5-26-09

Asthma

Asthma is one of the country’s most common and costly diseases.  It affects both children and adults.

Thousands of people in the U.S. suffer from asthma, which causes them to miss work and school and sometimes even make emergency room visits.  It is a condition in which the lungs are or become sensitive to irritation, causing them to be inflamed, clogged and constricted, says Dr. Kent Kapitan, associate professor of pulmonary medicine at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.  He describes some symptoms of the disease.

SOUND BITE: “Generally, people with asthma find that they have episodic respiratory distress.   So most of the time, they feel fine, but perhaps in contact with certain things like dust or molds or pollen, they find they develop trouble breathing.  It can be as mild as a cough, which can be quiet a nuisance, or it can be more severe and result in actual difficulty catching their breath.” 

Dr. Kapitan says asthma can develop in individuals of any age.  One of the fundamental aspects of asthma is inflammation in the lung.  The foundation of treatment begins with an inhaled steroid medication, suppressing the inflammation and making it less sensitive to environmental stimuli. Dr. Kapitan describes addition treatments.

SOUND BITE: “. . . we also use inhaled medicines that relax the small bronchial muscles there by allowing the caliber of the bronchial muscles to increase and allowing air to move more easily into and out of the lungs. In severe cases, we are sometimes forced to use larger doses of medicines that are either taken in pill form or by injection that are fairly powerful anti-inflammatory agents.”

Dr. Kapitan says anyone who suffers from symptoms of asthma should see their primary care physician.  They may be referred to a pulmonologist for evaluation and possible treatment.

This is Ruth Slottag at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.