SolveYourProblem Article Series: Asthma
Asthma Causes, Triggers & Treatments

What Is Asthma?

The disease termed 'Asthma' is a heart rending disease that attacks the very first vital need of a human to keep on living - the ability to breathe. It is essentially a lung disease that causes the obstruction of the airways - the tubes that carry life-giving oxygen in and the stale air out.

During an attack, asthma sufferers may feel as though they are starving for air. This is because the bronchi, which are the smaller air passages in the lungs begin to constrict. This constriction is due to a chronic condition wherein the airways are hypersensitive to certain stimuli and in a state of inflammation which causes them to swell.

Results of a typical asthma attack will cause the sufferer to cough and wheeze as they try desperately to fill their lungs with good air. This is usually accompanied with a feeling of tightness in the chest area. Some individuals may suffer only mildly from asthma while for others it can be life threatening.

An asthma attack may be brought on when the individual is exposed to certain triggers that form the irritant or allergen. Common ones include pet dander, dust mites, certain drugs or chemicals, mold , smoke (tobacco or otherwise), feathers, and certain food additives such as sulfites. And this is hardly a complete list.

Other factors that can precipitate an attack include emotional upheavals such as fear, anxiety, stressful situations, or even having a hearty laugh. Changes in temperature can bring about a reaction as well as, certain adrenal disorders and plain old exercise.

Whatever the particular trigger however, the result is that the bronchial tubes start to get inflamed and swell and become plugged with mucus as the body reacts hyper sensitively to it's perceived attack. This creates an unfortunate 'loop' of activity wherein the inflammation will further irritate the air passages making for even greater sensitivity causing more frequent and severe attacks. And while there may be many types of triggers there may also be hereditary factors that may create a predisposition to getting asthma.

There is no known cure for asthma. Sufferers must seek to keep it under control and this is usually done with a combination of medicinal drugs and some very necessary environmental changes. Because the range of types of asthma and the degrees to which one may be affected is very wide, every case has it's own unique characteristics. This may mean that someone who suffers from asthma and the ones that are primarily caring for them will have great need of patience and tenacity as they seek to find and eliminate any causes that may be part of their routine and environment.

The incidence of asthma is ever on the increase. Some statistics state that currently one in four children suffer from some form of it. Asthma specialists feel that the increasing levels of pollution in our urban environment are a major factor. There are more plastics, adhesives, epoxy, and dry cleaning chemicals than ever before. Of course, that is just scratching the surface of the problem. It is a disease that can affect any age but seems to be found more in children under sixteen years of age and in adults that are sixty-five and older.

Due to the increase in sufferers, research is becoming ever more focused in finding effective treatments for this terrible disease. But coping day to day successfully is still largely up to an individual's personal efforts.

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by SolveYourProblem.com : 2008

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