Palgerism report

Do you have an estimate of home many people are affected by COPD in U.S.?
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammation of the lungs that causes obstructive airflow to the lungs. It consists of emphysema and chronic bronchitis and is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States as at 2018 (Centre for Disease Control, 2021). COPD causes 15.4 million physician visits, 1.5 million emergency department visits and 726,000 hospital visitations in the United States (May & C. Li, 2015).

Who is more prone to be affected by heart diseases, women, or men?

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide. Its incidence is lower in women than in men. It was believed that it was a disease that affected only men. However, women have an increased mortality rate and poorer prognosis than men (Zujie et al 2019).
A research carried out by American Hearts Association revealed that.

· A total of 24,737 patients had NSTEMI, and amongst them, 34.3% were women and 65.7% men.

· A total of 20,327 patients had STEMI, 26.7% were women and 73.5% were men.

· Women had an increased mortality rate than men in both STEMI (9.4% vs 4.5%) and NSTEMI (4.7% and 2.9%) groups (American Heart Association, 2020)

Could you describe the most common sign and symptoms of asthma?

Asthma is a chronic disease of the airway. It is characterized by inflammation leading to narrowing of the airways. It presents with symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough and wheezing (Hashmi et al., 2022). These symptoms may occur as a combination. They come intermittently and worsen at night or after exercises. They can also be caused by triggers which varies individually, and they include smoke, cold, fumes, pet, and even pollen. (World Health Organization, 2022).

How is smoke exposure associated with cardiac arrest?

Smoking is a major risk factor for heart attack and cardiovascular diseases. It results in the death of one in four deaths from cardiovascular diseases. Smoking causes inflammation of cells along the blood vessels and leads to swelling and narrowing of the blood vessels. This can further lead to atherosclerosis (Federal Drug Association, 2021). Chemicals in cigarette smoke cause the blood to thicken and form clots inside veins and arteries. Blockage from a clot can lead to a heart attack and sudden death (Centre for Disease Control 1848)

What are the other components that exacerbate asthma? 
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by inflammation of the bronchi, airway hyper responsiveness, and airflow limitation. When exacerbation occurs, there is deterioration in asthma control. Causes of this include respiratory virus induced exacerbation by Rhinovirus infection, and Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Bacterial infections like (Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Chlamydia pneumoniae), allergens (like dust, smoke, strong perfumes) and pollutants are also factors(Singh & Busse, 2006). Exacerbations are mostly triggered by viral respiratory infections like rhinovirus. Asthma exacerbation are the leading cause of morbidity, increased healthcare cost and also, progressive loss of lung function (Castillo et al., 2017)

How many lives are affected yearly in the United States due to wildfires?

Wildfire is an uncontrollable fire that burnt in a wild land vegetation such as forest, or grassland. Over the past few years, there have been an increase in wildfire activities and damages caused in the United States. While the annual number of fire ignition declined by 780 fires per year from 1990 to 2020, the annual area burned by fire increased by 192,000 acres per year during same time frame. Smoke from the fire can kill about 500 elderly people each year on average (Wibbenmeyer & McDarris, 2021). Human losses aside, the direct financial costs, such as the damage to homes and other infrastructures, often dominate the perception of the fire impacts and an increase in these is often highlighted in the media. Data on fire disasters with continuous annual records of economic damage (1987–2014) give annual global values (adjusted to 2015 US$ value) ranging from US$4.6 million to US$12 318 million (annual average US$2677 million), showing no apparent temporal trend (Doerr & Santín, 2016).

References

American Heart Association. (2020, November 30). Women found to be at higher risk for heart failure and heart attack death than men. American Heart Association. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from
https://newsroom.heart.org/news/women-found-to-be-at-higher-risk-for-heart-failure-and-heart-attack-death-than-men

Castillo, J. R., Peters, S. P., & Busse, W. W. (2017, July 6). Asthma Exacerbations: Pathogenesis, Prevention, and Treatment – PMC. PubMed Central (PMC). Retrieved October 19, 2022, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5950727/

Centre for Disease Control, (2021, June 9). Basics About COPD | CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from
https://www.cdc.gov/copd/basics-about.html

Centre for Disease Control. (1848, November). The Lancet, 52(1314), 508.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)75462-7

Doerr, S. H., & Santín, C. (2016). Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus realities in a changing world. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 371(1696), 20150345.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0345

Federal Drug Association. (2021, November 9). How Smoking Affects Heart Health. U.S. Food And Drug Administration. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from
https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/health-effects-tobacco-use/how-smoking-affects-heart-health

Hashmi, M. F., Tariq, M., & Cataletto, M. E. (2022, August 18). Asthma – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. Asthma – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430901/

May, S. M., & C. Li, J. T. (n.d.). Burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Healthcare costs and beyond – PMC. PubMed Central (PMC). Retrieved October 19, 2022, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5554331/

Singh, A. M., & Busse, W. W. (2006, September 1). Asthma exacerbations {middle dot} 2: Aetiology. Thorax, 61(9), 809–816.
https://doi.org/10.1136/thx.2005.045179

Wibbenmeyer, & McDarris. (2021, July 30). Wildfires in the United States 101: Context and Consequences. Resources for the Future. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from
https://www.rff.org/publications/explainers/wildfires-in-the-united-states-101-context-and-consequences/

World Health Organization. (2022, May 11). Asthma. Asthma. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/asthma

Zujie Gao, Zengsheng Chen, Anqiang Sun, Xiaoyan Deng, Gender differences in cardiovascular disease, Medicine in Novel Technology and Devices, Volume 4, 2019, 100025, ISSN 2590-0935, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medntd.2019.100025. (
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590093519300256)