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Different Types of Asthma

What is asthma?

Different Types of Asthma

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that causes the airways in the lungs to get inflamed and narrow making it difficult to breath. Asthma symptoms causes shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness. The range of asthma symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can occur rarely to every single day. During an asthma attack, the symptoms get worse and it is extremely difficult to breath. Asthma can affect all age groups and often begins in childhood. However, that is not always the case. There are multiple different types of asthma. Here we will describe the different types of asthma that can affect people.

Types of Asthma

  1. Adult-Onset Asthma: Some people do not have signs of asthma until they are adults. In this case, it is known as adult-onset asthma. There are many factors that can cause adult-onset asthma. Sometimes, adults manage to avoid their asthma trigger for years and are only exposed once they reach adulthood. For instance, if pet dander triggers asthma for a person, they may have not come into contact with a pet until they have a roommate with a pet. Additional, sometimes a viral infection may unmask asthma symptoms in patients.
  2. Allergic Asthma: Not every person who has allergies will have asthma and not everyone who has asthma will have allergies. However, allergens or triggers such as pollen, dust, and pet dander can trigger asthma symptoms and asthma attacks. A common sign of allergic asthma is cough especially at night or respiratory infections. Factors that intensifies allergic asthma are irritants in the air, stress, drugs, certain food additives, and weather conditions. An allergist can identify if a patient has allergic asthma by doing tests to help make a diagnosis.
  3. Asthma-COPD Overlap: The majority of people who have asthma do not have or develop COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD is a chronic lung disease that causes breathing problems because of the obstruction of airflow. A person with asthma-COPD overlap occurs when these two disease exist together.
  4. Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction: This type of asthma is also known as exercise-induced asthma. Asthma symptoms occur when the airways narrow and the patient experiences difficulty breathing as a result of physical activity.
  5. Nonallergic Asthma: Asthma induced by extreme weather, stress, or illness is usually nonallergic asthma and not the other types of asthma.
  6. Occupational Asthma: This form of asthma usually occurs as a result of an individual’s work conditions. Triggers that lead to occupational asthma include chemical fumes, dust or other air irritants.

How To Prevent Asthma

One of the goal of managing asthma is to have an asthma action plan in place to assist in the management and prevention of serious asthma symptoms. The action plan includes the monitoring of the asthma, things that trigger asthma, and which treatment would be best for the patient.

How Our Team Can Help

Our team at Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Medical Group can assist you in identifying the type of asthma you have. We will also work with you to ensure that you receive appropriate treatment and care. Give us a call today at 805-658-9500!