Bronchial asthma: causes, symptoms and treatments

Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease. Let's find out in what cases it occurs and how to treat it.

We speak of bronchial asthma when there is a narrowing of the bronchi which can be both small and large. Of genetic basis, it is usually triggered by external factors such as allergens, sudden changes in climate, physical exertion, drug intake, etc…
In any case, it is a pathology that it is always important to keep under control in order to be able to counteract it in the correct way.

Symptoms of bronchial asthma

When you suffer from bronchial asthma, there are symptoms that can make it easily recognizable. Some of these can be confused with others while some are really typical of this disease. Recognizing them can help you get a diagnosis quickly. Which will make immediate and more decisive treatments.

In fact, if it is not treated properly, bronchial asthma can lead to a change in the airways which can lead to bronchial fibrosis or chronic respiratory insufficiency.
Going to the most common symptoms, the ones to remember are:

– Breathlessness
– Cough while breathing
– Wheezing
– Feeling of tightness in the chest
– Sleep disturbances caused by shortness of breath
– Chest pain
– Rapid heartbeat
– Cyanosis
– Tiredness and feeling sleepy

Generally, in addition to the identification of the symptoms (which mostly occur in the morning, in the evening and with effort) and the medical history performed by the doctor, there is an examination that can help to identify it more precisely. This is spirometry which is usually performed before and after taking a drug capable of dilating the bronchi.

Why does asthma occur

As already mentioned, bronchial asthma mostly occurs in genetically predisposed people. To trigger it, however, there are usually limit situations that can be summarized as follows:

– Exposure to allergens (in this case we speak of allergic asthma)
– Infections
– High fever
– Taking anti-inflammatory drugs
– Psychological stress
– Excessive physical activity
– Gastroesophageal reflux
– The lowering of temperatures
– The very closed air
– Sleep apnea
– Exposure to irritants such as smoke or the smell of detergents

Learning to avoid the most important causes, living with asthma will be much easier and symptoms will also be significantly reduced.

How to treat bronchial asthma

Like any chronic inflammatory disease, bronchial asthma finds cortisone associated with bronchodilators as its basic treatment. This can reduce some of the symptoms such as tightness and wheezing.

It is a treatment that will be performed for periods that must be chosen from time to time by the doctors and that must be continued for a while even after optimal breathing has been achieved.
For the most serious cases, however, it may also be necessary to take blockers (through the use of inhalers) and, in the case of allergic asthma, desensitization therapies which are usually based on vaccines.

It's important to keep in mind that if you have a severe attack , even if you're being treated, you'll need to go to the emergency room or call 911 to get help. In fact, these are situations that, if they get worse, can get worse until they lead to death.