As a general rule, asthma is more common in children than in adults. This is largely because a lot of kids grow out of asthma before they reach adulthood but it’s also because there are much more adults than there are children. It’s a condition which is well known worldwide and though you might consider it a problem you’d only see in the developed world the fact is that simply isn’t true. Asthma is a condition we can manage but in the undeveloped world it’s much less simple to do so. The medicine simply isn’t available. As such, 80% of all asthma related deaths worldwide occur in the undeveloped world.
Asthma kills by closing off the airways and preventing patients from breathing. This occurs when the sufferer comes into contact with allergens which they’re sensitive to. Providing the asthmatic patient has their inhaler with them at the time of the attack, there’s little risk to them. Inhalers contain a cocktail of corticosteroids which soothe the swelling in the airways and prevent them from closing up all together. This is why it’s important for asthmatic patients to never leave home without their inhaler!
Though the stimuli which affect asthmatics the worst tends to be environmental, there are other things which can exacerbate the condition too. Adults who are unfortunate enough to keep asthma for their whole lives are at a much higher risk of complications due to the condition anyway, but if they’re depressed the damage can be much worse. It was recently shown that having persistent depression can lead to the effects of asthma being potentially more dangerous and the rate of hospitalisation much higher.
Experts are now recommending that adult asthmatics who also consider themselves depressed talk to their doctors as soon as they can. Getting your depression treated could well save your life!
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