Asthma is a chronic, life-threatening airway disease where inflammation in the lungs causes narrow, swollen airways, shortness of breath, increased mucus, coughing, chest tightening, and wheezing. Asthma and allergy are some of the most common ailments in the U.S. that deserve proper care and attention. There are several different kinds of asthma each triggered by a large variety of causes, and there is no single treatment that fits all. Asthma treatment depends on its kind, allergens, and the environmental triggers.
Here are the different types of Asthma.
Allergic Asthma
Your airways become extra sensitive to certain allergens in the case of Allergic Asthma. Once these allergens enter your body, your immune system begins to overreact. Not only do the muscles around your airways tighten but also, the airways get inflamed and flooded with thick mucus over time. Allergens causing this kind of asthma are pollen, mold, animal dander, dust, cockroach feces, and insect sting. Symptoms of Allergic Asthma are coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, and chest tightness.
Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction (Asthma)
Exercise or physical exertion triggers this kind of asthma. In the case of Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction (EIB), airway narrowing tops five to 20 minutes after you begin exercising; making it difficult for the patient to catch their breath. Symptoms of this type of asthma include coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Exercises that expose you to cold and dry air pose a high probability of you developing asthma symptoms as compared to exercises with warm and humid air exposure. Other triggers that can worsen EIB symptoms comprise of high pollution levels and pollen counts, smoke, and strong fumes, and a recent cold or asthma incidence.
Cough-Variant Asthma
Chronic coughing is the key symptom of Cough-Variant Asthma (CVA). Postnasal drip, chronic sinusitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease can be other causes for coughing. A cough in a CVA is dry in nature and lasts over six to eight weeks. This kind of asthma can occur at any time of the day but, worsens during the night. Exercise also contributes to severe coughing. Respiratory infections can cause a chronic cough too. If your cough, however, lasts for more than a few weeks in the absence of an active infection, ENT specialists doubt it to be CVA.
Nocturnal Asthma
Nocturnal or Nighttime Asthma is the kind of asthma whose symptoms become more aggressive during sleep since the sleep-wake cycle strongly influences it. Asthma symptoms of coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and breath shortness are common and hazardous, particularly at night. Asthma studies show that about 74 percent of asthmatics suffer from nighttime awakenings at least once every week, whereas 64 percent of them may experience asthma attacks at night three or more times per week. In short, almost 40 percent asthmatics experience asthma symptoms at night.
Conclusion
Having learnt about different types of asthma, you need to realize that a person suffering from asthma needs immediate medical care and attention. It is prudent to make an appointment with an ENT Specialist to diagnose the asthma type.
