Outline the Possible Causes of Asthma and Its Effects on the Gas Exchange System

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Outline the possible causes of asthma and its effects on the gas exchange system Physician Hippocrates first mentioned the word Asthma over 3000 years ago. Translated from the Greek it stands for ‘difficult breathing’. In the medicine asthma is a disease of the respiratory tracts, which occurs nowadays more frequently in developed countries than it did in past years. This arises perhaps because our immune system is no longer used to get much contact to/with the nature (so to pollen, dust or pet fur for example) and results in hypersensitivity (to some triggers.) While asthma mostly consists of unexpected and abrupt attacks, it is still regarded as/to be a chronic conditions, which can rapidly lead to a decrease in lung function. The starting point of the inflammatory response, which ultimately goes over to asthma, has its origin in an injury to the airway caused by an irritant. The most common triggers of asthma are amongst others allergens, such as pet fur or house-dust mite droppings. Triggers, like traffic fumes or tobacco smoke have also great influence on asthmatics. For non-allergic asthma, however, the main causes are physical effort/exertion, stress, intolerance towards some medications, including aspirin (which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug), or any respiratory infections such as a ‘normal’ cold. Still the allergic asthma, so the reaction to allergens overweighs the non-allergic asthma considerably. Being asthmatic the response to all these triggers is unusually strong. These normally lead to coughing, wheezing and a feeling of tightness in the chest. Furthermore an abnormal rapid heart rate is another sign for asthma attack. Nevertheless it is our own immune system, which causes those symptoms by an acute inflammatory response to the triggers. During an asthma attack, the smooth muscle in the walls of the bronchi, bronchioles

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