It might seem that in the age of modern knowledge and progress in medicine it is obsolete to talk (and write ;)) about the respiratory system hygiene. All in all, the majority of us know that tobacco smoking increases the risk of lung cancer and we know this and that about the hazards related to environment pollution, particularly the pollution of air that we breathe.
We also know things about airborne allergens and asthma. However, I would like to make an attempt at systematization of certain information and reminding them once more. Why? Because theoretically we all know this well, but here is what statistical data says:
- every year 40 thousand Poles die of respiratory system disease complications,
- 22 thousand people die of lung cancer (every year it is the most frequently occurring malignant cancer in Poland),
- 15 thousand people die of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD),
- 1.5 thousand people die of asthma [Smog is a threat of epidemic of respiratory system diseases”), 12.01.2017, http://www.mp.pl],
- According to the research of Jarosław Komorowski, Ph.D. carried out during years 2006-2008 and published in 2012 (unfortunately I was unable to reach any more current data) slightly more than 10% of Polish population suffers from asthma.
- In Europe over 130 million people suffer from allergy of upper respiratory tract and 30 million suffer from asthma. It is the youth and children that suffer from these diseases first and foremost [Information from the https://www.gov.pl/web/zdrowie website; 02.05.2016]
The modern medicine provides us with different efficient methods of pharmacological treatment of respiratory system diseases. There are many groups of medicines and treatment patterns for asthma and COPD, but it is not them I would like to talk about today. I would like to focus on prevention and whether it is possible at all nowadays.