A one day seminar titled "You can control your asthma" organised by Pakistan Chest Society NWFP Chapter and the Asthma Awareness Programme (AAP) was held here on May 3 at Peshawar Press Club on the eve of World Asthma Day.
The speakers maintained that environmental pollution is the main cause of the growing cases of Asthma in the country as five out of every 100 persons were suffering from asthma.
They said about 300 million people are suffering from asthma world wide adding that with the present state of affairs an additional 100 to 150 million person are likely to fall victim to the disease.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Arshad Javed, Professor of Pulmonlogy and Dean Post Graduate Medical Institute HMC and Dr Mukhtiar Zaman, In-charge Chest Unit Khyber Teaching Hospital highlighting the topic saying most of the patients were not aware of the fact that asthma was a curable disease.
Dr Arshad Javed explained that asthma was a chronic condition of the airways of the lungs (bronchi and bronchioles) which impedes normal breathing. "It is now understood that asthma is a two component disease, consisting of both airway inflammation and airway smooth muscle dysfunction such as broncho-construction.
These symptoms are recurrent and vary in severity over time," he added. He said that patients should take medication regularly and in accordance with the doctor's prescription to effectively control symptoms and prevent further attacks.
According to the results of year-long international study GOAL (Gaining Optimal Asthma Control) for the first time asthma patients can enjoy a life completely free from asthma symptoms," he added.
About the asthma disease, Dr Mukhtiar Zaman said it is a chronic inflammatory lung disease characterised by recurrent breathing problems.
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