Difficult to diagnose, asthma is best determined by a doctor or healthcare provider. If asthma is suspected it is important to reach out to a trusted healthcare professional. To fully and accurately diagnose asthma a complete family and medical history will be considered. Additionally your doctor will discuss any allergies you have or think you may have and usually a lung function test will be conducted.
Considered a chronic disease, asthma affects a person’s airways, causing inflammation and often narrowing in the bronchial tubes, which limits airflow. Normally the muscles surrounding a person’s lungs - and therefore airways - are relaxed. However, if a person has asthma these muscles are often very sensitive and become inflamed easily. Thus, when triggers are encountered, certain muscles around the airways tighten, and the airway lining swells causing the airways to fill with mucus. This, in turn, inhibits breathing and causes asthma symptoms, and in some cases can cause an asthma attack.
Signs & Symptoms of Asthma
Inflammation of the airways is typically what causes asthma symptoms to present. These symptoms may happen only when an asthma trigger is encountered. Common symptoms which may help determine if a person has asthma include the following:
* Wheezing: Breathing difficulties combined with a kind of whistling sound that seems to come from the airways, is known as wheezing.
* Recurring And/Or Persistent Coughing: Often occurring early in the morning, or at night, recurrent coughing can actually present at various times. Coughing is a significant indicator of asthma, especially in kids.
* Tightness Of Chest: When someone is experience tightness around the chest it often presents as pressure or a heaviness in or around the chest and can make it difficult to breathe comfortably.
* Shortness Of Breath: Shortness of breath gives a person the sensation of not being able to get enough air, often making it hard to speak, sleep, or eat comfortably.
* Breathing Difficulties With Exercise: Difficulties with breathing during exercise can be an indicator that someone has asthma.
* Mucus Production Increase: Significant and increasing levels of mucus, phlegm, that accumulate in the airways can be a sign of asthma.
* Sleep Loss: If breathing feels compromised enough to interrupt sleep this can be a sign of asthma.
Considerations
If you wonder if you have asthma, consult with your doctor as soon as you can. It is not uncommon to normalize symptoms. However, it is essential not to downplay or ignore possible asthma symptoms because asthma attacks can progress in severity and can even be fatal.
With diagnosis and a proper treatment plan, asthma can be controlled and reduced. While there is not currently an official cure for asthma, it is very possible for those with asthma to live active and healthy lives with little to no symptoms.
Lucikly, there is currently a lot of extensive research being conducted by academics, scientists, and medical professionals to better understand possibilities for the prevention and treatment of asthma, with a bigger goal of arriving at an eventual cure.