Posted: December 1st, 2022

Asthma affects millions of people in the United States

Asthma affects millions of people in the United States. Approximately 27.5 million people and 7 million children (Asthma Prevalence in the United States, 2014). There are many factors that affect the severity and frequency of asthma exacerbations. Access to health care, individual behavior, social and physical environment, and genetics can all play a part in living with asthma.
Access to Healthcare
Treated or untreated, asthma is a life-threatening illness. Without access to healthcare and without proper education received by healthcare practitioners, asthma will be fatal. Bronchodilators and steroids are essential for an asthma exacerbation, and in an emergency, medications are all that matters.
Individual Behavior
Poor decisions and behaviors can worsen asthma symptoms. A healthy diet, exercise, and not smoking are the key factors in living with asthma or foregoing a diagnosis all together. Obesity is one of the leading causes of asthma in the United States (Rubin, 2015). Therefore, proper diet and exercise can decrease the change of having asthma. However, exercise may also induce asthma if not monitored carefully, and rescue inhalers are essential. Lastly, smoking is also a main cause of asthma exacerbations (Vonk et al., 2017). Smoking is not only a risk for the actual smoker, but anyone being exposed to the smoke on a regular basis.
Social Environment
Asthma directly affects children living in poverty that are not white (DePriest & Butz, 2017). Living in an inner-city environment or low socioeconomic state increases the likelihood of asthma related death (DePriest & Butz, 2017). Children as well as adults exposed to smoking and unsanitary environments are more likely to suffer from asthma. Clean homes and clean air are needed to keep asthma at bay. Socially, children and teenagers may be embarrassed by asthma and feel like they cannot keep up with other kids when playing sports and running. This may cause issues not only in the social life, but children with asthma are more likely to have poor attendance and performance in school as well (Szefler, 2016).
Physical Environment
Expanding on the social environment leads us to a similar issue: the physical environment. Living in poverty can expose children to mold and other irritants and pollutants that can trigger asthma which are caused by old and unmaintained homes. Inner-city children are less likely to have as many play grounds and less likely to be involved in extracurricular activities that can improve lung health.
Genetics
Genetics can also play a role in a person developing asthma. Sometimes asthma can also affect athletes who are in top physical condition due to genetic disposition. Not all asthma exacerbations are caused by controllable factors. Race, sex, and age are all contributing factors in the development of asthma (Szefler, 2016).
Epidemiologic Data
According to the CDC, African-American females between the ages of five and fourteen, have the highest risk of developing asthma (Asthma Prevalence in the United States, 2014). Lang (2015), believes that the epidemiology of asthma is not focused on enough and is a huge unmet need. Many times, patient’s symptoms are not well controlled. Education needs to be completed and healthcare needs to be available to everyone.
References
Asthma Prevalence in the United States. (2014). Online. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/asthmadata.htm
DePriest, K., & Butz, A. (2017). Neighborhood-Level Factors Related to Asthma in Children Living in Urban Areas. Journal of School Nursing (Sage Publications Inc.), 33(1), 8-17. doi:10.1177/1059840516674054
Lang, D. M. (2015). Severe asthma: epidemiology, burden of illness, and heterogeneity. Allergy and Asthma Proceedings, 36(6), 418-424. doi:10.2500/aap.2015.36.3908
Szefler, S. J. (2016). Examining causes of the urban (inner city) asthma epidemic: Implementing new management strategies. Allergy and Asthma Proceedings, 37(1), 4-8. doi:10.2500/aap.2016.37.3906
Rubin, B. K. (2016). Asthma 2015: The Year in Review. Respiratory Care, 61(4), 556-559. doi:10.4187/respcare.04694
Vonk, J. M., Scholtens, S., Postma, D. S., Moffatt, M. F., Jarvis, D., Ramasamy, A., & … Ogorodova, L. M. (2017). Adult onset asthma and interaction between genes and active tobacco smoking: The GABRIEL consortium. Plos ONE, 12(3), 1-16. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0172716

Jideofor,
Obesity is one of the biggest issues that Americans face today. Individual behavior, social environment, physical environment, and genetics are all big influencers. How do you think access to health care could decrease obesity? Could more education help? One journal found that the three main factors influencing obesity reduction outcomes were a value system, social pressure and control, and lastly, emotional support (Janine, Nilmini, & Carolin, 2017). So, do you believe that support is one of the biggest factors? Janine, Nilmini, and Carolin (2017) also found that social media can aid in weight loss. Online support and accountability groups are very popular and can aid in combatting the epidemic of obesity.
References
Janine, H., Nilmini, W., & Carolin, D. (2017). Can Health 2.0 Address Critical Healthcare Challenges? Insights from the Case of How Online Social Networks Can Assist in Combatting the Obesity Epidemic. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, Vol 21, Iss 0 (2017), (0), doi:10.3127/ajis.v21i0.1357

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