Asthma

Asthma

Asthma makes breathing difficult for millions of Americans. There is no cure, but it can be managed and treated so you can live a normal, healthy life.

Learn About Asthma

The more you can learn about asthma, the better you and your loved ones can manage living with this disease, making the most of every day and maintaining a high quality of life.
Asthma is a chronic (or lifelong) disease that can be serious—even life-threatening. There is no cure for asthma. The good news is that with proper management, you or your loved one with asthma can live a normal, healthy life.

What Is Asthma?

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that makes it harder to move air in and out of your lungs.

Key Points

• Asthma is chronic. In other words, you live with it every day.
• It can be serious, even life-threatening.
• There is no cure for asthma, but it can be managed so you live a normal, healthy life.

How Asthma Affects Your Body

With asthma, there is always a little bit of swelling inside the airways of your lungs. This makes the airways extra sensitive when exposed to viruses, allergens, irritants or even emotions. Learn more about how the air we breathe plays a role in our health.

Asthma Flare-Ups

During an asthma flare-up, the insides of your airways swell even more and can produce extra mucus. This narrows the space for the air to move in and out of the lungs. The muscles that wrap around your airways also can tighten, making breathing even harder. When that happens, it is called an asthma flare-up, asthma episode or asthma "attack."
After an asthma flare-up, you probably will feel tired. You're also at greater risk of having another flare-up for several days after an episode. For the days following a flare-up, be sure to:

• Avoid your asthma triggers
• Monitor your symptoms or check you airways using a peak flow meter

Airway Remodeling

Poor asthma management can lead to airway remodeling. Airway remodeling is a serious condition that happens when asthma is untreated or poorly managed. The lungs become scarred, asthma medicines do not work as well and less air is able to move through your airways. Airway remodeling does not have to happen. Work with a healthcare professional to minimize asthma flare-ups and find a treatment plan that works for you. Take control of your asthma.
Asthma can start at any age. Sometimes, people have asthma when they are very young and as their lungs develop, the symptoms go away, but it is possible that it will come back later in life. Sometimes people get asthma for the first time when they are older.

Learn The Basics

If you are a person living with asthma, a friend, family member or co-worker of someone with asthma, or a frontline healthcare professional, take some time to learn more about asthma by participating in our online learning module, Asthma Basics. Also available in Spanish. Take Asthma Basics

Asthma Causes & Risk Factors

A combination of genetics and exposure to certain elements in the environment put people at the greatest risk of developing asthma for the first time.
The most common factors for developing asthma are having a parent with asthma, having a severe respiratory infection as a child, having an allergic condition, or being exposed to certain chemical irritants or industrial dusts in the workplace.

What Causes Asthma?

Scientists continue to explore what causes asthma, but we do know that these factors play an important role in the development of asthma:

• Family history
  If you have a parent with asthma, you are three to six times more likely to develop asthma than someone who does not have a parent with asthma.
• Allergies
  Some people are more likely to develop allergies than others, especially if one of their parents has allergies. Certain allergic conditions, such as atopic dermatitis (eczema) or allergic rhinitis (hay fever), are linked to people who get asthma.
• Viral respiratory infections
  Respiratory problems during infancy and childhood can cause wheezing. Some children who experience viral respiratory infections go on to develop chronic asthma.
• Occupational exposures
  If you have asthma, exposures to certain elements in the workplace can cause asthma symptoms. And, for some people, exposure to certain dusts (industrial or wood dusts), chemical fumes and vapors, and molds can cause asthma to develop for the very first time.
• Smoking
  Cigarette smoke irritates the airways. Smokers have a high risk of asthma. Those whose mothers smoked during pregnancy or who were exposed to secondhand smoke are also more likely to have asthma. Learn more about the health effects of smoking with asthma
• Air Pollution
  Exposure to the main component of smog (ozone) raises the risk for asthma. Those who grew up or live in urban areas have a higher risk for asthma.
• Obesity
  Children and adults who are overweight or obese are at a greater risk of asthma. Although the reasons are unclear, some experts point to low-grade inflammation in the body that occurs with extra weight. Obese patients often use more medications, suffer worse symptoms and are less able to control their asthma than patients in a healthy weight range.

While these factors increase a person's risk for developing the disease, there are additional factors, such as poverty and lack of health insurance, that contribute to more asthma symptoms, emergency room visits and hospitalizations. Learn more about ways to improve asthma by understanding the risks related to exposure to things in the environment that are known to make asthma worse and management steps.

Virtual Home Assessments

Indoor air quality plays a crucial role in asthma management. The Lung Association’s Environmental Improvements for COPD and Asthma virtual home assessment program helps identify and address indoor air pollutants and allergens to better manage asthma symptoms. Learn more about available virtual home assessment programs in your state. Learn more about virtual home assessments 

Types of Asthma

Understanding your type of asthma can help with treatment and management.
Today, asthma is no longer thought of as a single disease. Asthma is often categorized into different types. They include:

• Allergic asthma
• Aspirin-induced asthma
• Cough-variant asthma
• Exercise-induced asthma 
• Nighttime asthma 
• Steroid-resistant asthma 
• Occupational asthma

Depending on the type of asthma, there are different management steps and treatment options that can help.

The Role of Inflammation 

Researchers have started to look deeper at the role that inflammation plays in asthma. They believe that all people with asthma have some degree of inflammation of the airways. They have categorized these into four biological pathways of inflammation, or endotypes: 

• Eosinophilic 
• Neutrophilic 
• Mixed eosinophilic and neutrophilic 
• Non-inflammatory (Paucigranulocytic)

Do I Have Severe Asthma?

Some people do not respond well to inhaled corticosteroids or other long-term controller medicines, a sign that you are suffering from severe asthma. It is important to talk to your doctor to determine if your symptoms signal severe asthma or are just uncontrolled asthma. Learn more about severe asthma.

Severe Asthma Treatment Planning Tool

Answer questions about your asthma and download a worksheet help you have conversations about treatment. Get started 

Exercise-Induced Asthma

Some people with asthma only have symptoms (e.g., shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing or coughing) during exercise or when doing physically demanding tasks. This is called exercise-induced asthma or exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB). Learn more about exercise and asthma. 

Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome (ACOS) 

ACOS is diagnosed when you have symptoms of both asthma and COPD. ACOS is not a separate disease, but rather a way for doctors to recognize the mix of symptoms and select a treatment plan that is most appropriate for you. Learn more about ACOS.

Is Your Asthma Under Control?

Answer these short questions to determine your overall asthma control. Use the downloadable summary as a guide to talk with your healthcare provider about asthma treatment options and how to improve control. Take quiz

Asthma Trends Brief

This report presents descriptions, figures, and links to more detailed tables on trends and current patterns of the burden of asthma among adults and children.
Asthma, a serious chronic lung disease affecting 26.8 million adults and 4.5 million children, causes inflamed airways during episodes, leading to millions of hospitalizations and healthcare costs annually.

Asthma Trends and Burden

Asthma mortality, prevalence, and healthcare use trends and demographic comparisons, and missed school and work days and economic costs. View Trends 

Current Asthma Demographics

Current asthma rates by demographic groups and state. View Rates 

Index of Tables

See a complete list of all the data tables available in this brief. View Tables  
Source: https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/asthma