How Asthma Can Affect People in Completely Different Ways?

Suffering from asthma could mean taking medication regularly but experiencing very few symptoms, or it could mean suffering every day and being at high risk of regular, severe attacks.

Some people with the condition live a normal, active life, while others are prevented from taking part in numerous activities and have to protect themselves from every possible allergen.

The condition is the same in everyone, but the severity is not.

When a person suffers from asthma, they are sensitive to certain particles in the air. When they breathe in those particles, it causes the airways to inflame and your body produces excess mucus. This leads to a tight feeling in the chest, wheezing, coughing and a shortness of breath.

There are many triggers for asthma and not everyone will suffer symptoms from the same things.

Some asthmatics are allergic to foods, and eating these can set of the reactions that lead to an attack. Others find exercise brings on their condition, while many seem to be affected by dust, cigarette smoke, pollution, and emotional stress.

Asthmatics use a combination of inhalers, one to prevent an attack by alleviating the inflammation and sensitivity of the airways, the other to relieve the symptoms at the onset of an attack.

While every asthmatic’s body reacts in the same way when they are exposed to a trigger, the severity of the condition varies from person to person.

Some people will very rarely experience symptoms and never have an attack, while others will have symptoms all the time and be at risk of regular attacks.

How your asthma affects you depends on the intensity level of your condition.

There are four levels of severity.

The first is mild intermittent, where a sufferer experiences symptoms twice a week or less, has regular lung function and can live a fairly active life.

The second level is known as mild persistent asthma. People at this level notice their condition affects the activities they take part in and suffer symptoms more than twice a week.

Moderate persistent asthma is the third level and sufferers experience symptoms every day and at night more than once a week.

The highest level is severe persistent asthma. Symptoms are experienced every day and have a serious impact on the lives of sufferers.