AO2- Factors affecting the cause and distribution of influenza and asthma.
In this part of the assignment I will be explaining the cause and distribution of influenza and asthma. I will include two factors that will affect the cause and distribution for each disease. Cause means the root of the illness and where the illness originates from. Distribution is the spread of the illness, and how it is spread amongst the population. I will also explain the incidence and prevalence of influenza and asthma. The term incidence means how many people get the diseases at a given period of time (new cases). Prevalence is how many people have the diseases overall, including the new cases.
Non communicable disease- asthma
Asthma is a chronic medical condition where the bronchial tubes in the lungs become easily irritated. This leads to constriction of the airways resulting in wheezing, coughing, difficulty breathing and production of thick mucus. Over the past 30 years or so, there has been an increase in doctor-diagnosed asthma, especially in children. It is estimated that asthma affects over 300 million people worldwide, in total. In the United Kingdom, over 74,000 hospitalisations occur due to asthma or asthma-related illnesses every year. Asthma prevalence is thought to have increased since the late 1990s. There are around 1000 deaths a year from asthma, about 90% of which are associated with preventable factors. Almost 40% of these deaths are in people under 75. There were 1,143 deaths from asthma in the UK in 2010.

(Datamonitor, 2013).

Even though the prevalence of asthma is highest in the United States, the prevalence of asthma increased from 2000 to 2010 in the United Kingdom which therefore shows the rates of asthma is increasing over the years because the prevalence of asthma was 8 million in 2010 and which has increased to 9 million in 2010. An increase in the prevalence of asthma indicates that either more people are developing asthma, or that the people are tending to suffer the condition for longer, or both.

Factors affecting the cause and distribution of asthma
A number of contributory factors are thought to be responsible for the increase of asthma. These include higher levels of centrally heated homes, with fitted carpets and poor ventilation which provides an ideal condition for house dust mites which triggers asthma. Additionally, children are more likely to develop asthma as they stay indoors as it is more polluted inside. There are many other factors that affect the cause and distribution of asthma.
Age
Age is a factor that affects the cause and distribution of asthma. The UK has among the highest prevalence rates of asthma symptoms in children worldwide. In the United Kingdom 5.4 million people are currently receiving treatment for asthma, 1.1 million of whom are children. One in eleven children has asthma and it is the most common long-term medical condition.