5/18/10

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. Raj Sreedhar, assistant professor of pulmonary medicine at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.  He describes some symptoms of the disease.

SOUND BITE:   “It typically starts out with a cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness and if the airway is quite narrow, they also have this whistling, high-pitch sound that’s called wheezing.  It typically occurs more so during nighttime.” 

Dr. Sreedhar says asthma can develop in individuals of any age.  Symptoms can begin in children who are between 2 and 7 years of age.   It is diagnosed by a physician who listens to the lungs and uses a breathing test, in which a patient breathes into a device that measures air flow.   He describes some treatments for the disease.

SOUND BITE:  “One of the medications can be given in the form of inhalers.  Those are medications which come in little containers in which the patient inhales to maintain to not only open up the bronchial tubes which have been narrowed but also to reduce the inflammation in the airway.  If the asthma is severe enough there are some tablets the patient can take by mouth to decrease the inflammation in the lungs.” 

Dr. Sreedhar 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.