Over 17 percent children in Pakistan are suffering from asthma due to rising pollution, non-availability of potable water, lack of basic health facilities and low awareness about preventive measures among the masses.
This finding was shared by Professor Paul W Jones, Professor of Respiratory Medicine, St George Hospital and Medical School, while addressing a symposium on 'Modern Ways in Asthma Treatment' held here on Saturday.
Chest specialists attended the symposium organised by the leading pharmaceutical company Glaxo SmithKline (GSK).
The symposium aimed at acquainting the chest specialists with the new technologies and research trends taking place in the world. It provided the doctors an opportunity to hold an in-depth discussion on the menace of asthma and to deliberate on the ways and means to check its spread.
Professor Jones said that the burden of asthma is increasing fast the world over. Quoting the ISAAC study, he said that rapid increase has been witnessed in Pakistan where the prevalence of asthma among children has reached around 17 percent.
The Professor talked at length on the deceptive nature of the symptoms exhibited by asthma.
He said that some patients who may have very mild chronic symptoms of asthma might sometimes have very severe asthma.
He asked doctors to treat the underlying causes of the disease and not merely the symptoms. A number of cases have been reported when apparently the asthmatic patients showed no symptoms at all but still they were suffering from underlying inflammation and cell destructions.
He recommended asthma therapy for longer periods. He said that reliever medications should not be used for long terms.
He said that a lot of tablets and new and old therapies which are being used for a few days or for longer periods have limited value in asthma management and definitely fail to control the disease effectively.
He recommended inhalers as the best way of delivery of drugs in asthma "We can now opt for new inhaled therapies that are available in the market which effectively control both inflammatory and bronchocostrition," he said.
Emphasising the need for improving quality of life for asthma patients, Professor Jones asked the doctors to provide the patients an asthma-free life instead of looking just for reducing asthma attacks.
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