by Broken Blade

Created on: July 03, 2009   Last Updated: July 06, 2009

Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs which causes episodes of breathing difficulties. You can't cure asthma and the disease is potentially fatal. Some of the breathing difficulties associated with asthma are caused by constriction, tightening of the muscles that surround the airways, inflammation, soreness, swelling and irritation of lung airways.

Asthma affects over 22 million people and about 6 million children

There are different types of asthma. The types of asthma are exercise induced, occupational, cough variant, nocturnal, and allergic.

The very cause of asthma is not known, but there are many factors that a lot of people think work together in causing asthma.

Suspect Causes include:

- Family history of asthma

- Childhood respiratory infections

- Being exposed to airborne allergens during early childhood

- Allergic rhinitis

- Breathing in second hand smoke

- Obesity

- Airway hyper-reactivity

In normal breathing the air enters through the nose or mouth, goes down the windpipe, enters the airways of the lung, it oxygenates the blood at the alveoli, and exits back out.

A person with asthma has a different process which has a higher difficulty. The airways in the lung are narrowed by constriction or inflammation. During an asthma attack, there will be an airflow obstruction which causes breathing difficulties.

People with asthma have very sensitive airways that react to things such as smoke, pollens and infections which could cause an inflammation of the airways.

The symptoms of asthma include:

- Tightness in chest

- Coughing

- Shortness of Breath

- Wheezing

No asthma is identical to the other. Someone with asthma may experience other symptoms, and the intensity of the symptoms may vary.

In order for a doctor to diagnose asthma, the symptoms of asthma must be present, and an objective measurement must be made of the decreased airflow.

There are three main ways of treating asthma;

- Monitoring your peak expiratory flow and asthma symptoms

- Avoiding triggers

- Treatment with medications

Some of the medications that treat asthma come in the form of pills which usually take minutes to work, and inhalers which usually work within seconds. Pills will take some time to work because they have to dissolve in your stomach before it takes effect. The inhalers work quicker because you breathe in the medicine and it goes straight to your lungs, opening up your airways.

While you can't cure asthma, it is possible to get it under control and even prevent anymore attacks from happening.

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