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Asthma
Asthma represents a lasting inflammatory airway condition characterized by hyper-responsiveness of the airways accompanied by repeated episodes of breathlessness, coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness. Such episodes have commonly been linked to airflow blocks which can be spontaneously reversed or sometimes require medication. Roughly three hundred million individuals worldwide suffer from asthma. Among children, boys exhibit greater asthma risk whilst among adults, women exhibit greater prevalence. A grasp of the condition’s pathophysiology (both acute and chronic forms) will facilitate an understanding of how to diagnose and treat patients suffering from it. Experts’ asthma pathogenesis knowledge has greatly evolved during the past twenty-five years with scholars discovering several phenotypes of the condition (Lynn & Kushto-Reese, 2015).
Pathophysiology of Acute Asthma
Acute asthma intensification, or asthmatic attacks, take place through binding of inhaled antigens to mast cells performing immunoglobulin E (IgE). These cells start degranulating, thereby releasing bradykinins, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, platelet-activating factors, histamine, interleukins, and other inflammatory mediators which lead to airway muscle bronchospasms and edema owing to enhanced capillary permeability. Further, goblet cells’ enhanced mucus secretion constricts the patient’s airway. Antigens are spotted by dendritic cells and a signal is sent to the Th2 cells that secrete interleukin -4, among other things. Such interleukins stimulate IgE production by B cells. Additionally, Th2 cells may generate IL-5 that stimulates eosinophils, responsible for creating eosinophilic cationic and...
A number of inflammatory cells (e.g., neutrophils, IgE) play a role in causing inflammation and obstructing the airway (Conley, 2017).
Pathophysiology of Chronic Asthma
The term ‘chronic asthma’ largely revolves around asthma’s long-run implications. Chronic asthmatics are at an advanced stage of the condition, marked by lasting damage. This condition is usually characterized by greater type 2 inflammation sensitivity, vitiated lung growth, increased viral infection susceptibility, or bacterial colonization. Among patients at this stage, dendritic cells, eosinophils, neutrophils, basophils, lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, mast cells and T helper 2 cells stimulate airway hyper-responsiveness and intractable bronchial mucosa inflammation (Conley, 2017).
Chronic and acute asthma, to some extent, resemble one another in terms of symptoms and elementary treatment. But the key difference between the two is how long the episode lasts. Acute asthma is temporary whilst chronic asthmatic attacks are prolonged and can continue for a long period (MyAsthmaGuide, 2018).
Pathmavathi, Subash and Sumangali’s (2013) arterial blood gas (ABG) examination on a total of forty subjects aimed at assessing ABG status among chronic and acute bronchial asthmatics. Acute asthmatics’ typical ABG pattern revealed hypoxaemia accompanied by respiratory acidosis among a fairly large share of subjects and hypoxaemia accompanied by respiratory alkalosis among the remaining (i.e. subjects depicting abnormality in ABG patterns). Meanwhile, chronic asthmatics exhibited hypoxaemia accompanied by respiratory alkalosis among a…
Chronic asthma and acute asthma exacerbation pathophysiology The pathophysiological systems of chronic asthma and acute asthma exacerbation Asthma attack is really a chronic problem with times of acute exacerbation. This is a generally experienced issue throughout numerous treatment settings. Respiratory tract irritation and super-responsiveness are related to many different pre-discarding aspects, and episodes tend to be brought on by distinct agents. Irritation has a key part within the asthma pathophysiology. As observed
Overview According to Vasileiadis, Alevrakis, Amepelioti, Vigionas, Rovina, and Koutsoukou (2019), asthma happens to be rather common. Although it could be deemed a minor health concern amongst some people, the condition could be life-threatening for others – especially in relation to asthma attacks. It should be noted, from the onset, that “an acute asthma attack occurs in the midst of the chronic disease of asthma” (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2019).
Asthma: Pathology and Contemporary Treatment Alternatives According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asthma is a complex disease on the rise in the United States. Most at risk include poor or inner city minorities that present with inordinately high rates of mortality resulting from the condition (CDC, 2005). Asthma may also be on the rise due to environmental factors including increased pollution and exposure to environmental toxins that may
Asthma: As a 63-year-old, John has had asthma since childhood, a medical condition that has been controlled with the various types of medications for the disease. While the medication frequency and doses have increased in the past five years, John's wife died within the same period and he hasn't been taking care of himself. The patient presented to the hospital with exacerbation of asthma from an upper respiratory tract infection
Asthma Complications: Chronic and acute Asthma Describe the pathophysiological mechanisms of chronic asthma and acute asthma exacerbation. Inflammation plays a key function in the asthma’s pathophysiology. As specified in the asthma’s definition, airway inflammation comprises an interaction of countless cell as well as numerous mediators with the airways which ultimately leads to the distinctive pathophysiological characteristics of the disease: airflow limitation and bronchial inflammation which result in recurrent incidents of breath shortness,
Asthma and ER utilization Asthma Asthma is a particularly debilitating condition. Asthma is characterized by a tightening in the chest with difficulty in breathing and wheezing. This difficulty in breathing can result, at best, in a decrease in quality of life and the inability of carry out normal function. At worst, the symptoms of asthma can lead to death. Incidences of asthma have increased significantly in the last twenty years. This is