Asthma

Overview

Asthma is a respiratory disease that affects the airways that carry air to and from your lungs. It afflicts both children and adults in populations around the world. People who suffer from this chronic condition (long-lasting or recurrent) are commonly called as asthmatic.

Types

There are many different classifications of asthma. The various types of asthma include:

• Child-Onset Asthma - Asthma that begins during childhood is called child-onset asthma.
• Adult-Onset Asthma - When a person develops asthma after reaching 20 years of age.
• Exercise-Induced Asthma - If you cough, wheeze or feel out of breath during or after exercise, then you form this type of asthma.
• Occupational Asthma - This type of asthma is triggered by something in the patient's place of work.
• Nocturnal Asthma - Nocturnal asthma occurs between midnight and 8 AM. It is triggered by allergens in the home, such as dust and pet dander.
• Steroid-Resistant Asthma (Severe Asthma) - If you have a higher level of immune activation in your airways, then it is called steroid-resistant asthma.
• The cough-induced asthma causes a severe cough.

Symptoms

Asthma causes irritation in the airways and the tubes that lead to the lungs due to inflammation. When clogged with mucous, the person feels difficult to breathe. Most commonly, children and teenagers are most susceptible to the coughing, wheezing and tight chests.

The most common symptom for asthma is a sense of breathlessness. Maintaining a sense of calm and taking slow, measured and even breaths may help to reduce further symptoms, but fear is sometimes hard to control, especially when centered on the immediate and severe need for oxygen.

Because of the fear and anxiety caused by asthma episodes, many people also experience other symptoms, such as rapid heartbeat, sweating and light-headedness. Asthma symptoms can be mild or severe, depending on the health, age and physical condition of the sufferer, as well as the amount or type of allergen inhaled. That is why it is so important to visit your doctor if you feel you might be suffering from asthma. Most of the people who suffer from asthma, especially if it has not yet been diagnosed, feel tight pressure in the lungs, in addition to the feeling that they can't inhale enough air. Such symptoms are caused when the breathing tubes of the lungs fill with mucus, which makes it harder for air to move in and out of the lungs.

Causes/Risk Factors

Asthma afflicts millions of people around the world and can wreak havoc on a lifestyle and health if not treated or monitored properly. Children are most prone to asthma conditions and symptoms. An asthma attack can occur at any time of the day or night and are often triggered by some or all of the following:

• Stress
• Medications
• Colds or Flu
• Allergens
• Vigorous Exercise
• Pollution or Cold Air

The most common trigger for asthma suffers is allergens of various types, such as dust, animals, molds and foods. Exposure to cold, dry air often initiates the clogged passages that cause the wheezing of an asthma attack and exercising or jogging in cold air is also a major cause.

Unlike pneumonia, asthma afflicts the breathing tubes of the lungs and not the small air-filled sacs that transport oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out of the lungs.

Tests/Diagnosis

Asthma diagnoses are mostly done based on three core components such as the medical history, physical exam and results from breathing tests like Spirometry and many more.

Treatment

There are tools and medicines to help you control asthma such as a peak flow meter, which is a simple and small hand-held tool that can help you maintain control of asthma by providing a measurement of how well air moves out of the lungs. Those suffering from asthma may lead normal, active lifestyles, but long-term care plans are necessary in order to ensure that asthma attacks don't worsen and that proper medications and dosages can be determined.