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Who most often suffers from asthma?
Last reviewed: 27.11.2021
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Scandinavian scientists for twenty years conducted a large-scale study, the purpose of which was to determine the relationship between such a disease as bronchial asthma and the working specialty of patients. The number of people who suffer from this disease is increasing every year and researchers have suggested that some professions can contribute to the appearance of asthma and even lead to an accelerated development of the chronic form of the disease.
The study consisted of the fact that under the close supervision of medical scientists from the University of Goteborg (Sweden) for about twenty years there were about 12,000 people living in the countries of Scandinavia and the Baltic States. The doctors initially selected healthy people who did not have the prerequisites for asthma. In 1980, the experiment was launched, and 20 years later, scientists began in-depth analysis of the data that was provided in the questionnaires. The main goal was to determine the connection between the profession chosen by the experimental subjects and acquired diseases for 20 years, in particular, bronchial asthma.
Asthma is an acute chronic disease that affects the respiratory tract. Often accompanied by allergic attacks. The main symptoms of asthma are: severe cough in the absence of colds, short-term attacks of suffocation, shortness of breath, resulting in a feeling of constantly interrupted speech. After a minimal physical exertion, asthmatics suffer from wheezing and severe coughing.
Out of thirteen thousand men and women who were examined at the end of 20 years, more than four hundred were asthmatic patients. After receiving the results, the scientists found out the specifics of the work that the patients had been doing for the last twenty years. The results showed that 7% of women had asthma conditions in the workplace, and as for men, the figure decreased to 4%.
Most people with asthma are allergic people, they are in a special risk group. If we talk about the causes of the disease, then one of the most important is the conditions in the workplace. The study showed that people who because of work, were associated with harmful chemicals or vapors, more often than others were sick.
An important point is that people when choosing a profession do not always imagine possible consequences. The authors of the study argue that avoiding such results could have been through preliminary notifications of the harmfulness of the drugs with which we have to work. Thus, it would be possible to weed out workers who are allergic to certain substances, and also to let everyone else understand that the chosen profession involves risks.
The highest risk for people with asthma is people who work in construction. Painters, plasterers, cleaners: they have to deal daily with paints, varnishes, various detergents, which contain harmful chemicals. Among the "female" professions the most dangerous is the profession of a hairdresser or beautician: every day you have to breathe the evaporation of hair colors, professional cosmetics, varnishes for manicure.