Reactive airway disease is a disorder of the respiratory system where any irritant can cause discomfort like shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing because of the inflammation that is triggered in the respiratory tract. This disorder is also known as RADS or reactive airways dysfunction syndrome and, unfortunately, it is no respecter of age. Infants, children, adults, old people – all can succumb to this condition and all it takes is one allergen or irritant to set it off.
What happens
What happens when a person suffers from reactive airway disease is that the person reacts to an irritant with a whole lot of mucus being produced in his respiratory tract and this leads to inflammation which in turn brings on the symptoms. Usually, there is a lot of mucus, wheezing and coughing and in children, the heartbeat could go up. Unfortunately, there is no clear method to establish that someone is suffering from this disorder especially as many of the symptoms are very similar to those of asthma. In a small child, especially, doctors prefer to assume they have reactive airway disease to avoid or postpone the administration of strong asthma drugs till necessary. This is due to the fact that just wheezing in children does not add up without a doubt to asthma. In fact, only 1 in 3 children who wheeze go on to develop asthma and this is why doctors don’t like the idea of putting labels on a disease till absolutely proven. However, the symptoms of both conditions are very similar in both children and older people in that it is a reaction to pollutants, irritants or allergens. There are certain diagnostic tests to tell the difference between the two conditions but doctors prefer to wait till a child is six before they conduct those tests. This disorder might affect people of any age but when it comes to race, there is definitely a skew towards the Hispanic and the African-American youngsters.
Some doctors have concluded from certain studies that women who smoke and women who breastfeed for less than three months are more likely to have children who suffer from conditions like these. While there hasn’t been a study that is large enough to prove this conclusively, doctors do advise mothers to take extra care when they are pregnant and as soon as they have delivered a baby.
How it happens
Let’s take a look at how exactly this disease sets in. As we said, all it takes is a trigger – and for reactive airway disease, a single exposure to the trigger will do – and when this happens, the body reacts and releases histamine, tryptase, esonophils, etc and all these cause inflammation or a toxic condition in the respiratory tract. There is a lot of mucus that is secreted, there is edema and you could also have a bronchospasm. The problem is, the trigger could be anything – it could be something like the smoke from a fire in a neighbor’s BBQ or it could be dust mites, molds, pet hair or pollen. It could even be a whiff of a chemical like chlorine, acetic acid or ammonia. Even changes in the weather could trigger off a reaction. And the reaction could be a tight feeling in the chest, shortness of breath or wheezing.
How to tell
There are a number of tests that you will have to undergo before reactive airway disease is diagnosed. These will be tests conducted on the blood and mucus, a measurement of the pulse, a spirometry test to check how strong the breath is and a chest X-ray to determine how bad the inflammation is.
What to do
Reactive airway disease is not something to be taken lightly and you need to be under the care of a doctor. There are a number of lines of treatment that he could recommend to you depending how severe the problem is and how often it takes place. Some of the recommended therapies are corticosteroids prescriptions, hydration with isotonic fluids, IPAP or intermittent positive airway pressure and oxygen therapy. A doctor could also prescribe the use of bronchodilators as well as breathing exercises. If you go to the doctor in time, the chances of managing the condition very well are high. You also need to take his advice and keep away, as far as possible, from any irritant that could trigger it off.