FAQs

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Common Asthma Triggers

• Tobacco Smoke.
• Dust Mites.
• Outdoor Air Pollution.
• Pests (e.g., cockroaches, mice)
• Pets.
• Mold.
• Cleaning and Disinfection.
• Other Triggers.

In addition to difficulty breathing, you may commonly complain of throat tightness, hoarseness and difficulty getting air in more than out. Episodes of vocal cord dysfunction often occur more during the day than at night, while poorly controlled asthma symptoms are often worse at night.

The main symptoms of asthma are: a whistling sound when breathing (wheezing) breathlessness. a tight chest, which may feel like a band is tightening around it.

Cold, dry air is a common asthma trigger and can cause bad flare-ups. That's especially true for people who play winter sports and have exercise-induced asthma. Hot, humid air also can be a problem.

In most cases of asthma, the cough is considered nonproductive. A nonproductive cough is a dry cough. It's a response to an irritant that forces the bronchial tubes to spasm (or constrict). Swelling (inflammation) and constriction of the airways, which prompts this type of nonproductive cough, characterize asthma.

An asthma attack can be triggered by exposure to an allergen, such as tree, grass or weed pollen, dust mites, cockroaches or animal dander. Other common triggers are irritants in the air, such as smoke or chemical fumes, and strong odors, such as perfume.

Your asthma can flare up for different reasons. If you're allergic to dust mites, pollens or molds, they can make your asthma symptoms get worse. Cold air, exercise, fumes from chemicals or perfume, tobacco or wood smoke, and weather changes can also make asthma symptoms worse. So can common colds and sinus infections.

Asthma can go away, although this happens more often when asthma starts in childhood than when it starts in adulthood. When asthma goes away, sometimes that's because it wasn't there in the first place. Asthma can be surprisingly hard to diagnose. The three main symptoms are wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.

People with asthma should still get regular exercise. And with the right approach, physical activity can benefit your asthma symptoms. Exercise helps by increasing lung capacity and reducing inflammation, which improves your overall lung health.

• Inhaled corticosteroids  are the most effective long-term control medicines. These aren’t the same as anabolic steroids that people use to grow muscle. They include beclomethasone (Qvar RediHaler), budesonide (Pulmicort Flexhaler), ciclesonide (Alvesco), fluticasone (Flovent HFA), and mometasone (Asmanex Twisthaler).
• Inhaled long-acting beta-agonists open your airways by relaxing the smooth muscles around them. You’ll take this medication along with an inhaled corticosteroid. They include formoterol, salmeterol, and vilanterol.
• Combination inhaled medicines have an inhaled corticosteroid along with a long-acting beta-agonist. This is an easy way to take them together. They include Advair, Breo, Dulera, and Symbicort.
• Biologics target a cell or protein in your body to prevent airway inflammation. They may be shots or infusions you get every few weeks. They can be expensive, so you usually get them if other medications don’t work. Biologics include benralizumab (Fasenra), dupilumab (Dupixent), mepolizumab (Nucala), omalizumab (Xolair), and reslizumab (Cinqair).
• Leukotriene modifiers relax the smooth muscles around your airways and ease swelling. You can take them as pills or liquids. These include montelukast (Singular), zafirlukast (Accolate), and zileuton (Zyflo).
• Cromolyn prevents your airways from swelling when they come into contact with an asthma trigger. It’s a non-steroid medicine that comes in an inhaler.
• Theophylline (Theo-24, TheoDur) relaxes the smooth muscles that narrow your airways. It comes as a tablet, capsule, solution, or syrup.
• Long-acting  bronchodilators . You might use tiotropium (Spiriva) along with corticosteroids if you have ongoing asthma symptoms even though you take a daily inhaled steroid. Never use long-acting bronchodilators alone as a long-term asthma treatment.
• Corticosteroids. If no other medicine can get your asthma attacks under control, your doctor might have you take these medications for a couple of weeks. They come in pills or liquids.

An asthma attack may include coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and trouble breathing. The attack happens in your body’s airways, which are the paths that carry air to your lungs. As the air moves through your lungs, the airways become smaller, like the branches of a tree are smaller than the tree trunk. During an asthma attack, the sides of the airways in your lungs swell and the airways shrink. Less air gets in and out of your lungs, and mucous that your body makes clogs up the airways.

You can control your asthma by knowing the warning signs of an asthma attack, staying away from things that cause an attack, and following your doctor’s advice. When you control your asthma:

• you won’t have symptoms such as wheezing or coughing,
• you’ll sleep better,
• you won’t miss work or school,
• you can take part in all physical activities, and
• you won’t have to go to the hospital.

Common Causes for Allergic Asthma

Windblown pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds. Mold spores and fragments. Animal dander (from hair, skin, or feathers) and saliva. Dust mite feces.