Asthma

ASTHMA

Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs.

Causes

The exact cause of asthma is unknown.

• People with asthma have swollen (inflamed) and "sensitive" airways that become narrow and clogged with sticky mucus in response to certain triggers.
• Genetics
•  pollution
•   modern hygiene standards have been suggested as causes
• but there's not currently enough evidence to know if any of these do cause asthma.

SYMPTOMS

The most common symptoms of asthma are:

• wheezing (a whistling sound when breathing)
• Breathlessness
• a tight chest – it may feel like a band is tightening around it 
• coughing

Many things can cause these symptoms, but they're more likely to be asthma if they:

• happen often and keep coming back
• are worse at night and early in the morning
• seem to happen in response to an asthma trigger like exercise