Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and causes narrowing of the airways. Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning.
Asthma affects people of all ages, but it most often starts during childhood. In the United States, more than 25 million people are known to have asthma. About 7 million of these people are children.
Asthma has no known cure. A patient needs to understand that even when they feel fine, they still have the disease and it can flare up at any time. This is why many patients require maintenance medication to reduce the incidence of these flare-ups.
Due to today's knowledge and treatments, many people, that have asthma, are able to manage their disease. These patients can have few, if not no, symptoms at all. They live normal active lives. Many are able to sleep through the night without interruption from an asthmatic coughing attack.
It is therefore very important that patients build strong partnerships with their doctors and with other health care providers. In this manner, they can have the most successful, thorough, and ongoing treatment that today's medicine can provide.
The exact cause of asthma isn't really known. However, researchers think that some genetic and some environmental factors interact to cause the disease. These interactions occur most often early in life. Some of these factors that give a propensity for the disease include:
An inherited tendency to develop allergies is called atopy; Parents who have asthma; and certain respiratory infections during childhood.
In addition, contact with some airborne allergens and or some exposure to some viral infections in infancy or in early childhood when the immune system is developing can also cause the disease.
If asthma or atopy runs in ones family, exposure to airborne irritants might make ones airways more reactive to substances in the air.
The hygiene hypothesis is a theory that researchers have investigated for what causes asthma. The theory is based on the belief that our Western lifestyle-with its emphasis on hygiene and sanitation, has resulted in changes in our environment and in an overall decline in number of infections one acquires in early childhood.
Young children are not exposed to the same types of environmental molecules or infectious agents, as did children of past times. This changes how young children's immune systems develop during childhood, and it increases their risk for atopy and asthma.
Young children, that often wheeze and have respiratory infections that continue beyond 5 years of age, are at highest risk of developing asthma. Additionally accepted risk factors for the development of asthma include allergies, eczema and having parents who have asthma.
More boys have asthma than girls. But among adults, the disease affects men and women equally.
It appears that most people who have asthma have allergies.
Occupational asthma, an apparent subgroup of people, seems to develop asthma because of contact with certain chemical irritants or dusts in the workplace.
Common signs and symptoms of asthma include: Coughing; Wheezing; Chest tightness and shortness of breath.
To diagnose asthma, doctors use a lung function test, they ask about medical history and they do a physical exam.
Asthma symptoms often vary over time. Sometimes a patients symptoms may just be annoying. Other times, they may be bad enough to limit ones daily routine.
Severe symptoms can be fatal. This occurs especially when an asthma patient smokes cigarettes and or crack cocaine. Thus, a patient can prevent an asthma attack from becoming severe if they treat symptoms when they first appear and don't smoke anything.
With proper treatment, most people who have asthma can expect to have few, if any, symptoms either during the day or at night.
Many things can trigger an asthma attack. Your doctors help patients to find out which things may cause an asthma attack to come one. Triggers for an attack can include:
Dust mite, animal fur, cockroaches, mold, and pollens. Irritants such as cigarette smoke, air pollution, dust, compounds in home d©cor products, and sprays particles can all be triggers. Medicines such as aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and nonselective beta-blockers can also act as triggers.
Other triggers can include sulfites in foods and drinks, viral upper respiratory infections, physical activity and exercise.
Asthma can be more difficult to treat if other health conditions exist at the same time. Examples of these conditions include a runny nose, sinus infections, esophageal reflux disease, psychological stress, and sleep apnea. Therefore, it is very important that patients treat these other conditions as part of an overall asthma care plan.
Asthma is different for each person. Some of the triggers listed above may not affect everyone. The most important issue is that patients must speak with their PCP or healthcare provider if their asthma symptoms have worsened.
Asthma affects people of all ages, but it most often starts during childhood. In the United States, more than 25 million people are known to have asthma. About 7 million of these people are children.
Asthma has no known cure. A patient needs to understand that even when they feel fine, they still have the disease and it can flare up at any time. This is why many patients require maintenance medication to reduce the incidence of these flare-ups.
Due to today's knowledge and treatments, many people, that have asthma, are able to manage their disease. These patients can have few, if not no, symptoms at all. They live normal active lives. Many are able to sleep through the night without interruption from an asthmatic coughing attack.
It is therefore very important that patients build strong partnerships with their doctors and with other health care providers. In this manner, they can have the most successful, thorough, and ongoing treatment that today's medicine can provide.
The exact cause of asthma isn't really known. However, researchers think that some genetic and some environmental factors interact to cause the disease. These interactions occur most often early in life. Some of these factors that give a propensity for the disease include:
An inherited tendency to develop allergies is called atopy; Parents who have asthma; and certain respiratory infections during childhood.
In addition, contact with some airborne allergens and or some exposure to some viral infections in infancy or in early childhood when the immune system is developing can also cause the disease.
If asthma or atopy runs in ones family, exposure to airborne irritants might make ones airways more reactive to substances in the air.
The hygiene hypothesis is a theory that researchers have investigated for what causes asthma. The theory is based on the belief that our Western lifestyle-with its emphasis on hygiene and sanitation, has resulted in changes in our environment and in an overall decline in number of infections one acquires in early childhood.
Young children are not exposed to the same types of environmental molecules or infectious agents, as did children of past times. This changes how young children's immune systems develop during childhood, and it increases their risk for atopy and asthma.
Young children, that often wheeze and have respiratory infections that continue beyond 5 years of age, are at highest risk of developing asthma. Additionally accepted risk factors for the development of asthma include allergies, eczema and having parents who have asthma.
More boys have asthma than girls. But among adults, the disease affects men and women equally.
It appears that most people who have asthma have allergies.
Occupational asthma, an apparent subgroup of people, seems to develop asthma because of contact with certain chemical irritants or dusts in the workplace.
Common signs and symptoms of asthma include: Coughing; Wheezing; Chest tightness and shortness of breath.
To diagnose asthma, doctors use a lung function test, they ask about medical history and they do a physical exam.
Asthma symptoms often vary over time. Sometimes a patients symptoms may just be annoying. Other times, they may be bad enough to limit ones daily routine.
Severe symptoms can be fatal. This occurs especially when an asthma patient smokes cigarettes and or crack cocaine. Thus, a patient can prevent an asthma attack from becoming severe if they treat symptoms when they first appear and don't smoke anything.
With proper treatment, most people who have asthma can expect to have few, if any, symptoms either during the day or at night.
Many things can trigger an asthma attack. Your doctors help patients to find out which things may cause an asthma attack to come one. Triggers for an attack can include:
Dust mite, animal fur, cockroaches, mold, and pollens. Irritants such as cigarette smoke, air pollution, dust, compounds in home d©cor products, and sprays particles can all be triggers. Medicines such as aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and nonselective beta-blockers can also act as triggers.
Other triggers can include sulfites in foods and drinks, viral upper respiratory infections, physical activity and exercise.
Asthma can be more difficult to treat if other health conditions exist at the same time. Examples of these conditions include a runny nose, sinus infections, esophageal reflux disease, psychological stress, and sleep apnea. Therefore, it is very important that patients treat these other conditions as part of an overall asthma care plan.
Asthma is different for each person. Some of the triggers listed above may not affect everyone. The most important issue is that patients must speak with their PCP or healthcare provider if their asthma symptoms have worsened.