Hope for asthma sufferers who want to get active

Hope for asthma sufferers who want to get active

JAKARTA (JP): Asthma is incurable but can be controlled.

Most people with the disease can still enjoy an active life
without suffering its symptoms.

Characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and
wheezing, the disease varies in severity and frequency from one
person to another.

An attack may come at any time.

Twenty-five-year-old Puspita Andrini, for instance, suffered
acute asthma during childhood. Now, after several years, she
doesn't suffer relapses.

"I remember having from asthma when I was still a kid. I had
difficulty breathing and had to take different medications on a
regular basis," said Puspita, an employee at a foreign investment
company.

Like other children with asthma, she would have to refrain
from certain activities in order to mitigate her chances of
getting an attack.

"Now I enjoy life like other healthy people," she said.

An asthma attack is caused by inflammation of the air passages
in the lungs. It affects the sensitivity of the nerve endings in
the airways so that they become easily irritated. In an attack,
the lining of the passages swell, causing the airways to narrow
which reduces the flow of air into and out of the lungs.

Asthma hits all age groups and often begins in childhood.

The main risk factors, called triggers, are exposure --
especially during infancy -- to indoor allergens, such as
domestic mites in bedding, carpets and stuffed furniture, cats
and cockroaches, and a family history of asthma or allergies.
Viral infections and over exercise can also trigger symptoms.

According to pulmonologist Pradyna Paramita of the Indonesian
Asthma Foundation, people with asthma can prevent the symptoms
from reoccurring.

"People with asthma need to see their doctors regularly in
order to help them control their condition and be free of the
symptoms," said Paramita of the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital
following a seminar on asthma here last Saturday.

"But many people suffering from light asthma are not aware of
their disease and are reluctant to consult a doctor."

The seminar was organized by the Indonesian Pulmonologists
Association and marked World Asthma Day, which falls on May 3.
This year, the celebration takes the theme Let Every Person
Breathe, and hopes to remind all people with asthma to manage
their disease properly so that they can live healthy and
productive lives.

Apart from the seminar, the asthma foundation is also planning
to hold a symposium entitled Understanding Asthma and Its
Management at the foundation's headquarters at Persahabatan
Hospital in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, along with a mass asthma
exercise the following day at Taman Impian Jaya Ancol
recreational park in North Jakarta.

"The events are intended to spread information and awareness
about asthma to the public," Paramita said.

The foundation, which was set up in 1986, has an asthma
hotline with a phone number (021) 4894444 for those wanting to
learn more about the disease.

Unfortunately, the hotline is still not very well-known.

"So far the hotline only receives an average of five calls a
day either from people with asthma or those wanting to learn more
about the disease for their relatives," Paramita said.

The foundation also manages an asthma club, which among other
things organizes asthma exercises, in 14 provinces.

In Jakarta, it has 20 clubs while the one at Persahabatan
Hospital has between 60 to 100 members.

"The exercises train people with asthma to control their
disease by training their breathing muscle," Paramita said.

The exercise is the seventh management step for people with
asthma.

The other steps, which are popularized by WHO and the Global
Initiative for Asthma (GINA), are understanding asthma,
evaluating the various stages of the disease (light or acute),
avoiding trigger factors, using the right medications, handling
acute attacks immediately and getting regular check-ups.

Serious

Despite the absence of specific data on the number of people
with asthma in Indonesia, it is estimated that 5 percent of the
country's 210 million people are suffering from the disease.

"Out of the 5 percent, 10 percent have died because of it,"
Paramita said.

Although asthma does not kill on the scale of chronic
obstructive pulmonary diseases, failure to use the right drugs or
comply with treatments, doubled with an under-recognition of the
severity of the problem, can lead to unnecessary deaths.

Around the globe, the World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates that between 100 million and 150 million people --
roughly equivalent to the population of the Russian Federation --
suffer from asthma and the numbers are rising. Worldwide, deaths
reach a staggering 180,000 annually.

The human and economic burden associated with the disease is
severe.

WHO said that worldwide the economic costs associated with
asthma are estimated to exceed those of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS
combined.

For instance, in the United States, direct and indirect annual
asthma care costs exceed US$6 billion.

Because asthma is a chronic condition, it usually requires
continuous medical care. Patients with moderate to severe asthma
have to take long-term medications daily -- such as anti-
inflammatory drugs -- to control the underlying inflammation and
prevent symptoms and attacks. If symptoms occur, short-term
medications, inhaled short-acting beta2-agonists, are used to
relieve them.

According to Paramita, medication is not the only measure to
control one's asthma.

"It is also important for people with asthma to learn the need
to avoid asthmatic triggers. Each person must know what triggers
he or she should avoid to be free of attacks," she said. (ste)