The REAL Guide to Asthma

Description of Asthma

Asthma causes the airways of the lungs to swell and become narrower. This can make it hard to breathe and cause wheezing as you breathe in and out. Asthma cannot be cured, but can be relieved with medicine. Repeat attacks are common.

Factors responsible for triggering an asthma attack

Numerous factors can be responsible for triggering an asthma attack.

Asthmatics are usually allergic to more than one trigger and their asthma symptoms may vary from wheeziness, to shortness of breath, chest tightening or the over production of mucus.

Both indoor and outdoor air pollution, natural and man-made, can trigger asthma attacks.

Common indoor pollutant triggers include the dustmite, mould and cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke is damaging to everyone's airways, but can be particularly bad for people with asthma. Smoke causes the airways to narrow, making it more difficult to breathe.

Outdoors, natural plant, grass and tree pollen can act as triggers in some asthmatics.

Man-made pollution may also be detrimental to asthmatics. Although it has not been proven that a link exists between air pollution and asthma, certain pollutants, including sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone are known to restrict the airways and make it more difficult for asthma sufferers to breathe.

Fine particulate matter is also suspected to be a lung irritant.

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How Is It Treated?

There's no cure for asthma, but the condition can usually be managed and flares can be prevented. Asthma is treated in two ways: by avoiding potential triggers and with medication.

Asthmatics need to avoid the things that can cause their symptoms. Of course, some things that can cause symptoms can't be completely avoided (like catching a cold!), but people can control their exposure to some triggers, such as pet dander, for example.

In the case of exercise-induced asthma, the trigger (physical activity) needs to be managed rather than avoided. Exercise can help a person stay healthier overall, and doctors can help athletes find treatments that allow them to them participate in their sports.

Doctors treat every asthma case individually because the severity of each person's asthma and what triggers the symptoms are different. For this reason, doctors have a variety of treatment medications at their disposal. Most asthma medications are inhaled (which means that a person takes the medication by breathing it into the lungs), but asthma medications can also take the form of pills or liquids. They fall into two categories:

Medications that act quickly to halt asthma symptoms once they start. Some medications can be used as needed to stop asthma symptoms (such as wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath) when a person first notices them. These medications act fast to stop the symptoms, but they're not long lasting. They are also known as "rescue," "quick-relief, " or "fast-acting" medications.

Long-term medications manage asthma and prevent symptoms from occurring in the first place. Many people with asthma need to take medication every day to control the condition overall. Long-term medications (also called "controller," "preventive," or "maintenance" medications) work differently from quick-relief medications. They treat the problem of airway inflammation instead of the symptoms (coughing, wheezing, etc.) that it causes.

Long-term medications are slow acting and can take days or even weeks to begin working. Although you may not notice them working in the same way as quick-relief medications, regular use of long-term medications should lessen your need for the quick-relief edications.

Doctors also prescribe long-term medications as a way to minimize any permanent lung changes that may be associated with having asthma.

Some people with asthma rely only on quick-relief medications; others use quick-relief medications together with long-term control medications to keep their asthma in check overall. Each person needs to work closely with a doctor to find the treatment that's right for them.

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