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Respiratory health matters for every person. After all, it’s tied up with the literal air we breathe! Whether it’s for oxygen, removing waste, or blocking potential harmful germs and irritants, this complex system is fundamental to wellbeing.In this article we’ll cover key points for How To Plan For Respiratory Health in 2024:

• The importance of respiratory health
• Worldwide prevalence of respiratory health problems including respiratory diseases
• Leading risk factors of poor respiratory health
• Prioritising respiratory health
• Planning steps for respiratory health in 2024 and beyond

Read on to learn more about respiratory health and see the full infographic resource.

Why Is Respiratory Health So Important?

To begin, let’s take a look at respiratory health and how it affects our world today. Overall respiratory illnesses impact communities in three main ways: chronic diseases, hereditary diseases, and infectious diseases. For example, these respiratory illnesses can take the forms of emphysema, asthma, and pneumonia respectively.When it comes to defining the impact of these respiratory illnesses, it’s critical to understand that respiratory illnesses can majorly compromise quality of life and lead to secondary illnesses. Specifically, the respiratory system makes up the frontline of core bodily functions: breathing, removing waste gases, and defence systems. If we’re experiencing problems with our respiratory health, it can very quickly affect our wellbeing. Not only is this relevant for seasonal illnesses, but also for our general fitness, cognitive function, and cardiovascular vitality.

The numbers on global respiratory diseases

At present, respiratory diseases contribute significantly to global morbidity rates. In 2019, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) found that chronic respiratory diseases (CRD) were the third-leading cause of death worldwide. IHME data projected 4.0 million annual deaths deaths and a prevalence of 454.6 million CRD cases globally. Additionally, the American Lung Association reports that in the U.S. alone, lung cancer is the number-one leading cause of cancer mortality in women and men. Based on these statistics, we can see the scale of impact of just two respiratory illness types. Equally, there are extensive ways respiratory illnesses can impact entire countries which makes this a foremost issue for every person.

Why Is Respiratory Health A Worldwide Health Issue For Every Person?

Undeniably, respiratory health is a global issue due to the scale of illnesses and the extensive factors leading to sickness. In essence, it’s responsible to view respiratory health as an important priority for every one of us. Catherine M. Greene and Mohamed Abdulkadir write for the European Respiratory Review that, “Respiratory health has become a prevailing priority amid the diverse global health challenges that the 21st century brings, due to its substantial impact on individuals and communities on a global scale.”

What this means is respiratory health is something affecting all of us due to:

• Specific nature of the respiratory system — Unique risks exist for the respiratory system as it’s the only major bodily system partially exposed to environmental threats. Even if we take precautions, through biology, there is always potential damage happening to our respiratory system.
• Diseases — Respiratory diseases can arise from hereditary issues, childhood health conditions, normal upper respiratory or lower respiratory illnesses, and environmental factors. These are wide-reaching impacts and certain illnesses, like COVID-19, represent multi-system conditions affecting not only the respiratory system. Disease management requires individual and collective action for the best outcomes.
• Shared spaces — Many respiratory illnesses, particularly seasonal viruses and bacteria, are highly communicable. Although they may result in short-term illnesses, for people with underlying health conditions and those who are immunocompromised, these can cause lasting damage or become chronic issues. In general, we share spaces with strangers regularly and should be aware of risks then plan accordingly.
• Toll of secondary illnesses — There are extensive secondary illnesses arising from poor respiratory health. For instance, asthma, a CRD, can make people more susceptible to bronchitis, a lower respiratory infection that has acute and chronic forms. There are many other secondary illnesses that can arise from poor respiratory health or chronic conditions, such as heart disease and mental illness. The toll of this extends worldwide into our communities, workplaces, and health services.

What Are The Leading Risk Factors Of Poor Respiratory Health?

Currently, there are many noteworthy risk factors to our respiratory health. No matter where we go, we may experience some exposure to these factors. Greene and Abdulkadir explain, “In shaping future global respiratory health priorities, an understanding of the multifaceted risk factors involved is essential to formulate effective prevention strategies.”

Let’s look at four leading risk factors:

• Smoking — Firstly, being a smoker and incidental exposure as a passive smoker are huge respiratory health risk factors. Irrespective of if its cigarettes, cigars, or vaping devices, inhalation of smoke is bad for our respiratory systems. Associated diseases beyond lung cancer and emphysema include mouth cancer, recurrent pneumonia, and heart disease. Altogether, avoiding exposure to smoke, either through not smoking, not being next to anyone smoking, or in smoky, enclosed spaces is essential.
• Environment and pollution — Secondly, environmental factors like air quality, environmental smoke, and pollution all affect our respiratory systems. Due to related global issues like climate change, industrial activities, and natural disasters, the respiratory environmental risks are increasing. What’s more, experts identify that there are some countries and regions where this seriously disrupts the health of citizens seasonally or, worse, it’s an ongoing issue. Precautions, for residents or visitors, in settings where there’s poor environment, compromised air quality, or excessive pollution are non-negotiable.
• Childhood illness — Thirdly, repeat respiratory illness during childhood can cause long-term damage to our systems. For instance, childhood bouts of influenza can lead to asthma developing. Or, exposure to dangerous environmental materials, like asbestos, can be carcinogenic. Regular checkups and ensuring proper treatment for any respiratory illnesses protects children’s health well into adulthood while avoiding other diseases.
• Hereditary factors — Fourthly, underlying health problems can be a risk factor for developing respiratory illnesses. Moreover, this places individuals at risk of then having further secondary or tertiary health problems. Despite this being somewhat outside the control of people, they can pursue therapies and medical treatments that help manage conditions. When it comes to these factors, taking steps early in life to promote good respiratory health is key. Then, people can minimise avoidable exposure to other risk factors as an ongoing health practice.

What Are The Ways We Can Prioritise Respiratory Health?

In conclusion, it’s clear that respiratory health is something that shows up in every part of our lives. Though we might take risks with other wellbeing areas, we all need to take daily care of our respiratory systems. With this in mind, we developed this infographic guide for How To Plan For Respiratory Health in 2024. It’s a practical graphic that builds upon this topic in more detail so we’re all working together for respiratory health.

Before you check out the full resource, here’s four simple ways we can all prioritise our respiratory health every day:

1. Environment — Consider air purifying with a home system and travelling outdoors, not indoors, wherever possible to decrease exposure to shared germs.
2. Personal habits — Build respiratory system health into the everyday by wearing a high-quality N95 or KN95 face mask and protect against seasonal respiratory illnesses.
3. Hygiene — Respiratory health demands hygienic environments so keep your home and workspace healthy with non-toxic chemicals and regular deep cleaning.
4. Physical wellbeing — Lastly, care for your entire body by not smoking cigarettes or any kind of product and maintaining regular cardiovascular exercise.

Learn more about respiratory wellbeing with this SME respiratory health infographic resource and this healthcare ready-to-download app guide! Are you dreaming about making a greater impact on global health? Here’s our step-by-step guide to becoming a doctor in the UK and our guide to the best medical schools in North America.Header image: Photo by Vlada Karpovich from Pexels