The Variable Asthma!!

Asthma is a widespread and chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. In simple words it is the difficulty in breathing due to reduced airway accompanied with wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath. As the airways are inflamed and swollen they become narrow and hypersensitive to irritations and thus are easily susceptible to allergic reactions.

There are various onsets of Asthma:

Child-onset Asthma – This happens in the childhood due to the exposure and is sensitized to common environmental allergens. This variant of asthma is usually genetically determined

Adult-onset Asthma – It appears after reaching 20 years of age. Adult-onset asthma is usually more common in women than in men, and is less common than child-onset asthma.  This is triggered by the allergens in the environment or due to the exposure to metals, medications, plastics or dust!

Exercise-induced Asthma – If you cough, wheeze and panting after short episodes of exercise you might be suffering from exercise-induced asthma. It also depends on the level of fitness of the person. People suffering with this type of asthma experience difficulty in getting air into the lungs. People suffering with this disorder usually do not show asthma-like symptoms without any physical exertion!

Occupational Asthma – Factors like chemicals, vapors, gases, smoke, dust, fumes, pollen and animal products all trigger asthma in the place of work. Occupational asthma appears soon after the patient starts a new job and disappears not long after leaving the job.

Nocturnal Asthma – The patient present with asthma symptoms between midnight and 8 am in the morning. It is usually triggered by the dust and pet dander. This is a peculiar type of asthma which shows no symptoms of asthma during the day.

Steroid-Resistant Asthma or Severe Asthma – the regular drugs that subside and control the symptoms of asthma is the steroid therapy. But some patients are resistant to these steroids. This is chronic type of asthma wherein the re is airway inflammation and immune activation.

.......SIRI