The main characteristics of asthma

Without immediate treatment, such as with your asthma inhaler or bronchodilatoryour breathing will become more labored.

Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing a whistling sound when you breathechest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning. Asthma affects people of all ages, but it most often starts during childhood.

In the United States, more than 25 million people are known to have asthma. Overview To understand asthma, it helps to know how the airways work. The airways are tubes that carry air into and out of your lungs.

People who have asthma have inflamed airways. The inflammation makes the airways swollen and very sensitive. The airways tend to react strongly to certain inhaled substances. When the airways react, the muscles around them tighten.

This narrows the airways, causing less air to flow into the lungs. The swelling also can worsen, making the airways even narrower.

INTRODUCTION

Cells in the airways might make more mucus than usual. Mucus is a sticky, thick liquid that can further narrow the airways.

This chain reaction can result in asthma symptoms. Symptoms can happen each time the airways are inflamed. Asthma Figure A shows the location of the lungs and airways in the body.

Figure B shows a cross-section of a normal airway. Figure C shows a cross-section of an airway during asthma symptoms. Sometimes asthma symptoms are mild and go away on their own or after minimal treatment with asthma medicine.

Other times, symptoms continue to get worse. Asthma attacks also are called flareups or exacerbations eg-zas-er-BA-shuns.

Treating symptoms when you first notice them is important. This will help prevent the symptoms from worsening and causing a severe asthma attack.

Severe asthma attacks may require emergency care, and they can be fatal. Outlook Asthma has no cure.Home Characteristics and Asthma Triggers Checklist for Home Visitors.

2 HOME CHARACTERISTICS and ASTHMA TRIGGERS CORE ASSESSMENT Building Information HEATING and COOLING Checklist Questions Potential Action Steps In addition to the main .

There are three main characteristics of asthma: Inflammation; Hyperresponsiveness; Airway obstruction; A fourth component, Airway Wall Remodeling may be seen if asthma is inadequately treated.

In inflammation, the lining of the airways becomes swollen, and produces mucus. In asthma patients, the inflammation in the bronchi is an overreaction to. Still, not every person with asthma has the same symptoms in the same way. You may not have all of these symptoms, or you may have different symptoms at different times.

Your asthma symptoms may. Continued Know the Asthma Symptoms in Children. Asthma affects as many as 10% to 12% of children in the United States and is the leading cause of chronic illness in children. Characteristics of Asthma Asthma is characterized by inflammation of the bronchial tubes with increased production of sticky secretions inside the tubes.

People with asthma experience symptoms when the airways tighten, inflame, or fill with mucus.

Asthma - Wikipedia

What is asthma? Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory lung disease involving recurrent breathing problems. The characteristics of asthma are three airway problems.