Asthma_MOrbidity_In_NZ

Asthma MOrbidity In NZ Morbidity Essay This essay outlines the social and cultural factors that may have influenced the increasing rate of asthma morbidity within New Zealand. The issues that will be discussed at length include the latest facts and statistics of asthmatics provided by the New Zealand Asthma & Respiratory Foundation, the characteristics and symptoms of asthma and the socio economic problems that are often associated with the disease. Asthma, disorder of the respiratory system in which the passages that enable air to pass into and out of the lungs periodically narrow, causing coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. This narrowing is typically temporary and reversible, but in severe attacks, asthma may result in death. Asthma most commonly refers to bronchial asthma, an inflammation of the airways (Marieb, 2001). To understand asthma, it is important to have a basic understanding of how we breathe and the anatomy of the lungs. We breathe in air through the nose and mouth and the mucosal lining of these areas are warm and moist. This means the air we breathe in is warmed and moistened before it reaches the lungs. Additionally, mucous traps all foreign particles so as to prevent them from entering the lungs, which could cause infection. (Marieb, asthma, new, zealand, 1999, respiratory, children, foundation, percent, people, health, rate, year, statistics, social, morbidity, likely, one, needs, factors, dust, due, 1997, within, suffer, stodart, services, problems, patient, non-maori, need, maori, lungs, estimated, childhood, allergy