More than 10 million Mexicans have asthma

The Mexican health authorities emphasize that it is 10% of the population and warn: eight out of ten cases are children They are not yet 5 years old. The causes? On the one hand, there are the constant changes in climate, especially in October and November; on the other, viral respiratory infections, including the outbreak of seasonal and human influenza (A / H1N1). All this causes the increase - up to three times - of the cases of Asthma crisis , mainly in children.

In an interview for GetQoralHealth , the patientMiguel Meza Canales, explains what it means to be diagnosed with asthma:

Dr. Martín Becerril Ángeles, head of the Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology of the Hospital of Specialties of the National Medical Center (CMN) La Raza, of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), indicates that before the age of five, manifested 80% of the cases with symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, wheezing in the thorax and expectoration of phlegm. In cases of seizures or exacerbations of this disease, there is an increase in the intensity of these symptoms plus the sensation of tightness of the chest and, on occasion, purple lips that, if not attended to in a timely manner, put life at risk. Dr. Becerril Ángeles explains that 75% of asthmatics are intermittent in their illness; that is, it presents the symptoms occasionally, preceded by a cold, and is easily controllable with bronchodilator medications . International health agencies recommend that people with persistent or severe disease receive the seasonal influenza vaccine.

Undiagnosed asthma, decreased lung function

On the other hand, a group of researchers from the Argentine Association of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, states that asthma is the most frequent chronic disease in children and the absence of treatment can cause a decrease in lung function in adolescence and severe symptoms during adulthood. However, specialists estimate that only between 2 and 6% of the affected child population has their asthma controlled.

Asthma is a disease that, despite having no cure, it is possible to keep it at bay through a treatment that provides rescue and preventive medication. Thus, "can be controlled and stop having symptoms especially in cases caused by respiratory infections," experts say.