 After three years, a third of the weight of a feather pillow can be dust mite droppings.
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Entry ID:
A262775 (Edited)
Written and Researched by:
Peta
h2g2 Medical Team
Edited by:
Pseudemys
Date: 21
February
2000
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