India has witnessed a huge rise in asthma in the past decade, especially among children, due to a spike in environmental pollution, experts have said.
Asthma is a chronic respiratory disorder due to inflammation of the airways in our lungs. Some of the common symptoms of asthma include breathlessness, tightness in the chest, and night cough.
Over 300 million people worldwide suffer from asthma that affects people of all ages and groups, with one-tenth of those living in India.
The surge has been blamed on various causes ranging from allergies to environmental pollution.
"Incidence of asthma is on a rise because of recent changes in our global environment -- increasing air pollution and dust particulate matter," said AnshumAneja Arora, consultant at W-Pratiksha Hospital in Gurgaon.
According to a poll conducted by Curofy, a community of doctors, 82 per cent doctors say there has been an increased asthma incidence in children due to increased environmental pollution.
While 11 percent of the doctors blamed second and first hand smoking, seven percent chose genetic predilection as the leading cause for increased childhood asthma.
"A large chunk of younger generation is suffering from asthma which is a matter of great concern," Nipun Goyal, co-founder at Curofy, said while emphasising the need to control environmental pollution to save the younger generation from the chronic disease.
A recent review analysis of 15 epidemiological studies showed that the mean prevalence of asthma among children was 7.24 percent.
While asthma is more common among young boys as compared to girls, the severity of asthma attack is generally more severe in women as compared to men.
"Self management is a necessity among asthma patients. Young children may not necessarily understand the chronic nature of their disease or how asthma is affecting their lives in a negative manner," Sandeep Nayar from BLK Hospital, said while emphasising on the need for effective management of asthma.
"Parents should make their children aware of the steps to follow in times of emergency,” Nayar added.
"Inhalation therapy for asthma is recognised as the most preferred form of treatment worldwide, with developed countries like the US and Britain adopting inhalers as an integral part of asthma therapy,Gulerianoted.IANS
