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What happens to you when your asthma is not under control?
A whistling sound that you make when you breathe? A tight grip around your chest? Most
patients with asthma have one or more of these classic symptoms:
- Wheezing. A whistling sound that's
usually heard when you breathe out.
- Coughing. A cough or hack that may
not go away, and often occurs or is worse at night.
- Chest tightness. Feels like a rope being
tightened around your chest.
- Shortness of breath. Feels like
you're trying to breathe through a straw—or worse, like you can't catch
your breath at all. Breathing out is especially tough.
These symptoms may occur if you don't stick to your treatment
plan as provided by your healthcare professional (and sometimes even if you do),
or when you come into contact with triggers that
set off your asthma symptoms or attacks. Here are the 2 main things that happen
deep within the airways of your lungs when you have asthma symptoms that may lead
to an attack:
- Constriction. The muscles around
the airways in the lungs squeeze together or tighten. This tightening is often
called "bronchoconstriction," and it can make it hard for you to breathe the
air in or out of your lungs.
- Inflammation. The airways of the
lung are often swollen and irritated if you have asthma, and become more swollen and irritated
when an attack begins. Your healthcare professional may
refer to this swelling and irritation as "inflammation." Inflammation
can reduce the amount of air that you can take in or breathe out of your lungs.
The bottom line on asthma is this: it can be a quiet, sneaky
condition that's always with you. Your airways may be constricted and inflamed,
whether you have symptoms or not. That's why it's so important to treat asthma
every day—even when you're feeling fine—because there is increasing evidence
that, if left untreated, asthma can cause a long-term loss of lung function.
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