Just what is asthma?

If you ask the average person "What is asthma?" he or she will probably respond by saying that it is a condition where the affected person is suddenly unable to breathe normally.

Breathing problems are indeed one of the most noticeable things about asthma. However, there is more to it.

Asthma, in essence, is a kind of hypersensitivity that engulfs the respiratory system. Those who are prone to this condition end up getting frequent attacks of asthma.

The asthma patient's airways become narrower during an attack, which results in breathing difficulties.

Practically no age group is exempt from this disease, except for infants. Many people think asthma starts only during childhood. That is not the case; it often does start in childhood, but can start off in adulthood as well.

Among adults, the incidence of asthma is about the same in both men and women. But among children, boys tend to be much more prone to asthma attacks than girls.

During an asthma episode, the affected person finds himself experiencing breathlessness and wheezing. There is often a cough that accompanies these symptoms, which tends to get worse during the night hours.

The bronchi in the lungs get narrower during an attack; the severity of the attack depends on the extent of this narrowing.

If the bronchi become highly constricted, the patient's breathing usually becomes shallow. In the case of very severe attacks, the patient's pulse rate accelerates significantly. His lips may become bluish and he may be unable to speak. These are symptoms of a condition called cyanosis.

This condition is a medical emergency and the patient needs attention immediately without delay. He may not respond to frontline medication -- in that case the situation is very dangerous because his condition can worsen rapidly. Death is a real possibility.

"Status Asthmaticus" is another type of asthma attack. This is also a very serious condition where the patient has repeated attacks or has one single attack that lasts for a long period of time. In such situations, death can occur due to respiratory failure or because the patient becomes thoroughly exhausted.

On a positive note, in most cases, asthma can be controlled fairly quickly. Asthma medications do a good job of bringing down the severity of an attack. However, as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure and it's no different with asthma. Managing asthma effectively is the key to living with this troublesome disease.

So how do you manage asthma? Asthma is often triggered by a specific allergen. So it stands to reason that one of the best ways to prevent an attack is to avoid exposure to the allergen.

Of course, one should identify the substance or substances one is allergic to. These can be dust mites, pollen, ingredients in soaps, cosmetics and so on. Hence both identification of the specific allergen triggering the attack as well as avoiding those substances can be difficult.

Bronchodilators are commonly used to manage an asthma attack. These medications work by dilating the patient's airways, which makes breathing much easier.

Anti-inflammatory drugs are also used to control asthma. These medications are usually inhaled. Drug delivery via inhalation has been found to be effective at controlling the disease. Inhaled drugs may not work in the case of severe attacks like Status Asthmaticus, which requires immediate medical attention.

That is a broad answer to the question "What is asthma?" There is, of course, a lot more to it. Browse through the pages of this site for more information.

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