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What is Asthma?
Asthma is a disease that affects your lungs. It is the
most common long-term disease of children. It causes
repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest
tightness, and nighttime or early morning coughing.
It is with you all the time, but you may have asthma
attacks only when something bothers your lungs.
We know that family history contributes to susceptibility,
but in most cases we don’t know what causes asthma
to develop, and we don’t know how to cure asthma.
You can control your asthma by knowing the warning signs
of an attack, avoiding things that trigger an attack,
and following the advice of your doctor. When you control
your asthma, you won’t have symptoms like wheezing
or coughing, you’ll sleep better, you won’t
miss work or school, you’ll be able to take part
in all physical activities, and you won’t have
to visit the hospital.
In 2001, 20.3 million Americans had asthma, and 12 million
had had an asthma attack in the previous year. If a person
has a parent with asthma, he or she is three to six times
more likely to develop asthma than is a person who does
not have a parent with asthma.
Asthma can be difficult to diagnose, especially in children
under 5 years old. Regular physical exams that include
checks of lung function and for allergies can help make
the right diagnosis.
A health-care provider trying to diagnose asthma will
ask you questions about coughing, especially coughing
at night, and whether breathing problems are worse after
physical activity or during a particular time of year.
Providers also ask about other symptoms, such as chest
tightness, wheezing, and colds that last more than 10
days.
Also, a provider will ask about your family history
of asthma, allergy and other breathing problems, and
your home environment. He or she also will ask about
lost school or work days and limits on your activity.
Testing of lung function, called spirometry, is another
way to diagnose asthma. A spirometer is a piece of equipment
that measures the largest amount of air you can exhale
after taking a very deep breath. Airflow can be measured
before and after you use an asthma medication.
| What is an
Asthma attack? |
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Airways are the paths that carry air to the lungs. As
the air moves through the lungs, the airways become smaller,
like branches of a tree. During an attack, the sides of
the airways in your lungs become inflamed and swollen.
Muscles around the airways tighten, and less air passes
in and out of the lungs. Excess mucus forms in the airways,
clogging them even more. The attack, also called an episode,
can include coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and trouble
breathing.
| Causes of
an Asthma attack |
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Environmental exposures, such as house dust mites and
environmental tobacco smoke, are important triggers of
an attack. Some of these triggers are listed in the box
below.
You can control your asthma and avoid an attack by
taking your medicine as prescribed and avoiding the
triggers that can cause an attack. It’s just as
important that you remove the triggers in your environment
that you know make your asthma worse.
Medicine for asthma is different for each person. It
can be inhaled or taken as a pill and comes in two types—quick-relief
and long-term control. Quick-relief medicines control
the symptoms of an asthma attack. If you are using your
quick-relief medicines more and more you should visit
your health-care provider to change your asthma management
plan. Long-term control medicines make you have fewer
and milder attacks, but they don’t help you if
you’re having an attack.
Asthma medicine can have side effects. Most are mild
and go away on their own. Ask your health-care provider
about the side effects of your medicines.
The important thing to remember is that you can control
your asthma. With your health-care provider’s help,
make your own asthma management plan so you know what
to do based on your own symptoms. Decide who should have
a copy of your plan and where he or she should keep it.
You can learn more about asthma management plans from
the American Academy of Family Physicians |
