The Causes of Asthma
Asthma is a chronic
disease affecting the air passages in the lungs. Actual causes of asthma are
not known. However, asthma experts believe that a combination of genetic and
environmental factors can cause asthma or at least make a person sensitive to
asthma triggers. Family history, childhood viral infections, and early allergen
exposure may be factors.
However, no one
really knows why some people are affected by asthma and others are not.
Allergies often are associated with asthma. But not all people with allergies have
asthma. While asthma causes are not known, doctors have identified main causes
of asthma symptoms.
If you have asthma,
the lining of your airways are inflamed. This inflammation makes the air
passages particularly sensitive to irritants and asthma triggers. The inflammation
may narrow the air passages and makes it difficult for air to pass through the
airways and making it hard to breathe in and out.
complicate things, when the airways come into contact with certain asthma
triggers, the muscles around the airways tighten. This causes the air passages
to become even narrower and gives you a tight feeling in the chest, like a rope
is being tightened around it. Mucus can get lodged in the narrowed airways,
causing more breathing difficulties.
The triggers that
cause the inflammation and airway constriction can vary in different people. When
the airway comes in contact with one of many asthma triggers, it becomes
inflamed, constricts, and fills with mucus. The lining of the airway may swell,
causing the airway to narrow.
hair or dander
in weather (especially cold air)
infections (such as the common cold)
and strong emotions
and physical activity
reaction to food or sulfites (food preservatives)
medications (aspirin, beta blockers)