My grandmother was chronically asthmatic and as a dominant genetic inheritance many other members of my paternal family are also, because asthma is a very common condition. Which like my relatives is estimated to suffer more than 300 million people in the world. So much so that it is considered one of the most common respiratory diseases today.
Precisely because of this prevalence, the first Tuesday of May is commemorated as World Asthma Day. Among other purposes, to raise awareness that although it is not always preventable, its control can be achieved with proper management, in addition to the need to reduce, as far as possible, triggers such as weather, dust, smoke and certain chemicals.
For those who have witnessed an asthmatic crisis, it is desperate to see how the affected person barely manages to breathe. This occurs, according to specialists, when the lining of the airways becomes inflamed and the muscles surrounding them narrow, which reduces the amount of air that can pass through them.
Throughout history, renowned personalities such as Ernesto Che Guevara, athletes Michael Phelps and David Beckham and writer Charles Dickens have suffered from it. All of whom had to learn to live with and overcome this chronic disease. However, it did not prevent them from achieving goals, overcoming every crisis and being recognized in their professions.
We are facing a condition on the rise, with an ever-increasing number of people, especially children, seeking health services for this cause. So much so that it has been identified as the most common chronic disease in childhood. However, despite its high incidence, it is also surrounded by false myths.
It is not a psychological disease, although it has been shown that stress and anxiety can worsen its symptoms, it has a well-established physiological basis. Contrary to what many believe, asthma not only causes breathing difficulties. It can become very serious and even fatal, because even when there are no visible symptoms. Asthmatics present an underlying inflammation in the airways. Hence the importance of keeping it under control with the indicated treatment and preventing the triggering factors.
Its incidence cannot be reduced to the myth that it is a reaction to pollen or allergenic factors, because although some asthmatics initiate crises when they come into contact with these factors. There is also asthma without allergy, where there are other triggering factors. Such as stress, the use of certain drugs and weather conditions such as air pollution, humidity and extreme temperatures.
It is also not true that all asthmatics have the same symptoms. On the contrary, it can affect each person differently. While some present wheezing, tightness of the chest or fatigue, some only have a cough.
For years it has been reaffirmed in the popular imagination that asthmatics should not practice sports or physical activity. When in fact specialists affirm that sports and other types of activities are just as important for asthmatics as for those who are healthy.
Another false myth states that asthma is usually overcome with age. When the reality is that it is a chronic disease, and therefore, it is lifelong. Although in many cases the crises can be considerably reduced as one learns to live with it.
In this case, it happens that with time, asthmatic children improve, since growth causes their lungs to grow and thus their respiratory tract expands. This brings with it a decrease in symptoms. Although they may reappear at some point in life, without warning.
Smoking, far from helping, significantly worsens it and increases the risk of serious complications. Such as severe attacks and additional lung disease. It will never be advisable to consider smoking as a strategy to manage asthma.
This date was first celebrated on May 5th, 1998 in Barcelona, Spain, on the occasion of the first World Asthma Meeting. Although it was not until 2022 when it was decided to choose the first Tuesday of May for its commemoration.
Translated by Aliani Rojas Fernández
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