History has seen a number of great men and women suffering from asthma but they went on undeterred, working towards their achievements. Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara, the revolutionary figure, was one among them.
Asthma is a condition where the airways (the elastic tubes connecting the nasal cavity to the interior of the lungs and branching out like roots) temporarily shrink, making it difficult for an adequate quantity of air to reach the lungs. This causes intense distress, manifesting in breathlessness and tightness of the chest. The narrowing of the airways, like a toy trumpet’s reed, produces a musical sound called wheeze, which is often audible.
The shrinking of the airways happens due to an exaggerated immunological response (an allergic type of immunological response) to a particular substance or substances (allergen) in susceptible individuals. Though there is credible evidence that air pollution increases the incidence of new asthma cases, researchers have determined that a drop in exposure to natural infections due to surging vaccinations has escalated the allergic type of immunological response in human beings, leading to the development of asthma.
This allergen/antigen may be anything from pollen to house dust, from animal dander to food additives. It varies between individuals: a certain allergen which triggers an asthmatic attack in an individual need not trigger it in others. So the best way for one to prevent asthma is to identify and avoid the triggering allergens. A friend of mine, who is asthmatic, had flare-ups whenever he dined at a particular restaurant and had a certain dish. Later the culprit was found to be ajinomoto, or monosodium glutamate, an additive used to enhance taste.
Any ethical medical practitioner will disclose to patients that asthma is not curable but fully controllable, and that it can be managed throughout one’s life, provided proper treatment is given. This statement by allopathic doctors happens to be the raw capital for many quacks. Switch on certain prime television channels after 10 p.m. and you will find a chap claiming to cure a volley of diseases. Topping the list invariably will be asthma.
A three-month course of treatment from him (while stationed in a certain lodging house, one in each town) would completely cure asthma, he exclaims. And a couple of persons (patients) will be extolling the unparalleled abilities of this saviour. Allured, thousands of innocent patients fall victim to them. They end up losing money and reap frustration.
Even after the allergen gets away and the triggered immunological response settles, an inflammatory process, though subtle, persists in the airway. So there is a need for continuous administration of medicines (which most general practitioners don’t advocate) to check the inflammation and prevent flare-ups.
The Global Initiative for Asthma has developed excellent guidelines which, if followed scrupulously, will be of immense benefit in the diagnosis and treatment of asthma. The development of modern inhalational devices has revolutionised asthma management and kept drug-adverse effects at bay, paving the way for asthmatics to lead a normal life. If only such inhalational devices were made available free of cost in government hospitals across the country, tens of thousands of underprivileged patients would benefit.
drpdorai@yahoo.com
