Understanding Asthma Attacks

Asthma is an increasingly common health condition in modern society. You’ve almost certainly heard of it. But unless you actually suffer from the problem, you might not know what actually transpires during an asthma attack. If you’ve just been diagnosed with the condition, here are some facts you should know.

There are several typical symptoms of an asthma attack. These include coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. It’s a serious situation, and can lead to death if untreated.

What causes an asthma attack? It’s different for everyone. Well known triggers include allergic substances like pollen, dust, environmental pollution, chemicals and smoke. In fact, allergies and asthma are very closely related. Things like a change in the atmospheric pressure, cold air, exercise or a common cold virus can also trigger asthma symptoms.

The site of an asthma attack is the airways leading to the lungs. There’s a muscle located outside the airway that controls when it opens and closes. You don’t have any control over this muscle; it’s totally automatic. However, it can be caused to tighten by certain irritants or external conditions, as mentioned earlier. When you have an asthma condition, the muscle reacts disproportionately to the the triggers, thereby causing an attack.

When the muscle tightens, the airway narrows. It also gets clogged with mucus and the lining becomes swollen and inflamed. Normally, mucus in the airways is perfectly natural since it assists in the movement of air into the lungs. But when you’re experiencing an asthma attack, the production of mucus increases, thereby filling the air passages.

This sticky mucus makes it very difficult to breathe. The asthma attack won’t end until the mucus is cleared away. That’s why it’s so important to treat your symptoms immediately with a prescribed medication.

Sometimes an attack will last just a few minutes. A severe attack, though, can go on for hours or days. You might experience a period of time without symptoms, but without proper treatment they’ll be back.

It’s important to check with your doctor right away if you think you have asthma. Tests will be run in order to make an accurate diagnosis. As well, they’ll try to figure out what’s triggering the attacks. Once you know what your triggers are, it’s essential that you avoid them as much as possible. You’ll need to work closely with your doctor and follow the prescribed asthma treatments if you want to prevent future attacks. The attacks can be deadly, so don’t ignore your symptoms.

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Tagged with: allergies • allergy induced asthma • asthma

Filed under: Alternative Medicine

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