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Causes and symptoms of bronchial asthma.

Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the upper respiratory tract, which is based on inflammation of the bronchi, violation of their patency.

A characteristic feature of bronchial asthma is the signs of respiratory discomfort: cough, shortness of breath, wheezing and asthma attacks .

Since the disease is based on bronchial inflammation (their pathological reactivity is hypersensitivity), and it can be of an allergic, infectious, neurogenic or other nature, the causes of bronchial asthma differ in these categories. Accordingly, the classification of types and treatment of bronchial asthma is based on this principle.

Bronchial asthma of infectious origin occurs as a complication of other respiratory diseases (acute or chronic bronchitis, tonsillitis, ARVI, pneumonia, etc.), and is associated with various infections (viral, bacterial, fungal). This type of bronchial asthma is often observed in people over the age of thirty. The disease is more severe than in the case of asthma of other origins. Asthma attacks last much longer, and the cough becomes persistent. Symptoms of infectious bronchial asthma: low-grade fever, chills in the evening, sweating at night (from the back, neck, occiput), persistent cough, hoarse breathing. Asthma attacks are poorly controlled. Symptoms of such asthma are often combined with symptoms of polyposis - allergic sinusitis, chronic bronchitis. The danger of bronchial asthma of an infectious origin is that in this case, the development of diseases such as pulmonary emphysema and chronic heart failure occurs much faster.

Bronchial asthma of neurogenic origin develops when factors of a neuropsychic nature (neurasthenia, hysteria, increased anxiety and other neurotic disorders) cause and record asthmatic symptoms (cough, dyspnea, shortness of breath ).

Allergic bronchial asthma (synonym: atopic bronchial asthma) has several causes:

Heredity (associated with a genetic predisposition to increased production of IgE immunoglobulin)
Contact with allergens (dust, plant pollen, mold spores, animal dander and hair, bird fluff, food and drug allergens) causing the same IgE production.

Symptoms of bronchial asthma:

Shortness of breath
Dry cough (unproductive, no mucus)
Wheezing and whistling when breathing
Difficulty breathing
Facilitates breathing by tilting the body forward in a sitting position
Rapid breathing
Tachycardia and increased blood pressure
Choking attacks

Asthma symptoms most often make themselves felt at night, but during the day asthma attacks can be provoked by various factors (triggers) that trigger the mechanism of bronchospasm.

The main triggers of bronchial asthma are:

Smoking or cigarette smoke
Hyperventilation of the lungs as a result of exercise
Sudden changes in ambient temperature, provoking hypothermia
Harmful substances in the air
Dusty atmosphere outdoors or indoors
Aerosol spraying
Medicines (including those containing acetylsalicylic acid), food allergens
Emotional stress (laughter, nervous tension, crying)

Due to such a large number of factors that trigger the mechanism of the development of the disease, bronchial asthma is considered a polyetiological disease, which requires a variety of approaches to its treatment and prevention.