Do you know what is asthma? Well, it is a long term inflammatory disease that makes your bronchial airways particularly sensitive to irritants such as air pollution. This illness can affect people of all ages causing them to have breathing difficulties, shortness of breath and wheezing. In fact, it is the leading chronic illness in children - 1 in 8 children and 1 in 13 adults have asthma in the western world and this is increasing still.

Although there is no cure, it can be controlled or managed in most patients so that they have only minimal and infrequent symptoms and can live an active life.

What Is Asthma Attacks

Asthma sufferers have extra sensitive or hyper-responsive airways that narrow due to a mixture of factors. When this happens a person is said to be having an asthma attack. Symptoms include a feeling of tightness in the chest, a wheezing or whistling noise when breathing, coughing, breathlessness and difficulty breathing. These symptoms will not only vary from 1 patient to the next but from 1 attack to the next as well.

What Is Asthma And How To Manage The Disease

If you have asthma, then learning to self-manage it is important. Herein you may have to restrict your exposure to things that trigger your attacks. You may also have to take medication as your doctor directs. Doing this will help to prevent any serious symptoms so that you can take part in normal activities without losing time at school or at work. However, your doctor will have to carefully monitor your medication as its effectiveness can decrease over time allowing your symptoms to return. It is also possible for your asthma to change progressively during your lifetime. For instance, you may suffer acute episodes and then enjoy long periods with few symptoms. It is also possible for children who have asthma to outgrow it in later life.

A Simplified Answer To What Is Asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes your bronchial tubes sensitive to certain irritants and thus cause you to have difficulty breathing. If it is left untreated, then it can become life-threatening. This disease does not discriminate by age and it also cannot be cured, but it can be controlled so that the frequency and severity of attacks is reduced.

Conclusion

Herein lies your answer to what is asthma. Hopefully it is not something that you will ever have to deal with. However, if you do have asthma, your doctor will be able to come up with a treatment plan that will work for you.