Asthma Facts

Asthma Facts

Here are some basic Asthma Facts that should help you understand more about how to control it.

•  Asthma Fact : is a lung disease. It is not an emotional or psychological problem, or an illusion. Don’t let anyone tell you your asthma is just in your head. It is real!

•  Asthma Facts : You are not alone if you have asthma. More than 20 million Americans report they have asthma.

•  Asthma Fact : Asthma is on the increase, not just in the United States, but throughout the world. It is estimated that 300 million people worldwide have asthma

•  Asthma Fact : Inflammation of the lining of the airways is a major factor in asthma.

Inflammation is produced by your immune system. The immune system’s job is to defend your body against things that it sees as foreign and harmful—for example, bacteria, viruses, dust, chemicals. It does this by sending special cells to the organs that are being affected by these things. These cells release chemicals that produce inflammation, or swelling, around the foreign substance or substances to isolate and destroy them.

Although inflammation is a defense mechanism for our bodies, it can be harmful if it occurs at the wrong time or stays around after it’s no longer needed. Because our lungs are used to breathing in air with irritants, such as bacteria, viruses, pollens, and dusts, all day every day, they’ve developed ways of dealing with these things, and normally, an inflammatory response does not occur. But the airways in the lungs of people with asthma are more sensitive to many of these things, and the immune system in these people overreacts by releasing many different kinds of cells and other chemicals to the airways.

These cells cause the following changes in your airways:

  • The inner linings of your airways become swollen or inflamed (inflammation), leaving less room in the airways for the air to move through.
  • The muscles surrounding the airways tighten up, which narrows the airways even more. (This is called bronchospasm.)
  • The mucus glands in the airways may produce lots of thick mucus, which further blocks the airways.

These changes make it harder for you to breathe. They also make you cough and wheeze and feel short of breath. People with asthma can develop ongoing inflammation that makes the airways super sensitive. As a result, if the inflammation is not treated, each time your airways are exposed to your asthm  a triggers, the inflammation increases, and you are likely to have symptoms. (This is called bronchial hyperresponsiveness.)

Because inflammation plays such an important role in asthma, treatment for most people with asthma includes taking medicine every day for a long time to reduce and control it.

Asthma is a chronic disease, like diabetes and high blood pressure. This means that once you develop asthma, you are likely to have it for a lifetime. It cannot be cured. Even when it is not causing symptoms, even when you are feeling just fine, the asthma is still there and can flare up at any time. Asthma Facts

Asthma FactsAsthma Facts

A chronic condition like asthma requires daily attention.Depending on how severe your asthma is, that may include monitoring your breathing and taking medicine every day, even when you do not have symptoms. Taking care of your asthma must become a routine part of your life, just like monitoring and taking diabetes or blood pressure medicines are for people with those chronic conditions.

Your asthma can be controlled! By managing your asthma effectively—taking your medicines as prescribed, avoiding your asthma triggers, and monitoring your asthma—you should be able to get—and keep—your asthma under control. You should expect nothing less!

Up next: What is the Cause of Asthma Why Me ?

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