DISEASES

Diseases

Diseases

Asthma

Asthma is a commonly occurring chronic disease that affects millions of people across the globe, also significantly affecting the children. The pathophysiology involved in this chronic medical condition is complicated, mainly comprising of inflammation present of the airways, intermittent obstruction of the airflow, or hyper-responsiveness of the bronchial muscles (Morris, 2013).

The signs and symptoms associated with asthma consist of intermittent wheezing, non-productive cough, shortness of breath, and pain or tightness in the chest. In addition, several non-specific symptoms are also observed in infants and children. These include history of recurrent bronchitis, pneumonia, or inflammation of bronchioles, a persistent history of cough and cold, recurrent croup or rattling of the chest (Morris, 2013).

The mechanism of inflammation that is linked with asthma can be either acute or chronic. The inflammation results in the formation of oedema, in addition to, a significant amount of mucus secretion, which contributes towards the obstruction of the airflow, as well as, bronchial reactivity. The highlighting feature of inflammation in asthma includes the inflammatory cells, such as mononuclear cells, eosinophil infiltration, activated T lymphocytes, and macrophages; hyper-secretion of the mucus, epithelium desquamation, hyperplasia of the smooth muscles in the bronchioles, and remodelling of the airway (Morris, 2013). Chronic inflammation causes increased or hyper-responsiveness on the bronchioles, leading to bronchospasm. As a result, typical symptoms of asthma consisting of wheezing, shortness of breath, persistent coughing following the exposure of certain allergens, or environmental stimulus, even exercises (Morris, 2013).

The obstruction of airway results due to a variety of reason, which consists of acute bronchoconstriction, significant amount of oedema of the airways, chronic formations of the mucus plugs, as well as, remodelling of the airways. The bronchoconstriction is the result of immunoglobulin released in response of mediators following the exposure of allergens in the air. Typically, the oedema in the airways occurs approximately 6 to 24 hours after exposure. The formation of chronic mucus plus is through exudates of serum proteins, in addition to, debris of the used cells requiring several days to resolve completely (Morris, 2013).

Lastly, the hyperinflation occurs as a means to compensate for obstruction of the airflow. However, this is a limited compensation till the till volume reaches the total volume of the pulmonary dead space. Ultimately, this leads to alveolar hypoventilation and mismatch between ventilation and perfusion ratios. Vasoconstriction also plays a key role in developing this mismatch. The consequences of this mismatch leads to hypoxia and hypercarbia. During the early stages, the hyperventilation results in respiratory alkalosis. O the other hand, in later stages, increasing workload of breathing, increasing consumption of oxygen, and increasing cardiac output lead to respiratory failure, and respiratory acidosis (Morris, 2013).

Physiological changes during pregnancy

Pregnancy is also related with various normal physiological changes that facilitate in the survival of the foetus, and prepares the mother for labour and delivery phase. The changes are observed in all major system of the body and are as follows:

Endocrine system

The levels of FSH/LH decreases

Increased amounts of prolactin, ACTH, and melanocyte-stimulating hormone

Increased ...