Asthma

ASTHMA

What Is Asthma?

Asthma

Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory lung disorder of the airways with 2 main components: constriction (the tightening of the muscles around the airways) and inflammation (the swelling of the airways). Asthma is characterized by recurrent breathing problems and acute episodic attacks of shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness and coughing.

Asthma Attacks

Asthma attacks are episodes of shortness of breath and/or wheezing that may last minutes to hours. During an asthma attack, the air passages in the lungs become narrower, which makes breathing more difficult. The problem is an oversensitivity of the lungs and airways, which overreact to certain triggers and become inflamed and clogged. Generally, people who have asthma have these acute episodic attacks separated by symptom free periods.

Some have described an asthma episode to feel a bit like taking very deep breaths of very cold air on a freezing winter day, or possibly in high altitudes. Breathing becomes harder and may hurt, there may be coughing, and inhaling air may make a wheezing or whistling sound. These problems occur because the airways of the lungs are getting narrower; muscles that surround the airways tighten, the inner lining of the airways swell and push inward, and the membranes that line the airways secrete extra mucus, which can form plugs that further block the air passages. The rush of air through the narrowed airways produces the wheezing sounds that are typical of asthma.