Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the bronchial tubes (airway) The terms "asthma" comes from Greek and it means "to breathe hard" This condition does not affect sufferers all the time, as with chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
When an asthmatic attack occurs, the bronchial tubes become inflamed which causes the muscles to contract and create spasms.
Attacks can vary in duration, frequency and severity, most of the time their mild but if left untreated they can cause permanent lung damage.
Even if researchers have been able to find patterns, the specific causes for asthma have not yet been established. This condition used to be divided into extrinsic asthma (allergic) and intrinsic asthma (non-allergic). Now its divided into: allergic, non-allergic/ intrinsic, exercise induced, nocturnal, occupational and steroid-resistant asthma.
Allergic asthma affects 90% of asthmatics. In their case, the asthma is triggered by allergens or irritants. The causes of allergic asthma are usually: pet dander, pollen and dust mites. People who have this condition are aware of their triggers and try to avoid them.
Other diagnosed causes include: pollutants, smoke, chemicals, viral infections, wood dust, bacteria, emotion, exercise and stress.
Intrinsic asthma does not normally develop in children, but leans more towards the age of 40 or higher. Possible causes include perfumes, fumes, smoke, cold air, cleaning agents, upper respiratory infections and gastrointestinal reflux. This type of asthma does not respond to treatment as well as allergic asthma.
Exercise-Induced Asthma can affect anyone and may be linked to the lost of heat and moisture in the lungs during exercise. Frequent coughing may sometimes be the only symptom, but the situation changes in cold, dry conditions.
Nocturnal Asthma gets triggered during sleeps, typically by allergens in bedding, decrease in temperature and sometimes gastrointestinal reflux.
Occupational Asthma is consequent to breathing chemical fumes, wood dust or other such substances over a long period of time. It affects roughly 15 percent of asthmatics.
Steroid-Resistant Asthma manifests when the asthmatic takes on over-dose of medications (steroids) that can lead to a severe asthma attack unresponsive to medication called status Asthmaticus.
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