Symptoms, Triggers & Risk Factors of Asthma

Symptoms, Triggers & Risk Factors of Asthma

In a chronic condition like, the lungs’s airways get swollen and narrow down. At times, they are also filled with extra mucus, causing a reduced airflow. These conditions can trigger cough, wheeze, tightness in the chest, and shortness of breath, which result in a difficulty, usually known as an asthma attack.

Impact of Long-term Asthma
For people with this long-term condition, it can become a significant problem by causing interference with their daily lives. Asthma has no cure, but treatment is available to help control the symptoms. Herein, you can get primary information about the various symptoms, triggers, and risk factors of asthma so that you can understand this particular disease.

Symptoms
The signs of asthma can deviate from person to person Therefore, a person with asthma may experience attacks at all times, infrequently, or only during intense activities. Moreover, the type of asthma determines the symptoms you may experience. The most common symptoms of asthma include

  • Tightness in the chest or pain
  • Shortness of breath
  • Coughing, especially at early morning or night
  • Wheezing when exhaling, especially in children
  • Increased mucus production
  • Trouble in sleeping due to coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath
  • Lightheadedness
  • Fatigue
  • Difficulty in talking

Triggers

These symptoms may be triggered by various factors. Some of these typical situations can flare up this condition.

  • Increased physical activity, including exercise, may induce breathing difficulty.
  • If you suffer from pneumonia-like respiratory illnesses.
  • Smoke, strong odors, chemical fumes, and gasses in the air may irritate people with asthma and trigger attacks..
  • Extremely cold and dry weather conditions.
  • Airborne substances and allergens such as dust mites, pollen, mold, and animal dander.

Risk Factors
The risk of developing this condition may arise from several factors, which include

  • Genes
    A family history of asthma raises the chances of developing this condition. One must be extremely careful while outside in such a case.
  • Medical Problems
    Underlying medical conditions like various allergic reactions, obesity, and respiratory illnesses can increase your risk of developing asthma
  • Ethnicity
    People of African and Puerto Rican origin are more likely to have asthma as compared to people from other backgrounds. The chances of death due to this disease are higher for children of African-American and Hispanic origins.
  • Gender
    Although this disease is prevalent across all genders, it can become a determinant factor of risk; among children, boys are more likely to have this condition than girls; on the other hand, teen and adult females have higher chances of developing asthma than males.

Approximately 25 million people in the country suffer from asthma, and over 3,300 of them die every year. Since asthma is a common life-threatening condition, you must be aware of its symptoms, triggers, and risk factors. Such knowledge will help you primarily detect if you have the symptoms of the condition and make an appointment to your healthcare provider for professional diagnosis and treatment.