One per cent of adults have severe asthma

More than one per cent of the local adult population suffers from severe asthma, a paper presented at the European Respiratory Society's annual meeting shows.

Of those who suffer from asthma, about five per cent are severely afflicted.

The paper was presented by respiratory division consultant Martin Balzan, who is also the general secretary of the Medical Association of Malta (MAM), during the meeting in Glasgow earlier this month.

It showed that severe asthma is more common among Maltese women than men. In fact, Dr Balzan explained to The Times, women were between 1.3 and two times more likely to get severe asthma than men. The prevalence in women starts from 0.4 per cent in the 20 - 24 age group and rises to 1.24 per cent - about three times as much - in the 60 - 64 age group.

"More women get severe asthma after the age of 25," he said, adding that males are more likely to get severe asthma after the age of 50. Dr Balzan said the fact that the prevalence in males was higher after the age of 50 could be tobacco-related since the number of male smokers is higher.

Patients with severe asthma suffer from attacks which include shortness of breath and they need frequent visits to the hospital for medical treatment. There are between two and three deaths a year because of it.

The paper, one of three presented to the society, showed that 1,760 people taking high dose inhaled corticosteroid - used to control severe asthma episodes - were considered to be suffering from severe asthma. Research, it said, confirmed hospital admission data results indicating that severe asthma was more common in women and that its prevalence with age varied between the sexes.

Dr Balzan said the paper was very important because the international prevalence of asthma was unknown. Because Malta's population was relatively small, and there was one main hospital and one central system, it was easier to compile the data. Another important feature of the study was that it took account of the whole population.

Another paper presented at the annual meeting revolved around a study among smokers in Fgura and Zejtun. The 2001 study showed that there were more heavy smokers in Zejtun than Fgura and the smokers in Zejtun had worse respiratory health problems than non-smokers.

However, the prevalence of all asthma-related symptoms among non-smokers was higher in Fgura than in Zejtun. The symptoms of wheeze and nocturnal cough were higher among smokers than non-smokers in Fgura while all symptoms were consistently higher among smokers in Zejtun.

A third study revolved around the increased prevalence in asthma-related symptoms as a result of exposure to heavy traffic. Results from the survey held in Zejtun and Fgura showed that asthma symptoms were consistently higher in the latter, an urban area.

The study showed that the areas within 250 metres from the main traffic artery had a high prevalence of symptoms. "Living close to a main traffic artery was related to an increase of asthma related symptoms," the paper said.

Dr Balzan said there was interest in the paper from Dutch, Italian and Japanese experts and a similar study was planned to be conducted in Tokyo.

The presentations have now been published in this month's European Respiratory Journal.