May 03--DUBAI -- Asthma and related allergic diseases constitute a growing health problem -- and today, they are considered 'Epidemics of the 21st Century', affecting 10 to 50% of populations in all countries around the world.
In the Middle East, a study commissioned in early 2000, indicated that 13.5% of the population had asthma. More than 10 years down the line, this number is bound to have gone up.
These startling revelations were disclosed by medical professionals on World Asthma Day today.
Professor Ruby Pawankar, president of the World Allergy Organization (WAO) and chairperson of the MEAAAIC, pointed out that in the UAE multiple factors aggravate the occurrence and prevalence of allergies, including genetics, environment and an individual's immunity system.
Other than a combination of other factors -- indoor pollution, change in lifestyle etc -- "a child today has a 50% chance of having allergies if both parents have allergies, a 30% chance if one parent has allergies, and an 18% chance to acquire allergies even if neither parent has any allergy," said Dr Pawankar.
"Statistics today show allergies increasing to epidemic proportions as developing countries emerge into industrialised nations... We need to pay attention to the increase in allergies in this region, similar to the developed world, which pays it a lot of attention," she added.
Very young children are most vulnerable to allergies and asthma today. Today's younger generation is in the high-risk group, because the environment around them has changed owing to urbanization, poor nutrition and unbalanced meals; there's also a greater focus on hygiene, which results in reducing the body's natural immunity, while making it less prone to infections.
Explaining the proclivity of the Middle East region to allergies and respiratory ailments, Pawankar maintained that small, insulated apartments and living spaces, with a high degree of dependence on air-conditioning, provided a vital breeding ground for mould, dust-mite, allergens and pollen.
Speaking to Khaleej Times about her efforts at helping her children cope with asthma, Abu Dhabi-based Petra Sander, mother of twins and founder of www.abudhabikidz.com and www.dubaikidz.com revealed that, "Six per cent of all American children now suffer from chronic asthma whereas in the UAE, 1 in 5 children (or 20%) have asthma. More than 40% of children -- including mine -- in the UAE are estimated to suffer from Allergic Rhinitis."
She said the first challenge she and her husband faced was to find a paediatrician who was able to diagnose her children and to administer the right medication.
"As a parent you feel helpless if told many times that your child just has a normal cold and should take his antibiotics. The next task was to work out what triggers attacks--allergy of different foods, environments etc. We then tried to understand what dietary changes we should go in for, and to enable the children to live with a chronic sinusitis," she said.
In her children's case, the allergies got worse in winters, especially after a sandstorm, and she noted that constant medication and a lot of time and effort went towards keeping the home as dust-free as possible. "We purchased special bedding (difficult to source in the UAE) and started to wash and deep-freeze soft toys on a regular basis. As the children spend many hours at school every day, much could be done here to improve indoor quality. I personally joined a Facebook group of other mothers with children with similar conditions to share resources and research and to be able to talk to people who would understand that what one brushes off as a 'simple allergy' could mean a big loss of quality of life to someone else," she said.
The good news is that Sander believes that awareness about "poor indoor air quality" is slowly increasing in the UAE as more and more families choose to it their home basis for a longer stretch of time. --news@khaleejtimes.com
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