Breathing problems

[color=violet:024b53da71]Is it the cold, damp housing?[/color:024b53da71]

[color=indigo:024b53da71][b:024b53da71]NZ children struggling to breathe [/b:024b53da71][/color:024b53da71]
19.04.06

One in four New Zealand children is affected by respiratory disease, says a report released today. And the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation wants the Government to make funding for asthma a health priority. Foundation executive director Jane Patterson said New Zealand had one of the highest rates of respiratory disease in the developed world, with asthma estimated to cost the country $825 million a year.

The "chilling" document highlighted the need for the Ministry of Health to make respiratory illness a priority in its health strategy because of the "appalling prevalence of respiratory disease in children", she said. "This would direct the attention of the Ministry of Health and district health boards towards improved strategic planning and resource allocation for people with respiratory health problems."

The foundation's report - "Trying to Catch Our Breath - the Burden of Preventable Breathing Diseases in Children and Young People" - outlines factors that have contributed to the country's poor respiratory health statistics. Hospital admission rates for child asthma remained high and rates for Maori and Pacific Islanders had risen, Ms Patterson said. "New Zealand continues to have one of the highest asthma prevalence rates in the world - a whopping one in four of our children is affected."

Document co-author Professor Innes Asher said income had long been recognised as the most important factor. "We know that the number of children living in poverty increased from 16 per cent in 1988 to a staggering 29 per cent in 2000. The Working for Families package will alleviate the situations for only one-third of children in poverty."

The document revealed that most of the top 10 causes of potentially avoidable hospital admissions in young New Zealanders were respiratory conditions. Those conditions included not just asthma, but also other diseases more commonly associated with Third World countries, such as bronchiectasis, bronchiolitis and pertussis (whooping cough).

Katherine Andrew of Auckland, whose son Dylan Wellacott, 13, was diagnosed with the respiratory disease Churg Strauss syndrome in 2003, said it had been a hard year when he was diagnosed. After an initial assessment of asthma it was clear something more serious was wrong and Dylan had more blood tests, Mrs Andrew said. "They found out more was going on and he went straight to Starship [Hospital] where he had 400ml of fluid drained from around his heart. He missed a lot of time off school and in the end he couldn't get out of bed - he couldn't walk, because every time he moved he would have an asthma attack."

Dylan - who has monthly check-ups - was coping well now, she said. Dylan said he was used to taking the pills now and dealing with his illness was part of his day-to-day life. "I sometimes don't have as much energy," he said.

* The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation will hold its first Balloon Day for children with asthma on Saturday, April 29.

- NZPA

I think all the V8s and the unroadworthy vehicles that spew out black smoke have a bearing on that!!! :icon_lol:

Fisheress

Grrr not so great post fisheress. V8s are cute and cuddly. They purr and rock you whilst feeling lovely under your bottom, thus V8s are goood.

:icon_eek:

[quote:c6dfedb1e0="SteveyC"]V8s are cute and cuddly. They purr and rock you whilst feeling lovely under your bottom, thus V8s are goood.[/quote:c6dfedb1e0]
C'mon now, there may be children reading. Keep it clean :icon_wink: .

??? Whatever do you mean!!!

Guys and Gals... :icon_biggrin: on a serious note I think the cause of the increase in asthma occurences in children are partly due to the pollution from vehicles, industries and etc. Also I think the pores and pollens during summer are also the contributing factor.

Pulsarblu

But if asthma is caused by pollution why is it that one of the least polluted countries in the world also has one of the highest asthma rates? According to health stats children in NZ are more likely to suffer from asthma than British children - and yet the Uk is probably a lot more polluted. It doesn't make sense.

Why have allergies increased significantly in recent years as well?


Tottefan.

I've read in a few places that it certainly doesn't help with health problems like this when you live in cold, damp houses and there are plenty of those in NZ. When I first got married, I lived in a cold, damp house and was ill for the whole of the 6 months I was there, so it leads me to think that may be one reason why there's a lot of breathing problems in NZ.

I've also read that pollen from privet hedges and, no doubt, other types of plants has caused havoc with people's breathing this last summer in NZ. Could be a combination of several factors and may be down to ones own personal circumstances as to which one clobbers you first.

Certainly pollution from traffic fumes etc. can cause such problems, but that would be in very large cities, I would think. Outside NZ's main cities, which in themselves aren't that big, there's nothing but supposedly clean fresh air.

The increase in synthetic materials probably doesn't help either. Other than that, I think that the points mentioned in MB's post above about cold, damp housing is probably the main cause of NZ's extremely high asthma rate.


Tottefan.

My son, who is now 10, was diagnosed with asthma and ecszma as a 1 year old. He had an extremely bad attack whilst he was sleeping in his cot, his lips went blue, he was struggling to get any breath in at all as we rushed him to hospital at 2.30a.m.

They had no ida what had caused it, house wasn't damp or cold, he wasn't a sickly baby in fact 10lb born and very robust, I was still breast-feeding him which is meant to guard against it. They had no idea.

Fortunately he does seem to have outgrown it but if he gets a cold it goes straight on to his chest and is very uncomfortable.

I think Tottefan is right, there are far too many synthetic materials and chemicals in our everyday environment, it's anybodys guess as to how these are affecting us as we speak. Some of the biggest culprits are air fresheners, it has been proven that they induce asthma sypmtoms and can even be cancerous and yet, we plug them and let them pump out chemically induced fragrance, we spray them everywhere, they're in our car, on our bodies, in our toilet tissue, make up, baby toiletries, you name it.

We've got to go back to natural products, the worlds gone crazy :icon_cry: