All You Need to Know About Asthma: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory illness that damages the lungs' airways. This illness causes your airways to constrict, swell, and possibly create more mucus. A person with asthma finds it difficult to breathe and to carry out daily tasks. Although the precise etiology of asthma is unknown, several things can cause it to flare up. Different people may be affected by different triggers.

Breathing difficulties, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest pressure or tightness are the typical symptoms of asthma in adults and children. There are various forms of asthma, including adult-onset, occupational, allergic, non-allergic, pediatric, and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, depending on various factors.  Asthma has no long-term treatment. However, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, avoiding triggers, taking medication, and using inhalers on a regular basis all assist in easing asthma symptoms and improving breathing.

What is Asthma?

Asthma is a chronic lung disease which affects people of all ages. Breathing becomes more difficult due to inflammation and tightness in the muscles surrounding the airways.

What is an Asthma Attack?

An abrupt escalation in asthma symptoms is known as an asthma attack. Breathing becomes challenging with asthma, a chronic illness that causes the lung's airways to shrink. Coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing are signs of an asthma attack. The lining of the airways produces a fluid called mucus, the muscles around the airways contract, and the airways swell and irritate. These symptoms result from these processes. Breathing becomes challenging due to all of these causes.

What are the Causes or Triggers for Developing Asthma?

Inhaling certain irritants can lead to the development of asthma. These drugs, which can start or exacerbate your health concerns, are referred to by medical professionals as "triggers." Having a thorough understanding of these triggers and limiting your exposure to them will help you avoid having asthma episodes. Because these compounds fluctuate from person to person, something that irritates you may not irritate someone else. Some individuals may manifest symptoms shortly after being exposed to the drugs that trigger them, while others may take longer.

The following are the triggers:

• Air pollution: Numerous outdoor factors can trigger an asthma attack. Automobile exhaust, smoke from wildfires, and other sources are examples of air pollution.
• Dust mites: Although they are invisible, these insects exist in our houses. An asthma attack may result if you have a dust mite allergy.
• Exercise: For certain people, exercising can cause an attack.
• Mold: If you have asthma, you may have problems with mold growth in damp areas. Even being allergic to mold is not a requirement for an attack.
• Pests: Asthma attacks can be brought on by mice, cockroaches, and other home pests.
• Tobacco smoke: You are more likely to acquire asthma if you smoke or if someone else smokes in your home. It's advisable to give up smoking and avoid smoking in enclosed spaces like cars and homes. Your supplier is able to assist.
• Pets: Your animals may trigger an asthma attack. Breathing in pet dander might irritate your airways if you have an allergy to the dried skin flakes.
• Strong chemicals or smells: These things can trigger attacks in some people.
• Occupational exposure to cleaning products, dust from flour or wood, or other chemicals.

Also, read: Understanding the Causes and Effects of Air Pollution

What are the Symptoms of Asthma?

Asthma symptoms differ from individual to individual. Typical symptoms include:

• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Stiffness and pain in the chest
• Coughing particularly at night
• Difficulty to sleep because of shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing
• Rapid breathing (breathing quickly)
• Fatigue
• Anxiety
• Getting infections more often
• Difficulty to talk

What are the Different Types of Asthma?

Asthma has been classified into different types depending on several factors. These include:

A. Healthcare professionals classified asthma into two categories based on the severity and symptoms of asthma:

• Intermittent asthma: Asthma that flares up and goes away periodically is known as intermittent asthma. In the interim between asthma attacks, you can feel better.
• Persistent asthma: This kind of asthma manifests symptoms most of the time. Your symptoms could be minor, moderate, or severe. 

B. Healthcare professionals classified asthma into 2 categories  according to its causes :

• Allergic: In this kind, asthma episodes can be brought on by exposure to allergens like smoke, dust, pollen, and pet dander.
• Non-allergic: In this type, asthma is triggered by external factors such as illness, stress, exercise, or climatic change.

C. Depending on the onset of symptoms, healthcare providers  classified asthma into 2 types:

• Childhood asthma: This kind of asthma can begin at any moment before the age of five, throughout infancy or childhood.  
• Adult onset asthma: In this kind, asthma manifests after the age of twenty.

D. Apart from the above-mentioned varieties, three other forms of asthma exist. These consist of:

• Exercise-induced asthma: Asthma brought on by exercise is known as exercise-induced asthma.
• Occupational asthma: People who work with irritating materials like cleaning agents, flour or wood dust, or other chemicals are susceptible to this type of asthma.
• Asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS): When chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma coexist, this occurs. Breathing becomes quite difficult due to this disease.

What are the Treatment Methods available to Manage Asthma?

The  National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) has classified asthma into 4 stages depending on the severity of symptoms shown before treatment. This facilitates appropriate treatment planning.

• Intermittent asthma: People with intermittent asthma are the most common cases. Two evenings a week or twice a month, an asthma attack occurs; the symptoms are moderate and don't interfere with daily activities.
• Mild persistent: With this kind, asthma episodes can happen up to four evenings a month and more frequently than twice a week, though not every day.
• Moderate persistent: These symptoms don't happen every night, but they do happen every day and at least once a week. They might restrict you from carrying out specific everyday tasks.
• Severe persistent: This category includes symptoms that interfere with daily functioning and happen multiple times a day, including most nights.
• Depending on the type of asthma, your age, triggering factors and severity, treatment of asthma includes 4 types of medicines. They are quick-relief medications, long-term control medications, a combination of quick-relief and long-term control medications, and biologics. 
• Quick relief medications:  As the name implies, these drugs help you breathe more easily and offer rapid respite after an asthma attack. Bronchodilators are typically used.
• Long-term asthma control medications:  Using these drugs, which include anticholinergics, inflammatory mediators, and long-acting bronchodilators, can lessen the intensity and onset of asthma.
• Biologics: Doctors prescribe biologics for you only if your asthma symptoms do not reduce even after avoiding the triggering factors and by taking medications. 

How to Prevent Asthma Attacks?

If your doctor diagnoses you with asthma, you'll need to identify what triggers an episode. You can help prevent an assault by avoiding the triggers.

Asthma cannot be prevented, but you and your doctor may create a detailed plan for managing your illness and averting episodes. The prevention of asthma include:

• Get regular checkups and stick regularly with the treatment plan
• Get vaccinations for pneumonia and influenza
• Identify the triggers and avoid them, or limit exposure to the triggering agents
• Be mindful of utilizing quick-relief inhalers more frequently
• Take the prescribed medicines on time

Conclusion

A respiratory condition called asthma affects your airways and makes breathing challenging. Asthma can strike anyone at any age. Asthma risk factors include a family history of the condition, obesity, smoking, and exposure to specific substances (dust, smoke, pollen, and chemicals). worsening of the symptoms of asthma is known as asthma attacks. Asthma episodes can be delayed by avoiding triggers, minimizing exposure to allergens, scheduling immunisations appropriately, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Is it possible to cure asthma?
A: Asthma unfortunately has no known remedy. As a result, when you are among triggers, you can get asthma symptoms. This remains true even if you don't experience symptoms frequently. Your treatment plan will be dependent on two factors: the severity of your asthma and the frequency of your symptoms. Your triggers may vary over time.

Q2: When is National Asthma Awareness Day?
A: The first Tuesday in May has been declared as World Asthma Day.

Q3: Can stress cause asthma? 
A: Stress and intense emotions are well-known asthma causes. While the results are not always consistent, there is evidence linking depression, anxiety, and asthma. Poor asthma control may be linked to anxiety and depression.