ASTHMA 101

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lung airways that causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. When exposed to specific allergens and/or irritants three things happen: the lung airways become swollen and inflamed; the muscles around the airways tighten; and excess mucus is produced in the airways clogging them further. This combination makes breathing difficult and causes asthma symptoms. Asthma ranges from mild intermittent (asthma symptoms less than twice a week) to severe persistent (asthma symptoms on most days), death can even occur if not treated.

There are three major categories of asthma discussed in Breatheasyville: allergic asthma, non-allergic asthma, and exercise-induced asthma.

Allergic asthma can occur when people become sensitive to a certain allergen. Allergens that can cause asthma symptoms include: dust mites, cockroaches, pets, mold, and pollen. Allergic asthma affects about 60 percent of all asthmatics. About 80 percent of children under 10 with asthma test positive for at least one allergy. Over time, people can become sensitive to a specific allergen. When the allergen is inhaled by someone with asthma sensitive to that allergen, the immune system overreacts. A complex reaction takes place and the immune system produces an antibody (called immunoglobulin or IgE) that in turn releases mediators. These mediators cause lung airways to overreact, resulting in the familiar symptoms of an asthma attack, such as wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. Be sure your child receives an allergy skin test and is tested for the allergens listed above.

Non-allergic asthma is caused by irritants in the air, viral infections and in rare cases certain medications. Non-allergic asthma is less common, effecting about 30 percent of people with asthma. An irritant is a gas, vapor, fume, smoke or chemical that aggravates lung airways. Common irritants that can cause asthma symptoms include: environmental tobacco smoke (combination of exhaled smoke and smoke from the burning end of a cigarette/cigar/pipe), strong odors, high-levels of nitrogen dioxide from a malfunctioning or improperly vented gas combustion appliance (e.g., gas stove, gas furnace), cold air and weather changes, and air pollution. Viral infections (e.g., colds, the flu, sinusitis, nasal polyps) put an added burden on lung airways that can worsen asthma. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), also called heartburn, can worsen asthma symptoms. Some medicines should be avoided by people with asthma. Non-selective beta-adrenergic blockers should be avoided because they block the receptor sites in the lungs that quick-relievers (such as albuterol) need to act upon, so that their reliever medication will not work. People can develop sensitivities to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), such as ibuprofen, naproxen and ketoprofen, which may cause an asthma attack. There is no medical test to determine which irritants affect your child’s asthma. Try keeping an asthma diary and write down where and what your child was doing when asthma symptoms began. Try to pinpoint what they were exposed to that could have caused symptoms, such as smelling strong odors from cleaning products.

Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) is quite common, affecting up to 80 percent of people with asthma. EIA usually occurs 10 to 15 minutes after beginning heavy exercise or after exercise and is usually due to a change in temperature and humidity in lung airways. A major cause of EIA is breathing cold, dry air while exercising. Exercising with a viral infection worsens asthma as well as breathing air pollution and pollens (if allergic to pollen.)