by Andy Orrell

Created on: July 13, 2010   Last Updated: August 02, 2010

Asthma is thought to effect over 300 million people world wide. Asthma kills nearly 4000 people each year in the United States alone and an estimated 250,000 people each year on a global scale. In recent years more and more people have been diagnosed with Asthma and health organisations believe this trend will continue. Despite these grave statistics this is usually a condition this is very manageable. The majority of people who suffer with Asthma live normal healthy lives. The key is treating it, but of course before you can treat the problem you must diagnose it. So what are the common symptoms of Asthma?

Wheezing - Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that effects the airwaves. When someone is suffering from Asthma their airwaves gradually start to close up. In the early stages this causes a wheezing sound to occur. This is often most noticeable when someone is sleeping, if you hear a high pitched wheezing sound it may be a signal that the individual is suffering from Asthma.

Coughing - This is another early warning sign that someone may be suffering from Asthma. Despite that though just because someone has a cough probably does not mean they do have the disease. Chances are it’s just a regular cough. But if a person continues with a cough and has no other symptoms of any other illness then Asthma may be the problem.

Shortness Of Breathe - When a person is suffering the effects of Asthma they will likely have a shortness of breathe. When the airways start to close it becomes harder for sufferers to pull the air into the lungs and they must struggle to gasp in air. Often this symptom is triggered by things such as exercise or possibly an allergic reaction to something. If this does happen on a regular basis then it is another sign that the person may be suffering with Asthma.

Tight Chest - Usually this comes along with shortness of breathe. As the person struggles to suck air into their lungs it may also feel like a weight is pressing in on the chest. This is a strange sensation and can be quite alarming, but it’s really just a sign that the airways are contracting.

Asthma Attack - This is a sure sign that someone is suffering with Asthma. If all the above symptoms come at once and the person is really struggling to breathe then this is a sure sign that they have Asthma. In the event of an acute attack a person may first of all turn very pale and then if they can still not obtain air it has been known for their fingernails to turn purple.

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