Secondhand Smoke Thesis

1636 Words7 Pages
Children, Asthma and Secondhand Smoke Introduction * A. Audience Hook 1. Approximately 774,000 ER visits were related to asthma in 2009 (American Lung Association, 2013) * An estimated 400,000 to 1 million children have their condition worsened by exposure to secondhand smoke. (American Lung Association, 2013) B. Thesis statement a. Research suggests that asthmatic children should not be exposed to environmental tobacco smoke because asthma is a chronic and sometimes life-threatening disease and children with asthma can have their condition worsened by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. C. Preview of Main Points b. Normal vs. asthmatic lung function c. How smoking affects all children…show more content…
As you can see in the normal airway there is no inflammation, the tissue is pink and clear while the outer muscles are relaxed and smooth, and there is no mucous production, allowing for easy air exchange through the airway canal. Conversely, in the diagram for the asthmatic airway, you can see that we start with inflammation inside the airway. The tissue becomes irritated, red and swollen. The outer muscles of the airway are no longer smooth, but instead become tight and constricted because of the inflammation. During the asthma attack excess mucus is produced, which blocks the airway canal causing narrowing of the airway and more difficult air exchange in and out of airway sac. Because of this constriction, inflammation and mucous production, it is difficult to push air out of the airway sac causing the wheezing sound that is common with asthmatics. Asthmatics live with some amount of inflammation in their lungs on an everyday basis. By coming into contact with a trigger such as secondhand smoke, the asthmatic airway becomes more inflamed and constricted until it is almost impossible for the child to move air in and out of the lungs. It has been said that the feeling of an asthma attack is the difference between breathing normally and breathing in and out continuously through a very small
Open Document