Bronchial asthma is a disease that is influenced considerably by several factors. This is a disease which is prevalent all over the world. It is generally seen that the boys of younger age groups have more severe case of the symptoms of the disease than the girls. The factors which have a great effect on the asthmatic conditions are:



Hereditary factors: Genetics seems to play an important role in the asthma patients. The heredity factors of occurrence of disease in one or both the parents and prevalence in the family history have repeatedly been shown to have considerable influence on the occurrence of asthma. It is seen that the rate of occurrence of disease almost doubles if both the parents have asthma. The symptoms also start to manifest at a much earlier stage in life. When the asthma is of extrinsic type, which means that the symptoms appear due to some allergens it may also be seen that the patients develop symptoms not necessarily of asthma but of other diseases as well. These diseases may be of infectious or non-infectious variety. The children of parents having asthma are very prone to other related disorders also.

Infection factors: Certain infections lead to development of symptoms similar to asthma. These are a bad bout of cold and chest congestion or any other kind of bronchial infection. These symptoms develop vigorously in children. The symptoms of wheezing and breathlessness are very predominantly seen. After the infection is suppressed the chest becomes normal again and the child stops showing the symptoms. Infectious and non-infectious diseases like pneumonia, measles, whooping cough, tonsils, and adenoids can show symptoms of asthma in very early stages of life. In the individuals who are prone to allergies symptoms of asthma can develop very quickly as a response to the presence of the allergen. The sensitivity to the allergen can also trigger off an infection. Thus a vicious cycle is formed where one can influence the other and the symptoms manifest rapidly.

The patients of allergic rhinitis (repeated sneezing) and asthma also have excessive secretions from the nose and the lungs. These are fertile feeding and breeding grounds for micro organisms and thus catching further infections also becomes very feasible. This is the reason why the people suffering with rhinitis and asthma are more prone to catching all kinds of bronchial infections. Some of these may lead to conditions of emphysema also in extreme cases. This is also the reason why both the infections as well as the allergy have to be treated side by side to ensure proper recovery. Unless and until this is done complete recovery may not be a possibility at all.

Emotional factors: Sometimes conditions related with excessive manifestation of emotions also trigger off a reaction in the form of symptoms similar to that of asthma. Generally it is also seen that such individuals also have an inclination towards allergies and anxiety related disorders. When the person is inclined towards allergic reactions certain emotionally charged situations just act as a trigger and create mild to severe asthmatic reactions in the body. Similarly if the person is prone towards very sensitive emotional disposition, the fact that the asthmatic reactions make themselves manifest is quite well known. This leads to difficulty in diagnosis and further in treating the symptoms adequately also. For this it is imperative that the doctors identify all the causes and then rule out all the possibilities one by one before coming to final treatment plans. These kind of asthmatic reactions are very prevalent in ladies and children who are subject to extreme emotional conditions like death or accident in the family.

Climatic factors: It is usually seen that the asthmatics get better adjusted to dry climates than the hot and humid ones. This is to say that colder, hilly terrains are much better for the asthmatics rather than the sea coast areas. But there are no rules as such because some people show lesser manifestation of symptoms near the sea coast than in the hilly areas. There are several climatic factors that come into play where asthma is concerned and different people may agree to different situations. Some climatic factors that play an important role are wind, atmospheric pressure and changes in altitude. Heavy winds may induce difficulty in breathing in some people. Also direction of winds may also be a cause of concern. Sudden drop in the atmospheric pressures can lead to severe symptoms of asthma in many patients. This kind of drop is generally seen before a thunderstorm and can cause severe aggravation of the symptoms. Some people develop a distinct lessening of symptoms when they go to places of higher altitudes. This is generally attributed to a change of environment than to any other thing and was the preferred mode of treatment in the yesteryears.

Occupational factors: Generally patients with extrinsic asthma that is due to allergens have more manifestation of symptoms when they are in occupations where they are continuously exposed to allergens like farmers who have pollen allergy can have aggravated symptoms. Workers in a factory area may develop asthma due to the effluents or raw materials. The symptoms shown are quite varied and may take a while to manifest after an initial exposure to the allergens.