Warning in report of asthma deaths: In India, 2 lakh people die every year due to asthma. Doctors say there are now treatments that are so effective and safe that a person can live an almost normal life. It is very important to diagnose and treat it quickly.
India accounts for 46 percent of asthma deaths globally
According to the Global Burden of Disease 2021 report, India accounts for 46 percent of asthma-related deaths globally. Which is 43 percent more than the 2019 report. If recent reports are anything to go by, more than 90 percent of asthma patients in India do not use inhaled corticosteroids. Additionally, they take bronchodilator drugs only orally or by inhalation, which causes more pain and death.
Why is asthma misdiagnosed?
Asthma is a genetic disease that runs in families, but air pollution can make the condition more severe. While shortness of breath is a common symptom, other common symptoms are cough, runny nose, sneezing.
Asthma patients often complain of cough, which is more common at night, waking them up and causing difficulty breathing during strenuous activity.
Children usually develop asthma early. Actually, 50 percent of asthma patients are children. However, asthma remains underdiagnosed in India due to lack of access to spirometry.
The Global Asthma Network (GAN) study, which was conducted on 20,084 children aged 6-7 years, 25,887 children aged 13-14 years and 81,296 parents from nine different locations in India, found That asthma was diagnosed in 82 percent of the cases. Was reduced. Even among people suffering from severe asthma, 70 percent are not diagnosed.
asthma treatment
The most effective and safe treatment for asthma is corticosteroids given by inhaler or metered dose inhaler along with bronchodilators. Due to which the mortality rate stops and the symptoms of asthma also reduce.
Yet the GAN study found that only 5 percent of children and 10 percent of adults with asthma were using these medications. The safest, quickest and most effective way to treat asthma is by inhaling medicines.
It is very important to clear up misconceptions
There are many misconceptions related to asthma, such as – Asthma is an infectious disease and can spread from one person to another, inhaled medicines are very dangerous. Which are actually misconceptions.
