Asthma

Asthma

Asthma is a respiratory condition where the airways are very irritable due to attacks of spasm in the bronchi of the lungs.  The airways become inflamed with immune cells from the blood stream and a narrow due to inflammation.  The narrowing of the airways make breathing very difficult.

Inflammation of the airways is usually connected to an allergic reaction or a response to various stimuli or irritants such as pollens, chemicals, viruses, temperature changes etc.  This condition often runs in families and can begin after a major chest infection or exposure to very strong chemicals.

It typically varies considerably over time from periods of minimal or no trouble to periods when the symptoms and airway narrowing are very severe.

Treatment depends on the severity of the problem is but basically consists of using inhalers to reduce the airway inflammation and relax the airway muscles.  These can be used together in combination inhalers or separately by using two different inhalers.

In the case of more severe attacks, you may need to take a course of oral Prednisolone in high doses, which gets to the airways via the blood stream to overcome the inflamed airways.