Asthma

Asthma is a long-term condition that affects the airways that carry air in and out of the lungs. When a person with asthma comes into contact with an asthma trigger, the muscle around the walls of the airways tightens so that the airways become narrower. The lining of the airways becomes inflamed and starts to swell and sticky mucus or phlegm is often produced. These reactions cause the airways to become narrower and irritated and lead to the symptoms of asthma, namely, coughing, wheezing, a tight feeling in the chest and shortness of breath.

The likelihood of development or persistence of asthma may be attributed to:

• Allergens:-
  o indoor e.g. mites, pets, moulds, fungi;
  o outdoor e.g. pollens, fungi;
• co-existence of atopic disease;
• family history of atopic disease e.g. asthma, eczema, allergic rhinitis, or allergic conjunctivitis;
• male sex for pre-pubertal asthma and female sex for persistence of asthma from childhood to adulthood;
• diet;
• obesity;
• occupational sensitizers;
• viral infections;
• parental smoking, including perinatal exposure to tobacco smoke;
• bronchiolitis in infancy;
• low birthweight associated with intrauterine growth retardation;
• premature birth (especially in extreme-preterm infants who required ventilatory support, with consequent chronic lung disease of prematurity).

Asthma prevalence in Wales is reported to be one of the highest in the world. Asthma UK Cymru findings suggest there are 260,000 people living with asthma in Wales, 205,000 adults and 55,000 children, which equates to 1 in 10 children and 1 in 12 adults currently being treated for doctor diagnosed asthma.

Findings of the Welsh Health Survey (2009) state that 13% of adults reported that they were currently being treated for a respiratory disease which includes asthma. In Wales, in adults there are 4,000 hospital admissions for asthma a rate which is nearly 30% higher than the rest of the UK and 75% of these admissions could have been avoided.

Asthma deaths in Wales are more common than anywhere else in the UK.