4When an allergen or foreign substances enter the body, the immune response reacts with antibodies (IgE), and every time you get exposed, the body produces more antibodies allowing the immune system to hyper respond. The antibodies are there to recognize and pick up foreign objects. Mast cells carry molecules called histamines, bradykinins, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, platelet-activating factor, and interleukins. Immunoglobulin-E antibodies attach to the foreign substance, go to look for a mast cell, then attach to (Fan, 2014). The mast cells then open, releasing all its substances, including histamine, into the bloodstream, causing allergic reactions everywhere, including the lungs. The release of these inflammatory mediators causes vasodilation, increase capillary permeability, mucosal edema, bronchial smooth muscle contractions (bronchospasm), and mucus secretion from goblet cells (Huether & McCance, 2017,p. 698). Ethical Disparities in AsthmaEthnical disparities in asthma remain an issue in the United States. African Americans and Puerto Ricans Children are three times more likely to die from asthma than whites, and in 2015 African American children have a death rate ten times that of white children (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2018, para. 1). HHS (2018) goes on to mention that children living below the poverty level are more likely to have high levels of nicotine in the blood than those living in higher-income homes. The authors also mention that children exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for acute lower respiratory tract infections.
