Understanding Asthma Attacks

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Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

It seems like asthma is becoming ever more prevalent these days. You’ve almost certainly heard of it. But if you’ve never experienced an asthma attack, you probably don’t know what goes on during one. If you’ve just been diagnosed with the condition, here are some facts you should know.

Symptoms of an asthma attack include shortness of breath, coughing and a wheezing or whistling sound in your chest. It’s a serious situation, and can lead to death if untreated.

So what is it that sets off an attack of asthma? It’s different for everyone. Well known triggers include allergic substances like pollen, dust, environmental pollution, chemicals and smoke. In fact, allergies and asthma are very closely related. Things like a change in the atmospheric pressure, cold air, exercise or a common cold virus can also trigger asthma symptoms.

The site of an asthma attack is the airways leading to the lungs. The opening and closing of your airways are controlled by a specific muscle. It’s completely reflexive, so you can’t control it voluntarily. However, it can be caused to tighten by certain irritants or external conditions, as mentioned earlier. When you have an asthma condition, the muscle reacts disproportionately to the the triggers, thereby causing an attack.

If the muscle tightens up, the air passage becomes constricted. It also gets clogged with mucus and the lining becomes swollen and inflamed. Normally, mucus in the airways is perfectly natural since it assists in the movement of air into the lungs. But when you’re experiencing an asthma attack, the production of mucus increases, thereby filling the air passages.

It’s hard to breathe when this accumulation of mucus is present. The asthma attack won’t end until the mucus is cleared away. That’s why it’s so important to treat your symptoms immediately with a prescribed medication.

Sometimes an attack will last just a few minutes. A severe attack, though, can go on for hours or days. There will be intervals where you might not experience any symptoms, but they will soon return if you don’t receive the proper medication.

It’s important to check with your doctor right away if you think you have asthma. Tests will be run in order to make an accurate diagnosis. As well, they’ll try to figure out what’s triggering the attacks. When you’ve established the factors that trigger your attacks, it’s critical that you do your best to avoid them. You’ll need to work closely with your doctor and follow the prescribed asthma treatments if you want to prevent future attacks. Never ignore the symptoms, because an asthma attack can be life threatening.

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