SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - October 8, 2002: Asthma
By Caty Weaver
VOICE ONE:
This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English program SCIENCE IN THE NEWS. Today, we tell
about the disease asthma. It affects as many as one-hundred-fifty-million people around the world.
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)
VOICE ONE:
Asthma is a serious lung disease that causes breathing problems. These problems, called
asthma attacks, can kill. Asthma can affect people of all age groups but often begins in
childhood. It can be controlled but not cured. Sufferers must deal with the disease every day.
Stavros Kontzias (cun-ZEE-ahs) is a six-year-old boy living near Washington, D-C. He
developed asthma when he was about two years old. His parents, Susie and Zack, say the
breathing problems would appear whenever Stavros got sick with a cold or lung infection.
His father remembers those experiences as very frightening. He says Stavros coughed a lot.
The boy struggled to breathe. His breathing became very loud and had a strange sound. That
kind of breathing is called wheezing. Mister Kontzias says his son never turned blue from a
lack of oxygen. But, he says it was apparent that little air was getting into Stavros’s lungs.
VOICE TWO:
The Kontziases made several emergency visits to the hospital with Stavros during these sicknesses. Once there,
doctors gave Stavros drugs called steroids. Mister Kontzias says the steroids worked very fast to open his son’s
air passages. But, he says he began to worry about long-term effects of high amounts of steroids as the trips to the
hospital increased.
So, his parents took Stavros to a pulmonary pediatric specialist. That is a doctor who is an expert in diseases that
affect children’s lungs. The doctor listened to the boy’s lungs. He also used measuring devices to test the
child’s airflow limitations. The combination of the test results and Stavros’s medical history showed he had
asthma.
VOICE ONE:
Today, Stavros takes four medicines a day to control his asthma. His trips to the hospital emergency room now
are rare events. His parents say they hope that Stavros will stop suffering from the disease as he gets older.
The Kontziases take steps other than medicine to control their son’s asthma. They help Stavros avoid activities
that can lead to an asthma attack. For example, the boy stopped playing the sport of soccer. The continuous
running required to play the sport severely decreased his breathing ability. So Stavros now plays baseball instead.
It gives him more time to rest and requires much less running.
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VOICE TWO:
Experts say exercise is one of the things that can start an asthma attacks. Things that lead to asthma attacks are
called triggers. Although doctors do not know the cause of asthma, they have identified most of its triggers. For
example, the common cold can cause an asthma attack in a person who has the disease. There are also several air
pollutants that can lead to an asthma attack. Pollen is one such pollutant. Pollen is a fine dust that comes from
plants that produce seeds. However, almost any kind of dust can cause an asthma attack if enough of it is in the
air. This includes common dust found in houses.
Air pollution from burning fuel also can cause an asthma attack. Tobacco smoke can do the same. Some kinds of
animal fur are a trigger for asthma. And, even some insects in the home can lead to asthma attacks.
VOICE ONE:
Several things happen in the lungs when an asthma sufferer has an attack. Cells in the air passages begin to
produce too much of a thick, sticky substance called mucous. The mucous creates blocked areas in the air
passages. The tissue that lines the air passages begins to expand at the same time. And, the muscles in the
passages tighten.
All these changes cause the air passages to narrow. This reduces the amount of air that can flow in and out of the
lungs. The sufferer can not get a good, deep, breath of air. The narrowed airways also cause coughing and a tight
feeling in the chest.
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VOICE TWO:
Health experts say asthma cases are increasing around the world. The World Health Organization says asthma
rates worldwide are increasing on average by fifty percent every ten years. The W-H-O says asthma cases in
western Europe have increased by two times in ten years. The W-H-O says the number of asthma sufferers has
increased in the United States by about sixty percent in the past twenty years. American experts give an even
higher number. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology says the rise was seventy-five
percent in about the same time period. It also says an estimated seventeen-million Americans have the disease.
The number of deaths from asthma also has risen in the United States. The W-H-O says about five-thousand
Americans die from asthma attacks each year. In the early nineteen-eighties, the yearly death rate from asthma in
the United States was about half that.
VOICE ONE:
The World Health Organization says asthma is not just a problem in industrial countries. It says the disease
affects people in developing nations as well. However, the incidence of the disease differs greatly from area to
area. The W-H-O says as many as twenty-million people suffer from the disease in India.
It says an estimated fifteen percent of Indian children suffer from the disease. The W-H-O says almost twenty
percent of children in Kenya show signs of asthma. Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and Uruguay also have a
high rate of childhood asthma. The W-H-O says as many as thirty percent of children in those countries show
signs of asthma.
VOICE TWO:
Asthma kills about one-hundred-eighty-thousand people a year. The W-H-O says it also has huge economic
costs. The costs linked to asthma are believed to be higher than those of tuberculosis and AIDS combined. The
W-H-O says the United States spends six-thousand-million dollars a year on health care and other economic costs
of the disease. It says Britain spends almost a third of that on health care for asthma and lost productivity of
workers.The World Health Organization says greater international action is needed to deal with asthma. It says
asthma sufferers, healthcare providers and the general public must learn more about the disease and the problems
linked to it. The W-H-O says a worldwide system should be put into effect to observe and record asthma rates
around the world. And, it says more research is needed to find the cause of asthma and develop new ways to treat
it.
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VOICE ONE:
Medical experts have suspected for some time that there was a genetic link to asthma. A child has a greater
chance of developing asthma if his or her parent is asthmatic. Recently, however, British and American scientists
said they may have found a gene involved in the disease.
Three groups of researchers took part in the study. One group works for Genome Therapeutics, a drug company
in Waltham, Massachusetts. The other scientists are from the drug company Schering-Plough and the University
of Southampton in Britain.
VOICE TWO:
The gene is called ADAM-thirty-three. The scientists identified it through genetic testing of more than four-
hundred families in the United States and Britain whose members have the disease. The researchers say the gene
alone does not cause asthma. But, they say its presence appears to increase a person’s chances of developing the
disease.
They say the gene may be involved in the main condition of asthma — the narrowing of airway passages.
However, the researchers say it is too early to say what percentage of asthma sufferers may have an abnormal
gene.
Scientists say the finding could lead to new research about the causes of asthma and new drugs to treat the
disease. It could also lead to methods to identify people most at risk for asthma and early treatment to help
prevent the development of the disease.
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VOICE ONE:
This Science in the News program was written by Caty Weaver. It was produced by George Grow with audio
assistance from Dwayne Collins. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice
of America.
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