Asthma is a very common condition but within the disease itself there are a variety of different types. If you have been diagnosed with asthma, you will have undergone a series of tests to confirm exactly what type you are suffering from, allowing your doctor to prescribe the correct medication and advise on any lifestyle changes that can improve your overall health and wellbeing.
The most common type of asthma is allergic asthma, with children particularly affected – around 90% of children with asthma have the allergic form of the condition, affected mainly by dust mites, pollen and animal fur. Cold, damp air and inhaling smoke, fumes and perfumes can exacerbate the condition. While it is an almost impossible task to eliminate dust from the home, sufferers should endeavour to make their environment as clean as possible and avoid being around animals or in dusty, smoky or polluted areas where they can.
Non-allergic asthma tends to develop in those who have had long-standing respiratory infections and usually appears in middle age or older. Unlike allergic asthma, it does not affect the immune system but it does share the same symptoms such as difficulty in breathing, tight chess, coughing and wheezing. Triggers for non-allergic asthma include cold or dry air, participating in exercise, viruses, smoke, stress and anxiety.
Sufferers of nocturnal asthma find their sleep disturbed because of uncontrollable dry coughs that affect them during the night. Similarly, cough-variant asthma has the distinctive symptom of a nasty cough but is difficult to diagnose accurately.
Your career might be the reason you have occupational asthma, especially common in those work in industries with exposure to chalk, dust, paint and fumes. Child-onset asthma affects youngsters who have had allergic reactions to, for example, dust and food. Adult-onset asthma is a generic term for the condition when it develops in adults and encompasses all the different types.
Mixed asthma is one that combines both allergic and non-allergic asthma, and is a difficult form of the condition to manage because of the increased triggers. Finally, seasonal asthma is a type that affects sufferers during particular times of the year, such as hay fever season and in winter.
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