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?
What are the symptoms of Asthma?
An asthma attack irritates the airways causing it to contract, become swollen and in some cases produce excessive amount of mucus. The onset of an asthma attach may be sudden. As the airways carry air in and out of the lungs, their constriction and inflammation make it difficult to breathe, giving a sense of tightness in the chest.
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
- New Test To Determine Hip Strength
- Four Stages to Stop Smoking
- How Can You Protect Yourself From Flu
