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Asthma Types of Asthma - Categories of Asthma
A chronic disorder of the lungs in which inflamed airways are prone to constrict, causing episodes of breathlessness, wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness that range in severity from mild to life-threatening. Inflamed airways become hypersensitive to a variety of stimuli, including dust mites, animal dander, pollen, air pollution, cigarette smoke, medications, weather conditions, and exercise. Stress can exacerbate symptoms.
Asthma - Symtoms
Asthmatic episodes may begin suddenly or may take days to develop. Although an initial episode can occur at any age, about half of all cases occur in persons younger than 10 years of age, with boys being affected more often than girls. Among adults, however, the incidence of asthma is approximately equal in men and women. When asthma develops in childhood, it is often associated with an inherited susceptibility to allergens, substances such as pollen, dust mites, or animal dander that may induce an allergic reaction. In adults, asthma also may develop in response to allergens, but viral infections, aspirin, and exercise may cause the disease as well. Adults who develop asthma may have nasal polyps or sinusitis. Adult asthma also sometimes is linked to exposure to certain materials in the workplace, such as chemicals, wood dusts, and grains. These substances provoke both allergic and nonallergic forms of the disease. In most cases, symptoms will subside if the causative agent is removed from the workplace.
Asthma is classified into four categories: mild intermittent, mild persistent, moderate persistent, and severe persistent. Although the mechanisms underlying an asthmatic episode are not fully understood, in general it is known that exposure to an inciting factor stimulates the release of chemicals from the immune system that cause spasmodic contraction of the smooth muscle surrounding the bronchi, swelling and inflammation of the bronchial tubes, and excessive secretion of mucus. The inflamed, mucus-clogged airways act as a one-way valve—i.e., air is inspired but cannot be expired. The obstruction of airflow may resolve spontaneously or with treatment.
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