Nearly 15 million
Americans are suffering from a chronicle inflammatory airway desease
that makes breathing very difficult. Among the 15 million affected, a
whopping 5 million are children. This chronicle airway desease is
known as "Asthma" in medical terms. Asthma spares none,
whether a child or an adult. When an Asthma attack strikes, person
suffers from uncontrollable continuous coughing, neck muscles
straining, distended chest, and eyes showing alarm verging on panic.
It makes inhaling of oxygen very difficult for the person. When an
Asthma attack strikes, the patient puts a tube like device in his
mouth and inhales twice. The patient is instantly relieved and within
a couple of minutes, his breathing returns back to normal and the
patient can carry forward his normal daily activities as usual. But
he doesn't know, when the next attack will strike, within a couple of
hours or a couple of months.
TYPES OF ASTHMA
Asthma is a chronic
disease characterized by recurrent attacks of wheezing and shortness
of breath. It occurs 50% more often in children under age 10, where
the girls have outnumbered boys. In adult-onset asthma, it has been
found that women are generally more affected than men. There are 7
broad types of Asthma, which are as follow:
* Extrinsic Asthma
* Intrinsic Asthma
* Exercise-Induced
Asthma
* Intermittent Asthma
* Nocturnal Asthma
* Chronic Asthma
* Seasonal Asthma
ASTHMA SYMPTOMS
Difficulty in breathing
and continuous uncontrollable coughing are the main symptoms of
Asthma that results due to the airway swelling. But if we have a
broader look; chest tightness, wheezing upon breathing out, coughing
specially at night with thick yellow or clear sputum occasionally,
high difficulty in breathing, strain in neck muscles, and shallow
breathing that eases up with sitting are the main symptoms of asthma.
As with an asthma attack, oxygen supply gets very low so symptoms
that reflect the lack of oxygen in the body, also appears. These
symptoms are blue skin, exhaustion, grunting respiration, inability
to speak, and mental changes such as restlessness, helplessness, and
confusion. There are some symptoms that make Asthma worse. These are
the conditions Rhinitis and Sinusitis. Rhinitis is the inflammation
of nose lining and Sinusitis is the inflammation of sinus cavities,
which normally happens after a viral, bacterial or a fungal
infection.