INVALUABLE ASTHMA INFORMATION
Your Pregnancy And Your Asthma Medicines
The management and control of your asthma is particularly important when you're pregnant ...
Identifying The Signs And Symptoms of Asthma
Being knowledgeable about the signs and symptoms can help alert undiagnosed asthma sufferers to their condition ...
Getting A Handle On Asthma Inhalers
Inhalers have completely changed the way doctors treat asthma ...
For More Invaluable Information:
THE BEST ASTHMA BOOKS
Asthma For Dummies
Asthma For Dummies will help asthma sufferers and their loved ones get a strong handle on managing the disease ...
American Academy of Pediatrics Guide To Your Child's Allergies And Asthma
From the foremost authority on children's health -- a vital guide for parents whose children suffer from allergies and asthma ...
For More Asthma Books:
ASTHMA BOOKS
What Triggers An Asthma Attack?
Before we take a look at asthma triggers, we need to have a clear understanding of the disease itself.
Asthma is a chronic lung condition. It's characterized by a difficulty with breathing. Asthma sufferers have extra sensitive or hyper-responsive airways. During an asthma attack, the airways become irritated and react by narrowing and constructing, causing increased resistance to airflow, and obstructing the flow of the air passages to and from the lungs.
So let's get down to understanding the triggers behind an asthma attack.
Asthma triggers can vary dramatically from person to person. For instance, many asthmatics have difficulty around dogs and cats, while others are unaffected. Other people are affected by tobacco smoke or cold air or exercise. Some even report that laughing will trigger their attacks, or that their asthma is worse when they're upset or under stress. And yet others aggravate their asthma if they take aspirin or other painkillers.
There are a wide variety of potential triggers. The most common include:
Allergens
- Animal dander from the skin, hair, or feathers of animals, such as cats, dogs, etc.
- Dust mites (contained in house dust)
- Cockroaches
- Pollen from trees and grass
- Mould (indoor and outdoor)
Irritants
- Cigarette smoke
- Air pollution
- Changes in weather
- Cold air, for example, if you move from warm indoor air to cold air outdoors.
- Strong odours from painting or cooking
- Scented products
- Irritants or allergens that you may be exposed to at your work such as special chemicals or dusts.
Others
- Breathing tests. Just as the faster breathing in exercise can bring on attacks, the faster and deeper breathing you have to do for most breathing tests can bring on quite a noticeable narrowing of air passages, and can result in an asthma attack.
- Histamine or methacholine aerosols. In specialized tests, doctors use an inhaled mist of these substances to measure the irritation of your air passages. During allergic or asthmatic reactions, the cells in the lungs release histamine. As for methacholine, it mimics the effect of a substance (acetylcholine) released by the nerves in the lungs during an asthma attack. Both substances cause an asthma attack in anyone who inhales enough of a dose. However, people with asthma require a much smaller dose to trigger an attack.
- Irritants in asthma inhalers. For example, some powder inhalers can cause a small amount of chest tightness. Pressurised aerosol inhalers need to have a lubricant and this can cause irritation of air passages, and can bring on an asthma attack.
- Some drugs, especially medicines called beta blockers, used for high blood pressure or heart disease.
- Medications such as aspirin or other painkillers.
- Sulphur dioxide was previously used as a preservative in soft drinks and wine. This can cause chest tightening within seconds of consumption. Even breathing the air above such a drink can trigger tightening.
- Sulphites in food (dried fruit) or beverages (wine). For example, sodium metabisulphite (E220-227) may trigger asthma, without causing an allergic reaction. It can be found in wine, home-brewed beer, fizzy drinks, prepared meats and prepared salads.
- Indigestion, with stomach acid rising up into your gullet. This is called gastro-oesophageal reflux, or more commonly, acid reflux. This causes heartburn and can heighten asthma symptoms, especially at night.
- Infections of the lining of the breathing passages, such as colds and flu.
- Laughing or crying.
- Exercise.
- Strong emotional stress. People with asthma often say that their asthma gets worse if they are upset, crying, or under stress.
This is not a complete list of the factors that can trigger asthma. It's important for each person to identify those factors individually. Once you have a clear picture of what to watch out for, the next step is making certain you avoid or at least limit your exposure. As always, your doctor can help you with this.
At A Glance
- Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes airways (bronchial tubes) particularly sensitive to irritants, and this is characterized by difficulty in breathing.
- When talking about diseases, it is important to distinguish between causes and triggers.
- A trigger for asthma is something which sets off an attack, but which does not make you asthmatic in the first place.
- Common triggers of asthma include dust mites, the hair of cats or dogs, pollen, cigarette smoke, cold air, and exercise.