Asthma is a long-term non-communicable disease where the airways that transport air to the lungs swell up and reduce the width of the air passage. Asthma is also known as bronchial asthma, which indicates swelling of the bronchioles. Various factors can cause asthma, but the most common is Genetic inheritance.
Asthma is a chronic non-communicable disease that affects air passage inside and outside the lungs. People with asthma have swollen and narrow air passages, which hamper their breathing capability. It can affect anyone belonging to any age group.
The actual cause of asthma is not yet known, but it is believed that genetic history plays a significant role in developing asthma. People with a family history of Asthma have a high risk of developing asthma themselves at some point in their life. Also, allergies to pollen and various other allergic reactions can cause developing asthma.
There are a few things that can trigger asthma symptoms and are known as asthma triggers. People suffering from skin diseases like eczema and rhinitis are prone to asthma. Lifestyle habits like smoking, working in mines, factories where exposure to fumes and smokes are more can play an important part in developing asthma. In some people, obesity can also be the cause of developing asthma.
Asthma: Classification
Based on the severity of disease, there are four categories, mild intermittent, mild persistent, moderate persistent, and lastly, severe persistent. No cure for asthma has been developed. Only medications and nasal sprays can reduce the symptoms and help patients breathe properly.
-
Mild Intermittent Type
The symptoms of Mild intermittent type include coughing, wheezing, inflamed air passage, and accumulation of mucus.
The symptoms are mild and might last up to 2 days. This type of asthma does not affect the regular activities of the patient. This is the most common type of Asthma, but due to its mild effect, it remains untreated 90% of the time. Conditions like family history of Asthma, smoking, being overweight, exposure to fumes, and having any allergy can increase the risk.
It can be easily treated with the use of an inhaler.
Mild Persistent type
Symptoms like wheezing, coughing, chest pain, inflamed air passage, and accumulation of mucus are mild but can frequently occur, approximately twice a week. People who have a family history of Asthma, smoking, being overweight, exposure to fumes, and having any kind of allergy are at risk.
This type of asthma requires a daily low dose of inhaled corticosteroid
Moderate Persistent type
The symptoms like wheezing, coughing, chest pain, inflamed air passage, and accumulation of mucus are frequent and occur almost daily. It can affect people who have a family history of Asthma. Being involved in smoking, being overweight, exposure to fumes, and allergy can increase the risk.
This type is treated with a higher dose of corticosteroid that needs to be inhaled and the standard inhaler.
Severe Persistent type
Wheezing, coughing, chest pain, inflamed air passage, and accumulation of mucus are few symptoms of severe asthma. The breathing problem occurs several times a day, and the patients do not respond appropriately to medicines. It can affect any age group, and often people suffering from any other type without proper medications can develop severe persistent asthma. Respiratory illness, hormonal changes can also trigger severe persistent asthma.
High doses of medications are required in this type of asthma
Requires a higher dose of inhaled corticosteroids, compared to other types.
Oral corticosteroids are also prescribed.
Other medications are also advised, and a regular inhaler.
Conclusion
Asthma is a long-term respiratory tract disease that disables a person’s lifestyle based on severity. The common symptoms of bronchial asthma are wheezing, coughing, chest pain, breathlessness, and accumulation of mucus in the air passage. These symptoms are often triggered by external factors like smoke, pollution, dust, allergens, etc. often, people suffer from skin diseases like eczema, or suffering from obesity or working in mines, factories also become prone to asthma, though mostly asthma is known to be genetically inherited from ancestors. Based on severity, Asthma is classified into four types; Mild intermittent, mild persistent, moderate persistent, and severe persistent. In all four types, symptoms are mostly the same, but the level of treatment or doses of medications change depending on the severity. But in general, asthma patients are prescribed to use a nasal spray and inhale or orally intake corticosteroids to reduce asthma symptoms.