Asthma Symptoms and Concerns

Symptoms in asthmatics can vary tremendously between patients with each person having their own unique mix of symptoms including the severity and how often or how frequently they affect the sufferer.

To some asthma is an occasional feeling of tightness in the chest and a cough but for others the attacks can be so severe that they can become life threatening.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes airways (bronchial tubes) particularly sensitive to irritants, and this is characterized by...

•Narrowing of the air passages in the lungs causing breathing difficulties through increased resistance to airflow.

•Rapid and considerable changes in airway obstruction.

•The effects can be significantly reversed using drugs that resemble adrenaline, known as the beta2 agonists.

•Significant reversibility with steroid drugs.

•Symptom-free periods.

•Frequent occurrence of allergies.

•Bronchial hyper-responsiveness to non-specific stimuli such as cold air or histamine.

The symptoms of asthma include:

•Coughing that may become worse at night or first thing in the morning causing sleep disruption. Sometimes this is the only sign of asthma in a child.

•A wheezing or whistling sound when you breathe, particularly when you have a cold or other illness.

•A tight feeling in the chest that feels as if someone is squeezing your chest.

•A feeling that you have a shortness of breath.

•Faster or noisy breathing.

Asthma symptoms can be brought on or triggered by a number of factors including exercise such as running or biking, especially during cold weather, prolonged crying or laughing or allergens and irritants.

Not all asthmatics will have these symptoms, and those that do will notice that they may vary from one asthma attack to another and in severity. For example, they can vary from the mildly annoying, through those that are serious enough to prevent what you want to do, to those that can be so serious that they are life threatening and you need to get urgent medical attention.

Symptoms also differ in how often they occur, affecting some patients daily whereas others have problems once a week or month. With the correct treatment and management, most asthmatics can expect to have minimal symptoms and can lead active, normal lives.

Asthma Symptoms of Note

•Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes airways (bronchial tubes) particularly sensitive to irritants, and this is characterized by difficulty in breathing.

•The main symptoms of asthma include coughing, especially at night, wheezing, a tight feeling in the chest, and shortness of breath.

•The symptoms may vary from person to person, and they may also vary in severity and frequency.

•With the correct treatment and management, most asthmatics can lead active, normal lives.

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