Bronchial Asthma and Stem Cell Therapy

Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs and is accompanied by symptoms such as wheezing, chest tightening, breathlessness and so on. Bronchial asthma can be categorized based on severity, some people do have episodes many times per day, while some people have just a few of those in a week. Also, it can be induced by physical exercise and allergies. Some asthma patient has episodes when they are exposed to dust or smoke. For now, medicine has no cure for bronchial, it can only be managed.

The following are the inducers of bronchial asthma;

1. Physical and emotional stress: Physical and emotional stress are important triggers of bronchial asthma. Most bronchial asthma patients often have episodes especially after occurrences such as breakups, or when they involve themselves in activities that stress
2. Sudden changes in weather: Sudden changes in the weather is a common inducer of bronchial asthma episodes. As an illustration, an asthma patient that leaves Africa for Alaska during winter will most likely have episodes of asthma because of the extreme changes in weather.
3. Air pollution: Air pollutants such as smoke and fumes from vehicles do trigger asthma episodes. Individuals that have the disease should avoid places that these things. In addition, second-hand smoke could also trigger asthma.
4. Food allergies: Some certain food does induce asthmatic episodes in patients. The type of food does vary in patients. It could be some specific type of nut for some patients, while it could just pepper in some other people.
5. Diseases: There are some diseases, such as pneumonia and cold do trigger asthmatic episodes, especially when they are severe.
6. Medications: Drugs, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, do trigger asthma crisis.

Patients can protect themselves by avoiding all these types of triggers. However, patients often do have triggers, that are peculiar to them. In the case of teenagers, their parents must pay attention to what causes the episodes, and try to guard their children against them.

Signs And Symptoms Of Bronchial Asthma

Bronchial asthma is accompanied by symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing and coughing and tightening of the chest. Other conditions that sometimes occur alongside asthma include sinus diseases, reflux disease of the esophagus and stomach and so on.

What Are The Causes Of Asthma?

The etiology of bronchial asthma cannot be traced to a particular thing. It is always a combination of more than one factor. These factors are genetic and environmental.

1. Genetics: It has been shown that genetics play a huge role in the etiology of asthma. For example, people who have asthma would most likely have a relative that has suffered from the same disease. However, although genetics play an important part in the development of the disease, the patient would still have to be exposed to the environmental factors, before the patient would start showing symptoms or having asthmatic episodes.
2. Environmental factor: The environment factors act as triggers for asthma episodes. As an illustration, pollutants such as smoke and fumes from vehicles and industries do trigger asthma episodes. This is why bronchial asthma is more predominant in cities than in rural areas, where there are no industries and just a few, In addition, abrupt changes in the weather is also a common trigger of bronchial asthma episodes. This is more common among asthmatic patients that moved from a place like Africa, with temperate weather, to Canada during winter. The sudden change in weather will trigger asthma episodes in the patient.
3. Allergies: Asthma has been linked to some allergens, that are capable of triggering episodes in patients. Examples of these allergens are dust, pollen and some insects such as cockroaches and mites. Stress is also another trigger of asthma.
4. Diseases: Asthma has been associated with some diseases, such as eczema, pneumonia, sinusitis and some inflammatory diseases. Drugs, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, have also been implicated as a trigger of asthma.

How Is Bronchial Asthma Currently Treated?

Although bronchial asthma presently has no cure, the symptoms can be managed with medications and some lifestyle modifications

1. Lifestyle modification: The management plan of bronchial asthma is to first eliminate the triggers of the asthma episodes. For example, if the patient is allergic to dust or pollen, the patient is removed and prevented from gaining exposure to these allergens. Also, in exercise-induced asthma, patients are advised to not participate in high-intensity exercises, so the patient won’t start having episodes. In addition, it has been proven that smoking, be it direct or second-hand smoking increases the risk and reduces the efficacy of the drugs.
2. Drugs: The medications used in the management of bronchial asthma can be grouped based on two criteria. First, are drugs that used to treat symptoms in the short term, while long-term drugs are used to protect the patient from a further worsening of their condition.
3. Rapid-acting medications
4. Beta2-adrenoreceptor agonists: Examples of this kind of drugs are beta 2 –adrenergic agonist. An example of this group of medication is salbutamol. They are usually given in the form of an inhaler. Salbutamol is the first line of treatment of asthma symptoms.
5. Anticholinergic drugs: An example of this group of drugs is ipratropium bromide. They work best when used together with beta2-adrenoreceptor agonists
6. Corticosteroids
7. Other medications, that are often used are adrenaline. Its mechanism of action is quite similar to that of beta2-adrenoreceptor, however, they might have some adverse effect on the heart. In addition, mast-cell stabilizers are also effective in the treatment of asthma.

       Stem Cell Therapy Of Asthma

Stem cells are special kind of cells in that they can regenerate, and also repair damaged tissues. In addition to this, stem cells also have immune modulatory functions. Mesenchymal stem cells are useful in the treatment of bronchial asthma because of their ability to regenerate and repair or replace the injured or dead lung tissues. In addition, the stem cells also increase the ability of the patient to resist infections and other forms of allergy. Since stem cells are immune modulators, they reduce asthmatic episodes that are due to allergic triggers.

References

Asthma triggers!. (2000). Asthma Magazine, 5(1), pp.13-36.

Cho, K. (2016). Stem cell therapy in animal models of allergic airway diseases. Allergy, Asthma & Respiratory Disease, 4(3), p.167.

Mascarenhas, S., Avalos, B. and Ardoin, S. (2012). An Update on Stem Cell Transplantation in Autoimmune Rheumatologic Disorders. Current Allergy and Asthma Reports, 12(6), pp.530-540.

Symptoms of asthma. (2005). Asthma Magazine, 10(2), pp.31-32.