Things You Need to Know About Asthma
What is Asthma?
Asthma is a chronic lung condition secondary to narrowing of bronchial airways with production of excess mucus, swelling of airway linings and or tightening of muscles around airways. Attacks are triggered by allergens( ie airborne like dust, pollen, furs; food borne like seafoods), infection (common colds, acute bronchitis), It is marked by labored breathing, wheezing, and/or coughing.
What are the symptoms of asthma?
Shortness of breath (dyspnea) and wheezing are two of the clinical hallmarks of acute asthma attack. The onset may be sudden, with a sense of constriction in the chest, breathing becomes difficult, and wheezing occurs (primarily upon expiration, but can be in both respiratory phases).
Signs of an asthmatic episode are wheezing, rapid breathing (tachypnea), prolonged expiration, a rapid heart rate (tachycardia), rhonchous lung sounds (audible through a stethoscope), and over-inflation of the chest. During a serious asthma attack, the accessory muscles of respiration (sternocleidomastoid and scalene muscles of the neck) may be used, shown as in-drawing of tissues between the ribs and above the sternum and clavicles, and the presence of a paradoxical pulse (a pulse that is weaker during inhalation and stronger during exhalation).[5] During very severe attacks, an asthma sufferer can turn blue from lack of oxygen, and can experience chest pain or even loss of consciousness. Severe asthma attacks may lead to respiratory arrest and death. Despite the severity of symptoms during an asthmatic episode, between attacks an asthmatic may show few signs of the disease.
What can cause an attack?
There are various stimuli that may cause an acute attack. These include:
- allergens, typically inhaled (grass pollen, dust, chalk particles). Food borne allergens like seafoods especially if you are know allergic to it.
- medications. Aspirin and ?-adrenergic antagonists (beta blockers) can cause bronchoconstriction, hence an asthma attack;
* air pollution, such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide, which is thought to be one of the major reasons for the high prevalence of asthma in urban areas;
* various industrial compounds and other chemicals, notably sulfites; chlorinated swimming pools generate chloramines—monochloramine (NH2Cl), dichloramine (NHCl2) and trichloramine (NCl3)—in the air around them, which are known to induce asthma.[8]
* early childhood infections, especially viral respiratory infections. However, persons of any age can have asthma triggered by colds and other respiratory infections even though their normal stimuli might be from another category (e.g. pollen) and absent at the time of infection.
* exercise, the effects of which differ somewhat from those of the other triggers; and
* emotional stress, which is poorly understood as a trigger.
