Exactly what is asthma?

Question

When you can't breath out/in properly- or i dunno what is it exactly?

Answer 1

What Is Asthma?

Asthma (Az-muh) is a chronic disease that affects your airways. The airways are the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways are inflamed (swollen). The inflammation (IN-fla-MAY-shun) makes the airways very sensitive, and they tend to react strongly to things that you are allergic to or find irritating. When the airways react, they get narrower, and less air flows through to your lung tissue. This causes symptoms like wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), coughing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing, especially at night and in the early morning.

Asthma cannot be cured, but most people with asthma can control it so that they have few and infrequent symptoms and can live active lives.

When your asthma symptoms become worse than usual, it is called an asthma episode or attack. During an asthma attack, muscles around the airways tighten up, making the airways narrower so less air flows through. Inflammation increases, and the airways become more swollen and even narrower. Cells in the airways may also make more mucus than usual. This extra mucus also narrows the airways. These changes make it harder to breathe.



Asthma attacks are not all the same—some are worse than others. In a severe asthma attack, the airways can close so much that not enough oxygen gets to vital organs. This condition is a medical emergency. People can die from severe asthma attacks.

So, if you have asthma, you should see your doctor regularly. You will need to learn what things cause your asthma symptoms and how to avoid them. Your doctor will also prescribe medicines to keep your asthma under control.

Taking care of your asthma is an important part of your life. Controlling it means working closely with your doctor to learn what to do, staying away from things that bother your airways, taking medicines as directed by your doctor, and monitoring your asthma so that you can respond quickly to signs of an attack. By controlling your asthma every day, you can prevent serious symptoms and take part in all activities.

If your asthma is not well controlled, you are likely to have symptoms that can make you miss school or work and keep you from doing things you enjoy. Asthma is one of the leading causes of children missing school.

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Asthma is an over reaction of the respiratory mucosa to various stimuli. Temperature change(or extremes),allergens,infection or emotion. Everyone can exhibit asthma like symptoms, we can all cough a little when we have a cold, this is normal. Asthmatics respond more strongly to the same viral stimulus by coughing more for longer periods. We can all cough and wheeze in a smokey pub. (but hopefully not for much longer when the ban comes in!) asthmatics in the same situation may cough a lot, wheeze and get breathless. Put anyone in the cold of the North Pole and we can wheeze. Asthmatics will do this in much less cold conditions.
Asthma produces
1)Irritability giving cough
2)Spasm of airways giving wheeze
3)Inflammation giving mucus production
This green or yellow mucus is VERY frequently confused by many doctors with infection and antibiotics are often given. Asthma is not however an infective condition and it NEVER gets better with antibiotics.
Asthma might well be described therefore as irritable or over-reactive airways disease. By definition asthmatic symptoms are reversible. however if the disease is severe or poorly managed it will gradually damage the airways which will be permanent

Answer 4

Asthma is a disease characterised by the allergic response of the lungs' airways to allergens which often can be microbes. The effects of inflammation account for the rest of the disease process.
When you consider that both the initial insult and the body's inflammatory response in asthma are favourably affected by mangosteen, it becomes a unique agent in the treatment of the disease. No other single agent I can prescribe as a physician has any laboratory data which suggest efficay as a single agent where physicians now use several drugs, including steroids, in the treatment of mild to moderate asthma.
A study released in September 2002 reported that the rind of the mangosteen not only acted as an anti-inflammatory agent but also as an anti-allegergenic agent. This is IMPORTANT INFORMATION for asthma sufferers. Researchers in Japan have studied the ability of certain mangosteen xanthones to modulate the action of IgE. IgE is the antibody class involved in causing allergic reactions.
http://www.mangosteen101.co.uk

Answer 5

Asthma is a chronic disease of the respiratory system in which the airway occasionally constricts, becomes inflamed, and is lined with excessive amounts of mucus, often in response to one or more triggers. These acute episodes may be triggered by such things as exposure to an environmental stimulant (or allergen), cold air, exercise or exertion, or emotional stress. In children, the most common triggers are viral illnesses such as those that cause the common cold. This airway narrowing causes symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing, which respond to bronchodilators. Between episodes, most patients feel fine.

The disorder is a chronic or recurring inflammatory condition in which the airway develops increased responsiveness to various stimuli, characterized by bronchial hyper-responsiveness, inflammation, increased mucus production, and intermittent airway obstruction. The symptoms of asthma, which can range from mild to life threatening, can usually be controlled with a combination of drugs and environmental changes.

Public attention in the developed world has recently focused on asthma because of its rapidly increasing prevalence, affecting up to one in four urban children

History:

The word asthma is derived from the Greek aazein, meaning "sharp breath." The word first appears in Homer's Iliad; Hippocrates was the first to use it in reference to the medical condition, in 450 BC. Hippocrates thought that the spasms associated with asthma were more likely to occur in tailors, anglers, and metalworkers. Six centuries later, Galen wrote much about asthma, noting that it was caused by partial or complete bronchial obstruction. In 1190 AD, Moses Maimonides, an influential medieval rabbi, philosopher, and physician, wrote a treatise on asthma, describing its prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In the 17th century, Bernardino Ramazzini noted a connection between asthma and organic dust. The use of bronchodilators started in 1901, but it was not until the 1960s that the inflammatory component of asthma was recognized, and anti-inflammatory medications were added to the regimen.


Signs and symptoms:

In some individuals asthma is characterized by chronic respiratory impairment. In others it is an intermittent illness marked by episodic symptoms that may result from a number of triggering events, including upper respiratory infection, stress, airborne allergens, or exercise.

An acute exacerbation of asthma is referred to as an asthma attack. The clinical hallmarks of an attack are shortness of breath (dyspnea) and either wheezing or stridor. Although the former is "often regarded as the sine qua non of asthma," some victims present primarily with coughing, and in the late stages of an attack, air motion may be so impaired that no wheezing may be heard. When present the cough may sometimes produce clear sputum. The onset may be sudden, with a sense of constriction in the chest, breathing becomes difficult, and wheezing occurs (primarily upon expiration, but can be in both respiratory phases).

Signs of an asthmatic episode include wheezing, rapid breathing (tachypnea), prolonged expiration, a rapid heart rate (tachycardia), rhonchous lung sounds (audible through a stethoscope), and over-inflation of the chest. During a serious asthma attack, the accessory muscles of respiration (sternocleidomastoid and scalene muscles of the neck) may be used, shown as in-drawing of tissues between the ribs and above the sternum and clavicles, and the presence of a paradoxical pulse (a pulse that is weaker during inhalation and stronger during exhalation).

During very severe attacks, an asthma sufferer can turn blue from lack of oxygen, and can experience chest pain or even loss of consciousness. Severe asthma attacks may lead to respiratory arrest and death. Despite the severity of symptoms during an asthmatic episode, between attacks an asthmatic may show few signs of the disease.

Answer 6

Narrowing of the airways of the lungs

Answer 7

inflamation of the airways caused by triggers such as allergies, exercise ,heredatory factors etc. one of the biggest killers in the country.

Answer 8

Imagine an invisible hand choking you

It really is that scary

Answer 9

inflamation of the airways