What is Asthma?
Asthma is a disorder that affects the respiratory system, which may cause a chronic respiratory impairment in some people or a sporadic illness manifested by periodic symptoms resulted from a number of triggering factors.
What causes Asthma?
Asthma can be caused by environmental and/or genetic factors. It may be triggered by external stimulants, such as antigens, a substance that causes the immune system in sensitive individuals to overreact, which responds by producing an overload of antibodies. Allergic individuals can be over sensitive to tobacco smoke, air pollutants (such as smoke or fumes), cold or warm air, perfume, pet dander, dust (including dust mite excrements) or moist air. Asthma symptoms can also be caused by emotional stress, colds, flu, respiratory infection, exercise, exertion or some other allergies.
What are the symptoms of Asthma?
The common symptoms of an Asthma episode are: dydpnea (shortness of breath), stridor (a high-pitched, noisy respiration), coughing, wheezing (mainly during expiration, but can be in both respiratory phases), prolonged expiration, rapid heart rate, tightness and itching of the chest, feeling breathless and inability for physical exertion.
Within a rigorous asthma attack, the sufferer can turn blue due to the lack of oxygen, and may suffer from chest pain or even loss of consciousness. Some cases of asthma with no wheeze or stridor, due to severe shortness of breath and tightening of the lungs, can be misdiagnosed for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
Find out more about the types of treatments for Asthma.
See Also ...
- How to Prevent Asthma Attack
- Asthma Medications
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