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Asthma symptoms controlled when you control pests at home
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Fairy dust, good. Cockroach dust, bad. Any questions?
(Image Courtesy of the Public Health Image Library)
There is a commercial circulating on television that encourages people to get rid of household pests. It warns of the diseases brought on by rats, mice, and cockroaches. All of these pests carry these diseases because, just like any other animal, the organisms that cause the diseases can cling to the pest and be transported. (If only the pests learned to wash their hands before they touched household food preparation surfaces, utensils, and even food!) Nevertheless, there is a very serious disease brought upon by pests, particularly insects (like cockroaches), that is not attributable to the microorganisms they carry. Instead, it is the pests' bodies (or body parts) that cause the disease...
In the United States, about 22 million people (one-third of them children) suffer from asthma. Billions of dollars are spent in the treatment and management of asthma (and the loss of productivity from someone with asthma), and the quality of life of an asthmatic is diminished when the disease is not managed successfully. Asthma is an inflammation of the airways that make it hard to breathe.
While there are several causes for asthma, like genetics and certain infections, infectious diseases and allergies are the biggest causes. After a respiratory infection, the immune system around the respiratory path remains on high alert (hypersensitive). When the person comes into contact with any more irritants (like other viruses and bacteria and/or allergens) the inflammatory process kicks into gear and causes asthmatic symptoms. The breathing pathways become inflamed and less able to stretch. This constriction brings on the symptoms of wheezing and difficulty breathing.
Cockroaches and other insects dry out quickly when they die (especially if agents like boric acid are used to dry them out). Their bodies then disintegrate and become part of the household dust we all see accumulate. This organic (coming from living or once-living organisms) matter is what triggers indoor allergies. People with sensitive bronchi (the tubes that carry air into your lungs) develop asthmatic symptoms when confronted with the dust.
Asthma is kind of a perpetual cycle of disease. Respiratory infections or allergies lead to inflammation and that inflammation can lead to more disease. In fact, asthmatics are in the high risk groups for complications from influenza. This is why it is key that asthmatics get vaccinated... Even Superman says so! So, if you have asthma...
- Get it under control. Visit your health care provider and ask about strategies to control your asthma and improve your respiratory health.
- Get pests in your home under control. No cockroaches = no dead cockroaches = less organic material in your house dust. Other organic material can be taken care of with filters and fabric treatments.
- Get your lungs stronger. Plenty of athletes out there have asthma. They have it under control, and the aerobic exercise they get does not hurt; it helps by making your body better able to transport oxygen.
- Get your flu vaccine on time every year. Asthma puts you a greater risk to develop complications like pneumonia.
- Get over your "embarrassment" about inhalers. They are used as a plot device to portray weak kids in school... Thing is, those "weak" kids also turn out to be the heroes. (Try telling Dean Cain that he is weak.)
(NOTE TO ANTI-VACCINE GROUPS: While you are free to hold and present whatever beliefs you have about vaccines, I am also free to delete your comments. So don't waste your time or mine if you are planning on only presenting a re-hash of your scientifically unsupported claims.)
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