Begona Fernandez |
Madrid (EFE).- Asthma is a growing disease. Pulmonologists estimate that in Spain, theoretically, there are three million asthmatics, but 50% of them are not diagnosed and survive with symptoms that are progressively more serious and crises due to infections or environmental factors that shorten the quantity and quality of life.
In an interview with EFE on the eve of World Asthma Day, the head of the Pneumology service at the La Princesa University Hospital, Julio Ancochea, explains that asthma is the most frequent chronic disease in childhood, with rates of 10% and even higher in adolescence, “but with a timely diagnosis the child can lead a normal life, he does not have to be stigmatized and stay in the corner of the patio watching others play soccer.”
Ancochea comments that he gives his students at the La Princesa University Hospital the simile of the iceberg. “We only see the part that stands out, which are the symptoms: coughing, dyspnea, wheezing, chest noises… but the important thing is to treat the base, the one that is not seen from the iceberg, so that the symptoms do not occur and keep the disease under control.
Even with severe asthma you can lead a full life
Although asthma is not cured, with optimal treatment you can lead an absolutely normal life, even those 5% who suffer from the most severe variants and who do not respond to high doses of inhaled corticosteroids combined with long-acting bronchodilators.
For them, he says, research has developed new drugs: “Every time we know better the cells involved in this inflammation of the respiratory tract and that is why selective drugs are available, monoclonal antibodies specifically directed at the key to inflammation.”
Asthma can be diagnosed with simple tools such as spirometry, and although it is a complex and heterogeneous disease, it has a common denominator, which is inflammation.
For this reason, the importance of campaigns to raise awareness of the disease or conferences such as the world day so that those people who suspect asthma go to the pulmonologist and ask for help, otherwise the disease will progress with increasingly acute crises that can be fatal. .
Urbanism and climate change feed the disease
In recent years, an increase in asthma cases has been detected, which pulmonologists attribute to growing urbanism, pollution and climate change.
In the case of Madrid, Ancochea comments that the high levels of pollution and the lack of rain mean that there is a high concentration of environmental particles, which can trigger asthmatic symptoms.
The president of the Madrid Asthma Association, Concepción Grau, also observes an increase in cases in the child population that occurs throughout Spain but with more prevalence in large cities.
And it is precisely in this environment when the combination of pollution and pollen becomes a “bombshell” for asthmatics.
Grau insists that asthma is controlled with self-care, treatment and controls in allergology and pulmonology consultations, but for this it must be detected in time.
From the Spanish Federation of Associations of Allergic Patients and Respiratory Diseases (Fenaer), its president, Mariano Pastor, warns that an asthma attack can be fatal (1,000 people die in Spain every year due to a crisis) for which he urges promote awareness about severe asthma and its impact on the patient’s quality of life.
This week, the La Princesa University Hospital, in Madrid, has launched an original immersive experience, which will be replicated in health centers throughout Spain.
It is an initiative of Fenaer and the Sanofi laboratories. A spirometry measures the nitric oxide that the patient exhales and which is translated into a personalized musical and visual scale of the state of their airways.
Thanks to headphones and a screen, the volunteer knows the results of the tests. Graphics and sounds will range from blue and soft music for a healthy person, to red and loud noise for an asthmatic.
It is the first time that a chronic respiratory disease, such as severe asthma, is visualized through music, with surround sound that allows the patient to “hear and see” the inflammation of their airways. Inspiring projects with the intention of lifting asthma from underdiagnosis.
The World Asthma Day entry: One and a half million Spaniards struggle with undiagnosed asthma was first published in EFE Noticias.