Asthma: Types, Symptoms, Causes & Treatment
 |
| Asthma & Its Types |
Asthma/Bronchial Asthma
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of your lung airways. It causes inflammation, swelling, and narrowing of the lung airways which results in difficulty breathing and airway hyper-responsiveness. The word asthma is derived from the Greek word labored or difficult breathing.Asthma tends to run in families. Other allergic conditions such as atopic dermatitis or hay fever increase the risk of asthma. Smoking, obesity, pollution, fumes, occupational triggers, and certain chemical also acts as triggering agent for asthma attack. Asthma can affect people of all ages but it is more common in people over 40 years of age. Asthma is classified as a non-communicable disease.
Types Of Asthma
Here we’ll discuss the most common types of asthma. There are different approaches used for the classification of asthma. Firstly, we’ll discuss the types of asthma based on severity.Mild Intermittent Asthma
If asthma occurs at regular intervals of time, then it is termed as mild intermittent asthma. If coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, and chest congestion occur on less than two days in a week without treatment, then it indicates a case of mild intermittent asthma. It does not interfere with your daily activities. Nighttime symptoms develop in less than two days in a month.Mild Persistent Asthma
If coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, and chest congestion occur more than two days a week without treatment, then it indicates a case of mild persistent asthma. If it affects your daily activities and nighttime symptoms appear 3-4 times in a month.Moderate Persistent Asthma
If coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, and chest congestion occur on a daily basis without treatment, then it indicates moderate persistent asthma. This type of asthma will interfere with your daily activities. LFTs are normal when there is no asthma attack. In this type, nighttime symptoms appear more than once a week but not every day.Severe Persistent Asthma
If coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, and chest congestion occur daily and at night without treatment, it is referred to as severe persistent asthma. It will severely affect your daily activities and LFTs are abnormal when there is no asthma attack.Other types of asthma include,
Allergic/Intrinsic Asthma
Allergens such as pollens, molds, pet dander, household dust, animal saliva, and urine can also trigger or cause an asthma attack.Non-allergic/ Extrinsic Asthma
Non-allergic asthma develops in extreme weather such as extremely cold winters or the heat of summer.Nocturnal Asthma
If asthma symptoms worsen at night, then it is termed nocturnal asthma.Cough-Variant Asthma
In this type, asthma is manifested by long-term cough.Occupational Asthma
If people working in occupations around chemical fumes, cotton, wood dust, and mites develop asthma, then it is termed occupational asthma.Exercise-Induced Asthma
Strenuous exercise can also cause the development of asthma attacks.Aspirin-Induced Asthma
This type of asthma is triggered by using aspirin because of aspirin sensitivity.Symptoms Of Asthma
People with asthma may develop a persistent cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, dyspnea (difficulty breathing), and mucus secretion.Causes Of Asthma
The triggering agents of asthma are listed below,- Allergens such as pollens, molds, house dust, mites, animal saliva, dander, and urine.
- Industrial chemicals include epoxy resins, aluminum, penicillin, hair spray, cimetidine, and isocyanate-containing paints.
- Environmental pollutants such as Sulphur dioxide, traffic fumes, and cigarette smoke.
- Certain food items such as fish, nuts, food colors, benzoic acid, sodium metabisulfite, seafood, and dairy products.
- Some drugs such as aspirin, prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors, Ibuprofen, and β-adrenoceptor blockers.
- Industrial triggers agents such as grain weevils, mites, wood or grain dust, cotton, and dust.
- Miscellaneous things such as cold air, exercise, hyperventilation, and viral respiratory tract infections.
- Emotional disturbance or stress.
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- Swimming pool chlorine
- Sulfites and preservatives
Treatment Of Asthma
Treatment aims to control or manage the symptoms of persistent asthma. Commonly prescribed medicines include anti-inflammatory drugs, bronchodilators, leukotriene receptor antagonists, and methylxanthines.Bronchodilators act by causing the relaxation of the bronchi of your lungs and dilating your lung airways which results in easy breathing. There are two types of bronchodilators, short-acting, and long-acting bronchodilators. Commonly used short-acting bronchodilators are albuterol, levalbuterol, and pirbuterol and long-acting bronchodilators are tiotropium, salmeterol, formoterol, and aclidinium.
Anti-inflammatory drugs/Corticosteroids are prescribed for the inflammation and swelling of your airways. They make your airways more sensitive, thus resulting in decreased mucus production. The most effective anti-inflammatory drugs used in asthma are budesonide, ciclesonide, fluticasone, beclomethasone, fluticasone furoate, mometasone, and salmeterol.
Leukotriene receptor antagonists include Montelukast tablets and granules. They are proven to be very effective for long-term control, treatment, and prevention of asthma symptoms. They are used in children less than seven years of age.
Methylxanthines/Theophylline promotes the contraction of your diaphragm. They are effective in mucous clearance. They are prescribed for the long-term prevention of asthma symptoms.