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What is asthma?
Asthma is a disease that causes the airways — the tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs — to become inflamed, or swollen. The inflammation causes the airways to become more sensitive to allergens or irritants — and when they react to these substances, they narrow. The narrowing reduces airflow to your lung tissue, resulting in symptoms like wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing, especially at night and early in the morning.
What causes an asthma attack?
This is where asthma gets tricky. Different factors can trigger an asthma attack in each person. The most common triggers:
- Infections like colds, viruses, flu, and sinus infections
- Allergens like pollen, mold spores, pet dander, and dust mites
- Irritants including air pollution or strong odors from perfumes or cleaning solutions
- Tobacco smoke
- Exercise or exertion
- Cold air or changes in temperature or humidity
- Strong emotions such as anxiety, laughter, crying, and stress
In people with asthma, exposure to even the slightest amount of an irritant or allergen like smoke, pollen, dust, or fumes can bring on an attack.
Occupational asthma, also called "work-aggravated" asthma, is caused or made worse by exposure to substances in the workplace. For example, a health care worker who has an allergic reaction to latex gloves could develop asthma. Or a worker exposed to substances like ammonia, adhesives, or epoxy resins could develop asthma due to an irritant effect, not an allergic reaction.
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