Asthma is a serious and chronic lung (respiratory) disease that affects the airways (bronchial) of the lungs. Bronchioles are the tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. When the tubes are inflamed, narrowed, blocked or hyper-responsive it develop asthma. It causes regular wheezing, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest and nighttime or early morning coughing. Frequent episodes of these causes are known as exacerbations or asthma attacks. There is no cure for asthma, but with the proper diagnosis, treatment and medication will help lead to a
healthy life.
The lungs are the key organ of the respiratory system, and its main function is to exchange of gasses in and out of the lungs. Air enters through the nose where it is filtered, warmed and humidified. After passing through the trachea, air enters into the lungs through the bronchi. It branches off and become bronchioles, and open into alveoli. In asthmatic lungs these airways narrow and the muscle tightly contract (bronchospasm). The inner wall of the airway becomes enlarged and inflamed. The cells within walls produce additional mucus. This makes it tough for air to flow in and out, and then asthma develops.
Asthma occurred in ancient Egyptian times. There is some evidence that asthma has been around even before that. A few years ago it was common in China (Crosta, 2007). Asthma affects people of all ages. In approximately, 17 million Americans, including 6.5 million children under age of 18 and 300 million worldwide suffer from Asthma. According to CDC there were 4,269 deaths reported in the year 2001 (Plottel, 2004).
The exact etiology or cause of asthma is still unknown. There are multiple causes and factors. Researchers think genetics and the environment are causes of asthma. Inflammation of the airway and the hyper reactive bronchi are the two main factors of
asthma. Other risk factors that influence asthma are being overweight, smoking, being exposed to se...