Asthma
What is Asthma?
Asthma is a complex illness with a whole range of different causes.
These include allergy, viral infections and emotional stress. There is
often a strong family history and many patients have a general allergic
tendency which may involve other conditions such as eczema. Common triggers
for asthma, apart from infection, include exercise, dust, house dust
mite, moulds, pollens and other inhaled products.
Asthma appears to be increasing in incidence and typically begins in
childhood, often following a simple cold. Some patients have one or two
acute episodes; others have a chronic, recurring illness with hospital
admissions and life threatening attacks.
The wheezing is caused by inflammation in the airways which is associated
with the production of mucus. The ‘tubes’ are narrowed by
muscle spasm and the combination of the narrowing and the mucus reduces
the calibre of the tubes, making it harder to force air in and out of
the lungs. As a result, the amount of oxygen available for absorption
may be inadequate.
