Don't blame the khamaseen for asthma problems

      
    
 
Yomna Kamel Middle East Times staff

 
KHAMASEENS ARE POWERFUL STORMS THAT BRING DUST AND DESTRUCTION
 While some Egyptians are enthusiastically waiting for April and May to enjoy the country's temperate weather, it is not a good time of the year for many others, especially children who suffer khamaseen asthma.

Although Egyptians have become used to these spring storms, it seems that coupled with the rise in pollution over the last couple of years, it is causing an increase in cases of bronchial asthma.

"Egyptians expect the khamaseen by April and they last until end of May. This is approximately 50 days and hence the name which means 'fifty'," said deputy head of the Egyptian Meteorological Organization Sherif Hammad.

These storms come from the Western desert carrying sand and dust. For the street observer, it is possible to know a khamaseen is on its way by a sudden rise in temperature. It lasts for about one to three days and is followed by light rain and then a cool period of clearing.

Hammad advises people who are asthmatic to stay home and minimize their outdoor activities as much as possible. Aside from this, he says there is nothing more they can do to protect themselves from the conditions.

For respiratory specialists who see an increase in patients suffering from asthma, the khamaseen is not the real culprit. As this phenomenon has been around for thousands of years, they are sure the asthma is being caused by something new in the air.

"It's not only the khamaseen that helps increase cases of bronchial asthma, but the pollution. The number of people, especially children, who have become allergic to dust is dramatically increasing. Around a 30 percent increase has been noted this year when compared to previous years," said Dr. Tariq Al Sherbiny, a respiratory specialist at the Mamoura Chest Center in Alexandria.

According to a report in Al Ahram newspaper citing the World Health Organization on March 21, about 50 percent of the world's population suffers various kinds of allergies with 10 to 12 percent of these being asthmatic in nature.

Sherbiny's center receives some 200-300 patients with bronchial asthma daily. Unfortunately, most of them are children. This number increases dramatically during the khamaseen period but the doctor thinks that the normal numbers are far too high. He does not blame the khamaseen for this increase, but the pollution.

"Don't think pollution is a problem only faced by Cairo's residents," he said. "Alexandria and many other cities suffer from heavy pollution caused by factories located in the middle of residential areas and automobile exhaust."

It's not just factories and traffic causing asthma among children, in fact the doctor says that economic factors are playing a role. In the past, doctors believed that asthmatics' children were at risk for developing the affliction but now it appears that children with low living standards get hit the hardest.

Although asthma can be found among children of upper and middle class families, it is much more prevalent among the lower classes says the doctor.

"Children of poor families usually have malnutrition, which weakens their immunity system and puts them at greater risk to developing allergies," he said. "A poorly-fed child in a polluted environment can easily develop bronchial asthma."

Cairo doctors also agree with their Alexandrian colleague.

"There is a link between our modern 'man made' environment and the increasing number of allergy sufferers. For example, most of the cases of asthmatic children admitted to Abu Al Reesh Hospital live in Helwan, a neighborhood in Cairo surrounded by several large cement of factories," said Dr. Muhammad Khalil, a professor at the pediatric school for Qasr Al Aini Medical College in Cairo told Al Ahram.

He pointed out that living in a clean environment is the best remedy for asthma sufferers since around 15 % of them were not born asthmatic, but developed it due to heavy exposure to sources of pollution.