Symptoms Of Asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes bronchial tubes particularly sensitive to irritants. This is characterized by breathing difficulties.

The symptoms of asthma include:

* Shortness of breath. Asthma sufferers often say they feel as though they can't catch their breath, they feel breathless or out of breath. They feel like you can't get enough air into or out of their lungs.

* A feeling of tightness in the chest. This can feel like someone is sitting on or squeezing your chest.

* Coughing. Coughing in people with asthma is often worse at night or early in the morning, making sleeping difficult.

* Wheezing. Wheezing is a whistling or squeaky sound when you inhale or exhale.

* Faster or noisy breathing

* Inflammation of the air passages, characterised by eosinophils in the airway wall

* Episodes of wheezy difficulty in breathing

* Rapid and considerable changes in airway obstruction (peak flow variation >= 20%)

* Narrowing of the air passages in the lungs and resulting increased resistance to airflow

* Symptom-free periods

* Frequent allergy occurrence

* Bronchial hyper-responsiveness to non-specific stimuli such as cold air or histamine

* Frequent nocturnal episodes and low morning peak flow values

* Significant reversibility with new steroid drugs

* Significant reversibility with drugs that resemble adrenaline, the beta2 agonists

People with asthma may have:

* Coughing or wheezing when they are near an allergen or irritant

* Asthma symptoms brought on by exercises such as running, biking, or other brisk activity, especially during cold weather

* Frequent coughing, especially at night (this is occasionally the only sign of asthma in a child)

* Wheezing when they have a cold or another illness

* Coughing or wheezing precipitated by prolonged crying or laughing

Not all people suffer all of these symptoms. Additionally, symptoms may vary from one asthma attack to another. Symptoms can also differ in severity. For example, symptoms may be mildly annoying at times and at other times they can be serious enough to demand your immediate attention. Sometimes symptoms can be so serious to the point of being life threatening and require medical attention. Symptoms also differ in frequency. Some asthma sufferers only have symptoms once every few months, others have symptoms weekly, and while other people have daily symptoms. With proper treatment and management, however, most asthma sufferers can expect to endure minimal or no symptoms, and are able to lead normal, active lives.

By: William Brown

Asthma : Adult Asthma Symptoms

Are you suffering from adult asthma symptoms? Wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing and other lesser-known symptoms can certainly take their toll and have significant effects on daily life. Do you think you have asthma? Its important to learn the signs and symptoms of an asthma attack, and to get it evaluated and under control as quickly as possible with minimal medical intervention. Asthma symptoms can vary greatly in severity from an occasional mild episode of shortness of breath to wheezing that persists despite the use of prescribed medications. The classic symptoms of an asthma attack include rapid breathing, wheezing on exhalation, shortness of breath, coughing, and chest tightness or pain. It can be very scary for the person having the attack, because to them it feels like theyre drowning, unable to catch a deep breath because it wont go in.

Adult asthma symptoms usually progress over a period of hours or days, and occasionally the airways become more seriously inflamed or obstructed. At this point, its wise to schedule a visit to the asthma specialist for lung function tests and prescribed antibiotics and corticosteroids to get the excessive mucous and inflammation under control. A common cold can become a full blown respiratory infection in an asthmatic, which is why its important to recognize symptoms early and get treatment started right away. Understanding the underlying causes of allergies and allergy-related asthma is another important intervention that has been proven to reduce the number and severity of asthma attacks in a significant number of patients. Allergies are a common underlying factor, and once the allergies are addressed, the frequency of asthma attacks decreases as well.


Long-term relief medications for adult asthma sufferers are widely available, and usually consist of an inhaled corticosteroid taken twice daily and a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. Lots of information for treatment of adult asthma symptoms is available from local medical professionals including asthma and immunology specialists, so dont hesitate to seek a professional evaluation and consultation. Over-the-counter medications are not recommended for the long term treatment of chronic asthma, and can have dangerous consequences for someone in a life threatening situation. With proper treatment, asthmatics take brisk walks, and take up running and other vigorous aerobic activity without asthma symptoms. Do you homework and learn more about asthma symptoms, treatment and underlying causes online at a number of sites dedicated to keeping asthma under control and to you living a healthy symptom-free life.

Article By: JWLam

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