Summary

• Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory disorder of the airways.
• A person with asthma may not feel symptoms all the time.
• Main symptoms: difficulty breathing, wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing.
• Symptoms of asthma are because the airways become narrow and blocked.
• There is no single known cause of asthma.
• Several factors that may contribute to the condition include a genetic predisposition, diet and the environment.
• Triggered by most of the same things that trigger allergies.
• Important to identify which of these triggers make the patients asthma worse, and then work to eliminate or avoid them.
• Can also be triggered by cold air, exercise, respiratory viruses, and other factors.
• Sufferers have very sensitive airways that are constantly on the verge of over-reacting to asthma triggers.
• "Reversible" -- in other words, it can be treated with medication to keep the symptoms under control.
• Four levels of asthma severity based on how often symptoms occur during the day, how often symptoms occur at night, and spirometry results.
• Four types of asthma: allergic, exercise-induced, reactive airway disease and other causes.
• Two major types of asthma medication. The first are called long-term control drugs, which may be used on a daily basis to PREVENT asthma attacks. The second type are called quick-relief drugs, which are used DURING an asthma attack to bring fast relief.
• If diagnosed during childhood, will no longer carry the diagnosis after a decade.
• Causes persistent symptoms among 70% of all people diagnosed with it, asthma causes only minor discomfort to the majority.