Asthma
Asthma is a long-term disease of the lungs. It causes your airways to get inflamed and narrow, which makes it hard to breathe. Severe asthma can cause trouble talking or being active. You might hear your doctor call it a chronic respiratory disease. Some people refer to asthma as "bronchial asthma."
Asthma is a serious disease that affects about 25 million Americans and causes nearly 1.6 million emergency room visits every year. With treatment, you can live well. Without it, you might have to go to the ER often or stay at the hospital, which can affect your daily life.
Asthma Symptoms
Asthma is marked by inflammation of the bronchial tubes, with extra sticky secretions inside the tubes. People with asthma have symptoms when the airways tighten, inflame, or fill with mucus.
There are three major signs of asthma:
Airway blockage. When you breathe as usual, the bands of muscle around your airways are relaxed, and the air moves freely. But when you have asthma, the muscles tighten. It’s harder for the air to pass through.
Symptoms and patterns may be used to identify different kinds of skin allergies. Over time, people's reactions might alter. A second exposure to the trigger may result in entirely different symptoms from the first.
Inflammation. Asthma causes red, swollen bronchial tubes in your lungs. This inflammation can damage your lungs. Treating this is key to managing asthma in the long run.
Irritated airways. People with asthma have sensitive airways that tend to overreact and narrow when they come into contact with even slight triggers.