Asthma the Chronic Lung Condition
Do you know why we are conducting a clinical trial for asthma? This long-term disease can be managed, but there is still no comprehensive cure available for patients. Clinical trials serve as viable alternatives for people who have not found success through more conventional treatments.
Asthma is a chronic lung condition that causes the airways to become inflamed and narrowed. The most common symptoms associated with this lung condition include:
Coughing
Wheezing
Shortness of breath
Chest tightness
A lot of patients with asthma experience coughing fits early in the morning or late at night.
Asthma Fast Facts
Most people develop this lung condition in early childhood
Experts estimate that more than 25 million Americans have asthma
An estimated 7 million children are living with this lung condition
There's a genetic component to asthma
In order to better understand this type of lung disease, you need to know how the human airways function. These tubes are responsible for carrying air into and out of the lungs. The airways of people who've been diagnosed with this lung condition will become inflamed and very sensitive. Patients tend to react adversely to specific inhaled substances.
During an asthma flare, the muscles surrounding the airways tighten up. The airways are tightened up, which means less air is able to pass into the lungs. The airways can narrow even further if the swelling becomes more pronounced. This lung condition can also cause cells in the airways to produce a lot of mucus. This substance can also interfere with the proper flow of air into the lungs.
Asthma symptoms can manifest every time the airways have become inflamed. These can range in severity from quite mild to debilitating. Milder symptoms can go away on their own or with some basic medications. Unfortunately, there are certain cases that can't be adequately managed with these conventional treatments.
Asthma Attacks
If your symptoms suddenly become exacerbated, you could be experiencing what's known as an asthma attack. Specialists actually refer to these attacks as flare-ups or exacerbations. It's crucial to seek treatment as soon as you notice these symptoms manifesting. This could prevent them from getting worse or developing into a more severe attack. These could prove deadly unless emergency medical care is sought.
There is no cure for asthma, but our understanding of the human airways and this condition mean we can better manage the disease. If effectively managed, patients only experience few if any symptoms. These patients can end up living a much better quality of life including staying more active and getting better quality sleep.
What Causes Asthma?
Researchers still don't know what exactly causes this lung condition. They theorize that some environmental and genetic factors come together to cause this lung condition, often at a very young age. These include:
Parents who've been diagnosed with this lung condition
An inherited tendency to develop allergies, known as atopy
Specific respiratory infections during early childhood
Exposure to certain airborne allergens or viral infections during infancy or early childhood when the immune system is developing
When asthma runs in the family, exposure to airborne irritants could cause the airways to become more susceptible.
The environmental and genetic factors that come into play can vary widely from case to case. But the truth is that researchers still have much more to learn about asthma and what causes this lung disease.
Asthma is a chronic lung condition that causes the airways to become inflamed and narrowed. The most common symptoms associated with this lung condition include:
Coughing
Wheezing
Shortness of breath
Chest tightness
A lot of patients with asthma experience coughing fits early in the morning or late at night.
Asthma Fast Facts
Most people develop this lung condition in early childhood
Experts estimate that more than 25 million Americans have asthma
An estimated 7 million children are living with this lung condition
There's a genetic component to asthma
In order to better understand this type of lung disease, you need to know how the human airways function. These tubes are responsible for carrying air into and out of the lungs. The airways of people who've been diagnosed with this lung condition will become inflamed and very sensitive. Patients tend to react adversely to specific inhaled substances.
During an asthma flare, the muscles surrounding the airways tighten up. The airways are tightened up, which means less air is able to pass into the lungs. The airways can narrow even further if the swelling becomes more pronounced. This lung condition can also cause cells in the airways to produce a lot of mucus. This substance can also interfere with the proper flow of air into the lungs.
Asthma symptoms can manifest every time the airways have become inflamed. These can range in severity from quite mild to debilitating. Milder symptoms can go away on their own or with some basic medications. Unfortunately, there are certain cases that can't be adequately managed with these conventional treatments.
Asthma Attacks
If your symptoms suddenly become exacerbated, you could be experiencing what's known as an asthma attack. Specialists actually refer to these attacks as flare-ups or exacerbations. It's crucial to seek treatment as soon as you notice these symptoms manifesting. This could prevent them from getting worse or developing into a more severe attack. These could prove deadly unless emergency medical care is sought.
There is no cure for asthma, but our understanding of the human airways and this condition mean we can better manage the disease. If effectively managed, patients only experience few if any symptoms. These patients can end up living a much better quality of life including staying more active and getting better quality sleep.
What Causes Asthma?
Researchers still don't know what exactly causes this lung condition. They theorize that some environmental and genetic factors come together to cause this lung condition, often at a very young age. These include:
Parents who've been diagnosed with this lung condition
An inherited tendency to develop allergies, known as atopy
Specific respiratory infections during early childhood
Exposure to certain airborne allergens or viral infections during infancy or early childhood when the immune system is developing
When asthma runs in the family, exposure to airborne irritants could cause the airways to become more susceptible.
The environmental and genetic factors that come into play can vary widely from case to case. But the truth is that researchers still have much more to learn about asthma and what causes this lung disease.
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