Asthma Causes and Diagnosed - Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by recurrent breathing problems and symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing. During normal breathing, air flows freely into and out of the lungs. But when asthma is not under control, the airways of the lungs are thick, swollen, and inflamed. The airways become overly sensitive to environmental changes, and an asthma attack can happen easily. During an asthma attack, the lining of the airways swells, muscles around the airways tighten, and mucus clogs the tiny airways in the lungs, making breathing difficult.
Asthma symptoms vary from hour to hour, from day to day, from week to week, and over months. They are often worse at night and in the early hours of the morning. The severity of asthma also varies from individual to individual.
Although asthma cannot be cured, it can be effectively treated. Research shows that with proper treatment, nearly all asthma patients can achieve and maintain good asthma control, enabling them to participate in school, work, and other normal activities and prevent visits to the emergency department and hospital.
Asthma symptoms vary from hour to hour, from day to day, from week to week, and over months. They are often worse at night and in the early hours of the morning. The severity of asthma also varies from individual to individual.
Although asthma cannot be cured, it can be effectively treated. Research shows that with proper treatment, nearly all asthma patients can achieve and maintain good asthma control, enabling them to participate in school, work, and other normal activities and prevent visits to the emergency department and hospital.
What is asthma control and how is it achieved?
Asthma control means that a person with asthma has:
- No (or minimal) asthma symptoms.
- No waking at night due to asthma.
- No (or minimal) need to use quick-relief medication.
- The ability to do normal physical activity and exercise.
- Normal (or near-normal) lung function test results (PEF and FEV1).
- No (or very infrequent) asthma attacks.
The goal of asthma treatment is to achieve and maintain control of the disease. In order to achieve control, people need access to effective anti-asthma medications, as well as education to understand how to take their medicines, how to avoid risk factors or “triggers” that make their asthma worse, and what to do if their symptoms do worsen.
Most people with asthma need two types of medications: controller medications (especially anti-inflammatory agents such as inhaled corticosteroids) that are taken every day over the long term to keep symptoms and attacks from starting, and reliever medications (rapid-acting bronchodilators) that must be kept on hand at all times to treat attacks or provide quick relief of symptoms.
What causes asthma?
Most people with asthma need two types of medications: controller medications (especially anti-inflammatory agents such as inhaled corticosteroids) that are taken every day over the long term to keep symptoms and attacks from starting, and reliever medications (rapid-acting bronchodilators) that must be kept on hand at all times to treat attacks or provide quick relief of symptoms.
What causes asthma?
The causes of asthma are not well understood, and the rapid increase in asthma prevalence around the world is one of the biggest mysteries in modern medicine. In the 1990s, scientists thought that diesel exhaust and other pollutants might be causing the asthma epidemic. However, they now believe that the picture is more complex. Many scientists are examining the role of genetic factors in causing asthma, and researchers are also looking at how the immune system develops in early life.
The causes of asthma attacks, however, are better understood. People with asthma have chronic inflammation in their lungs, and airways that narrow more easily than those of people without asthma in response to a variety of factors. The factors that can set off an asthma attack (sometimes called “triggers”) include inhaled allergens (such as dust mites, pollen, and cat and dog allergens), tobacco smoke, air pollution, exercise, strong emotional expressions (such as crying or laughing hard), chemical irritants, and certain drugs (aspirin and beta-blockers). Each person with asthma reacts to a different set of factors, and identification of these factors and how to avoid them is a major step for each individual in learning how to control their disease.
How is asthma diagnosed?
The causes of asthma attacks, however, are better understood. People with asthma have chronic inflammation in their lungs, and airways that narrow more easily than those of people without asthma in response to a variety of factors. The factors that can set off an asthma attack (sometimes called “triggers”) include inhaled allergens (such as dust mites, pollen, and cat and dog allergens), tobacco smoke, air pollution, exercise, strong emotional expressions (such as crying or laughing hard), chemical irritants, and certain drugs (aspirin and beta-blockers). Each person with asthma reacts to a different set of factors, and identification of these factors and how to avoid them is a major step for each individual in learning how to control their disease.
How is asthma diagnosed?
A careful medical history, a physical examination, and tests of lung function provide the information needed to diagnose asthma. Measurement of lung function is useful both for diagnosis of asthma and to monitor the course of the disease and the level of control. Such tests include spirometry, which provides an assessment of airflow limitation, and peak flow, which measures the maximum speed at which air can flow out of the lungs. Spirometry is performed in a health care professional’s office, while peak flow can be tested with portable, plastic peak flow meters ideal for use in home and work settings. Peak flow monitoring provides most patients, together with their health care providers, an effective method to monitor their disease and evaluate their response to therapy.
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