Q. What is asthma?
A. Asthma, generally speaking, presents
itself in the form of attacks of cough, wheeze and breathlessness. These
attacks may be of short duration or long, mild, moderate or severe, rare
or frequent, coming on at the change of season or persisting throughout
the year.
Q. How are symptoms of asthma caused?
A. Cough, wheeze and breathlessness of
asthma are caused by the allergic reaction between a trigger allergen
that enters the body and the antibody called the IgE Immunoglobulin E)
that is produced in abundance in those who have inherited the tendency.
This reaction in the lungs, releases there, substances which lead on to
inflammation causing spasm and narrowing of the airways and difficulty
in breathing.
Q. What is the usual picture of asthma
in children?
A. The first symptom of asthma in
children, more often, is only coughing that occurs during the night and
persists over weeks or a season. To begin with, it may not be
accompanied by wheeze or breathlessness. Asthma starts more often in
childhood. There is generally a history of allergy in the family in the
form of sneezing, eczema, urticaria or asthma.
Q. How is asthma different from
chronic bronchitis and emphysema?
A. Asthma is reversible. The symptoms and
lung changes that occur during an attack go back to almost normal when
the attack is over and the person can breathe almost normally between
attacks. In contrast, a person with chronic bronchitis and emphysema
does not regain normal breathing capacity once the disease has begun.