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Are you experiencing frequent breathing problems? Do you find yourself short of breath after a brief walk? Is frequent wheezing and coughing worrying you? Are you experiencing feeling of tightness in the chest? It is time you consulted a doctor. You are experiencing symptoms typical to a chronic lung condition called Asthma.
Statistics reveal that asthma is prevalent not only among adults but also among children including infants. Approximately five to ten percent of the United States population today suffers from asthma. On an average this disease afflicts around 14 to 15 million persons including 5 million children.
This article is aimed to provide you with an overview about this disease. Read about what causes asthma, the disease conditions, symptoms and cure. Also find how you can lead a normal life even if you have asthma.
Symptoms of Asthma
Asthma is typically caused by inflammation (swelling or obstruction) of lung tubes (airways) causing them to become narrowed thereby limiting air passage. As a result of this patients experience frequent spasms and breathing difficulties.
Asthma patients frequently suffer from following conditions:
- Wheezing
- Coughing
- Chest tightness
- Shortness of breath
Frequent occurrences of above-mentioned conditions are considered as classical symptoms for asthma both among children and adults. Persons suffering from asthma develop allergic reactions towards various substances that normally do not affect most people, such as dust allergy, allergy for specific food substances, etc.
Based on severity levels asthma is classified in to five groups namely:
- Exercise-induced asthma
- Mild intermittent asthma
- Mild persistent asthma
- Moderate persistent asthma
- Severe persistent asthma
Take a look at few Asthma Provoking factors
There are primarily two factors that provoke asthma:
Triggers - These include factors that result in bronchoconstriction (i.e., tightening of the airways). Some of the common triggers are:
- Dust
- Cold air
- Chemical fumes (or any other strong fumes)
- Certain types of exercises
- Inhaled irritants
- Smote
- Emotional factors, Etc
Inducers (or Causes) - Provoking asthma through inflammation of airways. Most common inducers are:
- Allergens
- Respiratory viral infections
Cause for Concern
Asthma patients experience extreme breathing discomforts. Patients face extreme fatigue, headaches, and at times become physically incapable to carry out day-to-day activities. Frequent asthma attacks can trigger severe casualties if untreated in time.
Asthma in pregnant women is cause for extreme concern. It is essential to bring asthma under control in pregnant women as breathing difficulties in the mother may affect oxygen supply to the fetus. Uncontrolled asthma in pregnant women can result in following complications:
- Premature birth
- Low weight during birth
- Pre-eclampsia (changes in maternal blood pressure)
How to Treat Asthma
Treatment for asthma depends on a number of factors. Asthma severity, nature of triggers, frequency of asthma attack, patient's age, etc, are few issues that physicians consider prior to administrating treatments. Mostly treatments for asthma proceed for long durations and in some cases patients once diagnosed with asthma have to undertake treatments for rest of their lives.
Treatment for asthma is two-fold. One phase is to identify the triggers that cause asthma in the first place and adopt measures to avoid them. Other phase involves treating asthma in case of asthma attacks. In other words, asthma treatment involves long-term control (to avoid asthma attacks) and quick relief (to provide emergency relief in the event of asthma attack).
Common treatment for asthma is as follows:
- Inhaled bronchodilators that help to smooth muscle in the airways
- Systemic steroids such as prednisone, prednisolone, dexamethasone, etc that a physician administers after studying patient's condition in detail
- Oxygen may be used to alleviate the hypoxia
Asthma patients lead a normal life except when they experience asthma attacks. Frequency of these attacks varies depending on severity of the condition. In many cases it is seen that the triggers which cause asthma in children go away as they grow older. In few cases however though children grow out of asthma they regain the symptoms at a later stage. As a general rule it is advisable to keep away from dust and other common irritants. Avoiding overstraining yourself physically and emotionally.
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