How does people get asthma?

Question

What causes people to get asthma?

Answer 1

Hi! First of all, FYI...
There are 2 types of Asthma: ATOPIC and NONATOPIC Asthma.
Atopic asthma is the most common one which begins in childhood. One is already genetically predisposed(runs in the family). At first, they don't show any illness but when exposed to environmental ANTIGENS (stuffs that your body considers foreign or alien or strange) like dusts, pollens, animal dander and certain food... the asthma is just TRIGGERED to start.
NONAtopic asthma, still in the predisposed people with family history of asthmatics, is TRIGGERED by respiratory infections. VIRUSES (rather than bacteria) are the most common triggers: rhinovirus & parainfluenza virus.

So, basically asthmatics have a GENETIC PREDISPOSITION to Type 1 Hypersensitivity (ATOPY), acute & chronic inflammation and bronchial hyper-responsiveness.

*GENETIC PREDISPOSITION*
--> in lay man's term, it runs in ur family and so you HAVE the defective genes that have greater chances of manifesting the illness.
--> this includes the genes that code for HLA complex (stuffs that can be passed on among relatives) , T cell activation, cytokine production and receptors for bronchial dilators are DEFECTIVE.

*ACUTE&CHRONIC INFLAMMATION*
--> these are just TRIGGERS and NOT the cause
--> when u get infected by a virus, bacteria, foreign bodies to which ur body is allergic to, ur body's NORMAL response is INFLAMMATION to fight off these things.
--> ACUTE is when the reaction occurs in the first 24-48 hours, some experts say upto 72 hours.
--> CHRONIC is when it's been more than the span of acute.

*BRONCHIAL HYPER-RESPONSIVENESS*
Like I said, inflammation is a defensive mechanism...However, asthmatics have defective genes that code for the receptors for bronchial dilators and have Type 1 Hypersensitivity. So, their bronchioles CONSTRICT instead. To add insult to injury, their hypersensitivity causes them to REACT MORE than normal people. If normal people have mere inflammation, asthmatics have SUPER INFLAMMATION. Just imagine a constricted bronchiole, SUPER CONGESTED with inflammatory cells... or imagine a CLOGGED METAL PIPE -- the diameter of a metal pipe CAN'T enlarge when it's full of stuffs..right? That's why you could BARELY breathe...and you hear the WHEEZING sound (like some cat trapped in ur lungs).

Hope you get what I mean...cuz ur question has answers that involve using the medical terms, for accuracy purposes. I hope I've somehow relayed it in a more UNDERSTANDABLE way... I tried..really :) This is how far I can explain it to you. :)

Answer 2

Asthma is a overreaction to an irritant in the lungs or bloodstream...just like an allergy- only a really really bad one. You don't get it, you usually already have it and then it's triggered by something and you'll wind up in the hospital or Dr.'s office... Some people find that food allergies are also a major contributing factor to the severity of their asthma.

I was diagnosed with asthma when I was 12- it was triggered by this stuff I was working with in shop class.. some red powder used to cast aluminum... I can't remember what it was called. Anyway- for the next 8 years I used an inhaler and then one day I stopped eating eggs and diary- lo and behold I haven't had an asthma attack in 7 years... and I'm an active person... When my allergies flare up sometimes it feels like I'm getting a small asthma attack but otherwise I'm good... Also, living in an area where there is minimal air pollution seems to help a lot as well.

Answer 3

2

Answer 4

I have severe asthma and i am 23 . i was diagnosed with it at 2 months old and it i was due to my mother doing drugs the whole pregnancy. alot of asthma is caused by smokers allergies and smog .

Answer 5

you can be born with it or you can get it from being around others that smoke when you r young, also you can et it from mold like if your house is really old and has somekind of fungi growing on it. I was diagnosed with it at 9 yrs old.

Answer 6

born with it, grew up around smoking, smoked, live in a big city with bad air. dust mold allergies. and excerise induced allergies (which i believe are mold and dust related, like at my gym it is dirty and no windows and sometimes the cleaning guys blow the dust around)

Answer 7

their usually born with it