Symptoms of an asthma attack can develop gradually or can happen all of a sudden. In both cases the typical symptoms are wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing.
(prHWY.com) June 27, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA -- What is chronic Asthma?
When one has asthma for an extended period of time, the condition is referred to as chronic asthma. Asthma is a disease which affects the breathing passages of the lungs. The passages become inflamed and if they remain inflamed, that's chronic asthma. Internal and external factors can trigger inflammation, which, in turn causes the breathing passage to swell and fill with mucus. When the breathing muscles contract, there's an additional narrowing of the airways which makes it difficult for a patient to inhale and exhale air to and from the lungs. This difficulty in breathing leads to the asthma symptoms.
Asthma Symptoms
Symptoms of an asthma attack can develop gradually or can happen all of a sudden. In both cases the typical symptoms are wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. When a musical or hissing sound is produced with breathing, we call it wheezing. This is the most common symptom of Asthma. Wheezing is severe during exhalation but it is present with inhalation also. However, not all asthmatic patients wheeze.
Classification of Asthma based on symptoms
We can classify asthma by the severity of symptoms, into four categories.
* Mild intermittent: When a patient suffers asthma attacks not more than twice a week during the day and not more than twice a month at night. Attacks can be mild to severe, but there are no symptoms of asthma between the attacks.
* Mild persistent: At this level, attacks occur more than twice a week during the day. Most of the time attacks are severe and the patient cannot continue his regular activities.
* Moderate persistent: The patient has asthma every day with very severe attacks, which can be ongoing for days. Quick relief medications are required on daily basis.
* Severe persistent: At this stage, there are frequent asthma attacks and the patient has continuous symptoms during the day. Nighttime attacks are also common.
Reasons for persistent symptoms
Medical experts say that if chronic asthma symptoms persist, one culprit could be our eating habits. If any foods cause coughing or breathlessness, one should reduce consuming them. Often, dairy products can cause persistent symptoms. Milk, for example, produces a protein which forms mucus, which can clog the breathing passage. So, if one suffers from asthma, it's best to drink less milk.
Get more knowledge about chronic asthma at:
http://www.focusappsstore.net/understanding-diseases/respiratory-diseases/chronic-asthma
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