Lung disease is the number three killer in America, responsible for one in seven deaths. Today, more than 35 million Americans are living with chronic lung diseases such as asthma , emphysema and chronic bronchitis (American Lung Association, 2005). Is air pollution really that bad to the lungs or do scientists just make it up to scare all of us? It surely does make sense that harmful substances can damage lung tissue and cause health problems even chronic lung diseases like asthma. The question is: Is air pollution really the cause or could it be something else like genetics? Nowadays, so many people suffer from lung diseases like asthma; everywhere you look there’s gotta be a person with a lung problem. The rate, incidence, and mortality from asthma is increasing (Werner, 2001). In this paper, a relationship between air pollution and lungs will be analyzed.  

Air pollution is a growing problem around the world. According to World Book Encyclopedia air pollution is “the contamination of the air by industrial waste gases, fuel exhaust, or smoke.� Air becomes polluted by human activities like industrial waste gases, car exhaust, and smoke. The air that is breathed by people has become filled with pollutants that it can result in serious health issues. This is a growing problem because of the increase of humans activities such as cars, airplanes, and industrialization. Here is scary fact about air pollution: Up smokestacks, through vents and windows, U.S. manufacturers released 2.6 billion pounds of toxic pollutants into the air (Denise Kalette and Rae Tyson, 1989). With this much pollution there surely is a link to lung diseases. The correlation of the number of deaths from bronchitis with airborne dust and smoke is so pronounced that air pollution plays a major role(New Scientist). 

One of the most prevalent lung diseases is asthma. Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease in the United States ( Werner, 2001). Five million kids in the United States are suffering from asthma. (Kemp & Kemp, 2001) The highest incidence of asthma occurs in little children like preschoolers (Larsen 2000). The death rate from asthma for children has almost doubled from 1980 to 1993. Asthma is very bad and can causes kids to miss many days of school. This chronic illness causes about 10 million missed school days every year. From these statistics, it is very easy to see that the cause of this problem is getting worse.  

First things first, what is asthma? According to World Book Encyclopedia, asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by periods of breathlessness, wheezing, and coughing. People with asthma suffer from chronic inflammation of the bronchi (airways to the lungs). So the symptoms of Asthma include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, increased work of breathing, anxiety, and mouth breathing ( Smith & Strunk, 1999). When a person has trouble breathing and it is possible to even hear his/her lungs, then that would be a symptom of asthma. An asthma attack can be very scary and possibly lead to sudden death.  

There is a difference between the cause of asthma and the triggers of asthma. Asthma can only be triggered if the person already has asthma; this is different from the cause of asthma. What is the cause of asthma? There are many theories concerning the cause of asthma and scientists are not sure what causes asthma and why it is becoming more prevalent and why there are more people with asthma today. Some people blame it on pollution and others blame it on their inherited genes. Research shows that infants exposed to indoor air pollution– especially tobacco smoke– have a much higher risk of developing asthma than infants who are not exposed(World Book Encyclopedia, 2005). However,there are many triggers that can start an asthma attack. They include polluted air, irritants, the weather, emotional anxiety and stress, other illnesses, medicines, and chemicals. These triggers cause inflammation of the airways; this inflammation then produces a asthma attack.  

Now that the definitions of asthma and air pollution are established, a relationship can be made. Air pollution is a big problem and it directly affects people with asthma. Carbon dioxide (CO₂), a by-product of fossil fuel use, accelerates reactions between other by-products and air pollutants, therefore increasing smog, which aggravates asthma (Ebersole,2005). Many researchers have linked this increase in asthma to the rising effects of global warming. Scientists suspect that as the air temperatures continue to grow warmer as a result of burning fossil fuels, air pollution increases and leads to problems for asthma sufferers. In addition, the warmer air increases amounts of plant biomass and pollen release, which increses amounts of allergens; this can trigger asthma attacks. All of these situations contribute additional asthma-aggravating particles to the air(Ebersole ,2005). Since pollution levels have been rising recently, it makes sense that there would be more asthma sufferers; these analyses are relevant and there are no contradictions.  

In conclusion, air pollution is very devastating to peoples’ health. Air pollution surely affects human lungs. On the negative side, there is no cure for asthma. On the positive side, there are ways to control asthma; asthma sufferers usually require medication. Although, improved access to health care can definitely help people that suffer from asthma ; however, people must find ways to hinder the rate of air pollution. Scientists are concerned that if air pollution is dramatically increased in the years to come, diseases like asthma will only seem to get worse and worse. Improving air quality by reducing air pollution must be made a priority in the hearts of Americans in order for health conditions to be improved.   

Citations 

Denise Kalette and Rae Tyson, “ Air, Treated Like an ‘Open Sewer,’ â€? USA Today, 31 July 1989, 5B. 

Werner H. (2001). Status asthmatics in children, a review. The American College of Chest Physicians, 119. 

Asthma & children. (n.d.). Retrieved Oct. 31, 2005, from Asthma Web Site:www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=22691.  

American Lung Association, (n.d.). Lung diseases. Retrieved Jan. 04, 2006, from Diseases A to Z Web site: 

www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=33316. 

New Scientist , (n.d.). Air pollution. Retrieved Jan. 04, 2006, from newscientist.com Web site: http://www.newscientist.com/modsearch.ns?sortByDate=false. 

Kemp & Kemp. (2001). Management of asthma in children. American Family Physician, 63. 

Larson.(2000). Differences between adult and childhood asthma. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 106.  

Smith . & Strunk. (1999). Acute asthma in the pediatric emergency department. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 46. 

Moss, Mark H., and Robert F. Lemanske, Jr. “Asthma.” World Book Online Reference Center. 2006. World Book, Inc. 4 Jan. 2006 . 

Gay, K. (1991). Air pollution. , NY: impact.