Is asthma a health topic?

Overview. Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the airways in the lungs. It causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and nighttime or early morning coughing. During an asthma attack, airways become inflamed, making it hard to breathe.

What is a topic asthma?

Asthma is a chronic (long-term) condition that affects the airways in the lungs. The airways are tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the airways can become inflamed and narrowed at times. Asthma affects people of all ages and often starts during childhood.

What are 5 causes of asthma?

Common Asthma Triggers

Tobacco Smoke.
Dust Mites.
Outdoor Air Pollution.
Pests (e.g., cockroaches, mice)
Pets.
Mold.
Cleaning and Disinfection.
Other Triggers.

What is the most common cause of asthma?

An asthma attack can be triggered by exposure to an allergen, such as tree, grass or weed pollen, dust mites, cockroaches or animal dander. Other common triggers are irritants in the air, such as smoke or chemical fumes, and strong odors, such as perfume.

How does asthma affect the quality of life?

Asthma is a lifelong disease that causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. It can limit a person’s quality of life.

What are the signs and symptoms of asthma?

Asthma’s symptoms can mimic those of pneumonia, bronchitis, allergies, or even a cold, so it’s not always clear. Wheezing and coughing (particularly at night) are the most common symptoms of an asthma attack, but other signs — tightness in the chest or shortness of breath — are also indications of asthma.

Why is the number of people with asthma rising?

While we don’t know why asthma rates are rising, we do know that most people with asthma can control their symptoms and prevent asthma attacks by avoiding asthma triggers and correctly using prescribed medicines, such as inhaled corticosteroids. The number of people diagnosed with asthma grew by 4.3 million from 2001 to 2009.

Can a person be misdiagnosed with asthma?

Having trouble breathing is always a scary experience. But if you’ve been diagnosed with asthma, and your inhaler doesn’t help during these attacks, it can be frustrating, too. Patients experiencing asthma symptoms can be misdiagnosed when in fact they are suffering from vocal cord dysfunction (VCD).

What do you need to know about asthma attacks?

Asthma. It causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and nighttime or early morning coughing. Asthma can be controlled by taking medicine and avoiding the triggers that can cause an attack. You must also remove the triggers in your environment that can make your asthma worse.

How does uncontrolled asthma affect your long term health?

Scarring is irreversible and may lead to permanent lung damage. A long-term complication of uncontrolled asthma is airway remodeling, which is permanent narrowing of the bronchial tubes. 4 If you don’t get good control over your asthma, this condition—which mimics chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) —can develop over many years.

When does an asthma attack become an exacerbation?

When asthma is well controlled, a person shows few symptoms. When symptoms worsen, a person can have what is called an asthma attack, or an exacerbation. Over time, uncontrolled asthma can damage the airways in the lungs.