I wasn't too surprised to see the article in the New York Times describing the increase in the numbers of asthma sufferers in the United States; it seems like something that you hear mentioned far more now than even a few years ago. However, when looked at in the context of global health, this has significant and dangerous implications.
The levels of asthma in the country have now reached 1 in 10 for children and 1 in 12 for adults according to the most recent figures. Looking at the prevalence of asthma in populations across the country, figures have increased since 2003 for all racial groups as well as gender and age groups. This suggests that the problem of asthma is not just affecting individuals with a particular lifestyle, but everyone.
One of the most alarming parts of this report is that the increased numbers of people with asthma occurred at the same time as a general decrease in the number of smokers in the country. Before this information, many scientists assumed that smoking was the leading cause of asthma increases. What this suggests is that there are environmental triggers causing the disease. These could include environmental pollutants, traffic exhaust, plastics, and use of pesticides.
This has a major tie-in to the topic of environmental health that we looked at in class. When people don't live in a healthy environment, their overall health deteriorates, which also causes a rise in the cost of treating the general population. The article mentioned that people should be better informed about how to treat their asthma, but I consider this to be a very superficial solution. If asthma levels are universally rising, it seems like the root cause of this increase is something that would be work investigating and solving.
I found it very interesting that a decrease in smoking has not led to a similar decrease in the prevalence of asthma in the country. More research needs to be done into the causes of asthma in the world and what can be done to eliminate them. Undoubtedly, the pollution of the environment has led to an increase of many respiratory problems, including asthma. This shows the huge effect our environment plays on our everyday lives and in our overall health. Living in poor environmental conditions exposes you to so many health problems not seen in other places.
ReplyDelete