Asthma: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment - Essay Sample

Introduction

Bronchial asthma is a respiratory disease caused by the constriction of the airways. The narrowing of the airways is a result of things like bronchospasm, inflammation, and increased airway secretions("Asthma: pathophysiology, causes and diagnosis", 2014). The condition is not chronic and therefore is reversible. It can disappear by itself or after undertaking the proper treatment. Bronchial asthma leads to issues like wheezing, persistent coughing, chest tightness, and lack of breath.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Pathophysiology

The Pathophysiology of bronchial asthma is a multifaceted one. It involves three things. The first thing is the inflammation of airways. It is compounded with the obstruction of airflow and lastly, the hyperresponsiveness. The condition functions by firstly, the airways being highly sensitive to various external and internal stimuli. It, in turn, causes the airways to constrict in size. And as a result, it causes the inflammation of the airways(Gans & Gavrilova, 2019). The number of t and mast cells and eosinophil all increase as the inflammation takes over.

Airflow is curtailed by muscle constriction, mucosal edema, and the accumulation of secretion. It should be noted that various actions need to take place for hyperresponsiveness to take place. It involves intermingling with the airway inflammation. Hyperresponsiveness can be countered by reducing the inflammation of the airways, which in turn acts by structurally changing the airways (Gans & Gavrilova, 2019).

Etiology

The first etiologic factor that contributes to bronchial asthma is allergies. A person who is prone to allergies is at high risk of getting affected by bronchial asthma, and a person whose family has a history of allergies (Gans & Gavrilova, 2019). A person's body responds to various allergic stimuli is often the cause of bronchial asthma. Allergic things often vary from person to person. They may include dust, cold, cockroaches, pollen grains, and even some food.

The second etiologic factor is Persistent Viruses and Chlamydia. The common cold and influenza may contribute to the triggering of bronchial asthma to a person who is already affected by the condition. Such viruses, due to their similarity in their impact on the respiratory system, often increase the possibility of one having bronchial asthma. Besides, chlamydia pneumonia infection has been identified as a leading cause of bronchial asthma.

The third etiologic factor is air pollution. For many years now, air pollution has been one of the leading factors for asthma. It is due to a myriad of factors. Some of them include; cigarette smoking, smoke from factories, dangerous gases emitted by vehicles, and the burning of fossil fuel.

Pathogenesis

Bronchial asthma often presents itself early in a person's life. Asthma depends on two main issues, a person's factors and their environment that had a significant impact on the immunity of a person early on in life. The host factors that facilitate bronchial asthma include innate immunity, genetics, and sex("The challenges of living with severe asthma", 2014). The main environmental factors are allergens and respiratory viruses. Other external factors that aid in asthma are cigarette smoke, air pollution, among other pollutants.

Morphological Changes

Bronchial asthma has morphological changes associated with it. These changes start from the walls of the trachea up to the bronchioles. In some instances, pathology is observed on the bronchus. The respiratory connective tissue exhibits some inflammatory infiltrate including, eosinophil, macrophages, mast cells, and T-cells.in addition to this, the airways often exhibit stiffening of the lower level membrane of the respiratory epithelium tissue and an increase in the number of goblet cells and submucosal glands.

Clinical Manifestations

The clinical manifestation of bronchial asthma is a multiplicity of various factors. Things like coughing are natural, wheezing, lack of breath, and tightening of the chest. The symptoms may be worse, contingent on the circumstances. Some people may experience it early in the morning or when it is time to go to bed("The challenges of living with severe asthma", 2014).

The symptoms may disappear by themselves or when a person seeks medical treatment. Patients with this condition often use an inhaler to mitigate the effects of the ailment. It should be noted that sometimes these manifestations can become too severe and may lead to death. Thus extra caution needs to be taken by such patients.

Diagnosis

To be sure that a person is hurting from bronchial asthma, the doctor needs to carry out a physical examination. The doctor will ask questions concerning the signs and symptoms and any other possible health issues. The doctor may even recommend a lung function test. The test will determine how much airflow goes in and out of the lungs.

A lung test should only be done when the patient has ingested bronchodilator. Other additional examinations that the doctor can carry out include; methacholine challenge, nitric oxide test, imaging tests, allergy testing, sputum eosinophils, and provocative testing for exercise and cold-induced asthma ("The challenges of living with severe asthma", 2014).

Clinical Course

In children, bronchial asthma may disappear as they grow old. Probably by the age of twenty-one. It is not always promised that all children would have beaten this condition by the time they become adults. And thus, parents are always encouraged to seek medical interventions to ensure that their children battle this condition early.

Children who have a family history of allergy often find it difficult to kick out the situation completely. In adults, the way to battle this ailment is by staying away from the causes of the condition. Sustained remission in adults is way harder than in children. Thus people must stay away from cigarettes and all kinds of air pollution.

Summary

There are many similarities between Alex's experience and clinical information. The clinical reports provide that the pathogenesis can either be the host or the environment. Alex's bronchial asthma is caused by a variety of external issues(Gans & Gavrilova, 2019). They include; seasonal allergens- specific pollen, cats and dogs, and cold weather. Due to a lack of proper treatment, Alex's condition has followed him into adulthood.

It is the same with clinical description since the clinical course of bronchial asthma is that if it fails to resolve during tentative years, it will also be present during the later years of a person's life. The clinical description provides that asthma can be controlled by the inhalation of the anti-inflammatory drug. It is the treatment Alex has resort to, to put his bronchial asthma under control.

References

Asthma: pathophysiology, causes and diagnosis. (2014). https://doi.org/10.1211/cp.2014.20066997

Gans, M., & Gavrilova, T. (2019). Understanding the immunology of asthma: Pathophysiology, biomarkers, and treatments for asthma endotypes. Paediatric Respiratory Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prrv.2019.08.002

The challenges of living with severe asthma. (2014), 10(1), 75-76. https://doi.org/10.1183/20734735.101114