What Is Asthma? Asthma is a disease of the lung airways. With asthma, the airways are inflamed (swollen) and react easily to certain things, like viruses, smoke, or pollen. When the inflamed airways react, they get narrow and make it hard to breathe. Common asthma symptoms are wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. When these symptoms get worse, it's an asthma attack. Asthma symptoms may come and go, but the asthma is always there. To keep it under control, relief triggers relief triggers you need to work with your doctor and keep taking care of it. Asthma and Aging Many older adults have asthma. Some people develop it late in life. For others, it may be a continuing problem from younger years. The cause is not known. Asthma in older adults presents some special concerns. For example, the normal effects of aging can make asthma harder to diagnose and treat. So can other health problems that many older adults have (like emphysema or heart disease). dog food relief triggers Also, older adults are more likely than younger people to have side effects from asthma medicines. (For example, recent studies show that older adults who take high doses of inhaled steroid medicines over a long time may increase their chance of getting glaucoma.) When some asthma and nonasthma medicines are taken by the same person, the drugs can combine to produce harmful side effects. Doctors and patients must take special care to watch out for and address these concerns through asthma pictures relief triggers a complete diagnosis and regular checkups. Diagnosing Asthma If you have episodes of coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, or chest tightness, have a complete checkup to find out what the problem is. It could be asthma or another medical problem. Several tests may be needed to tell what is causing your symptoms. These tests include spirometry (to measure how open your airways are), a chest x-ray, an electrocardiogram (to show whether you have heart disease), and a blood test. Accurate diagnosis is important benefits of exercise for asthma relief triggers because asthma
