Asthma
Overview
Asthma is a common condition that affects your breathing. It cannot currently be cured, but if it's well treated you should not have problems with symptoms.
Symptoms
The main symptoms of asthma are problems with breathing, such as: wheezingcoughingshortness of breathyour chest feeling tight Asthma symptoms can be mild or severe. They usually come and go. They may be worse at night and early in the morning. An asthma attack is when you have severe symptoms and it's difficult to breathe, which can be life-threatening. Symptoms can be triggered by different things including exercise, high levels of air pollution, cold air, or contact with something you're allergic to, such as pollen, dust, mould or animals. Asthma usually starts in children, but it can happen at any age.
Causes
Asthma symptoms happen when your airways become swollen. This makes them narrower, causing breathing problems. In people who have asthma, symptoms can be triggered by different things, such as allergies, exercise, smoke, cold air or infections. It's not fully understood what causes asthma. You may be more likely to get asthma if: you have allergies such as eczema, hay fever or food allergiesother people in your family have asthma, hay fever, eczema or allergiesyou were born prematurely or had a low birth weightyou were exposed to things like high levels of air pollution or cigarette smoke as a childyou had illnesses as a child that affected your breathing, such as bronchiolitis or croupyou're overweight Asthma can also be caused by breathing in substances such as certain chemicals at work.
Treatment
If you're having an asthma attack, sit up straight, to help your breathing. Try to stay calm. Use your asthma reliever inhaler if you have one: If you have a blue reliever inhaler, take 1 puff every 30 to 60 seconds until you feel better, up to a maximum of 10 puffs. Shake the inhaler between each puff and use a spacer with the inhaler if you have one.If you have an AIR or MART inhaler (used for both preventing and treating symptoms), take 1 puff every 1 to 3 minutes until you feel better, up to a maximum of 6 puffs. If your personal asthma action plan has a different maximum dose for treating an asthma attack, follow the instructions in your plan. If you have asthma you'll be supported by a care team including a GP or nurse, and sometimes a specialist hospital doctor. Your care team will explain how and when to use your medicines, how to monitor your asthma, ways to avoid triggers and reduce your symptoms, and what to do if your symptoms get worse. This will be recorded in your asthma action plan, which you'll need to take to all your asthma appointments. You'll be given a printed or digital copy, or both. You should have check-ups at least once a year to see how well your treatment is working. These will include checking that you're using your inhalers correctly and your asthma action plan is up to date. If inhalers are not enough to stop your symptoms, your care team may also recommend a stronger inhaler or tablets that make breathing easier, such asmontelukast. If you have severe asthma that's not controlled by inhalers and tablets, you may be offered other treatments, such as medicines that you inject, called biological therapies. Your care team will discuss with you which treatment is right for you, including any possible side effects. If you have a severe asthma attack that does not get better, you may need to be treated in hospital. Hospital treatments may include: oxygen through a maskusing a nebuliser to breathe in high doses of medicinesteroid tablets or injections
Prevention
Regularly use preventer inhaler as prescribed; avoid known triggers (dust mites, animal fur, pollen, smoke); take precautions in cold weather; for exercise-induced asthma, warm up and cool down properly; quit smoking.
When to see a doctor
Contact GP/NHS 111 if: more short of breath than usual; pain when breathing; dizzy or confused; chest tighter than usual; using reliever 3+ times per week; symptoms affecting daily life. Call 999 for: severe breathing difficulty; severe chest pain; unable to speak; blue lips or skin.