Why does asthma make it hard to breathe

They can do this by administering treatment like a short-acting beta antagonist you can inhale to relax your airways, giving you an oral corticosteroid to calm airway inflammation, or even helping you breathe with an oxygen machine, according to the Mayo Clinic.

These lung tests include spirometry, which checks how much air you can blow out after taking a deep breath along with how fast you can blow that air out, according to the Mayo Clinic. They can also perform other exams, like allergy tests to see whether you may have certain triggers that kick off your symptoms, and imaging tests to rule out things like respiratory infections as the cause of your issues, says the Mayo Clinic.

Treatment often involves a double-pronged approach using long-term preventive medications and quick-relief treatments, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Long-term preventive medications, which include drugs like oral corticosteroids to reduce airway inflammation, are designed to make asthma attacks less likely. Then you can use quick-relief treatments, like a short-acting beta agonist to relax your airways, if your symptoms flare up anyway. Getting help now could make a huge positive impact on your health immediately and in the long-term, too.

SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional. Difficulty breathing jolts you out of sleep at night. You feel breathless even when you sit or lie down.

Diagnosing your asthma will involve various tests to see how your lungs function. No one knows exactly why some people develop asthma. Experts think it might be a combination of environmental factors and genes. People with asthma may have a parent or other close relative with asthma. Those who are overweight may be more likely to have it. With normal breathing, air flows in through the nose or mouth and then into the windpipe trachea. From there, it passes through the airways bronchial tubes , into the lungs, and finally back out again.

In people with asthma, the airways are inflamed swollen and produce lots of thick mucus. Inflamed airways are also very sensitive, and things like dust or smoke can make the muscles around them tighten up. All these things can narrow the airways and make it harder for a person to breathe. An asthma flare-up or "attack" is when a person's symptoms get worse. During a flare-up, a person might have:. Things that bring on a flare-up are called triggers.

These can vary, but common triggers include:. Other things can trigger asthma flare-ups too: Some girls find their asthma gets worse just before their periods. Even laughing, crying, and yelling can sometimes make the airways tighten. Many people with asthma compare a flare-up to the feeling of trying to breathe through a straw — it feels very hard to get air in and out of their lungs.

An asthma flare-up can last for several hours or longer if a person doesn't use asthma medicine. When a flare-up is over, the person usually feels better. Between flare-ups, breathing can seem completely normal, although some people may cough or feel as if they are always short of breath. Asthma causes inflammation, or swelling, in the lungs.

When something bothers your airways, you have trouble breathing. This is called an asthma attack or episode. It gets harder to breathe because the tiny muscles around your airways squeeze tightly and they have swelling inside.

Your airways will make more mucus inside your airways, which makes it even harder to breathe. These changes in your airways can cause coughing and wheezing. There is no cure for asthma. But you can take steps to manage it. If you have asthma, it's important to see an asthma specialist, like an allergist or pulmonologist, to come up with the right asthma treatment plan.

Medicines and avoiding asthma triggers can help reduce swelling and relax tight muscles in your airways. The office is closed today so I can't get details.

Most blogs here are the work of many people. It is OK to omit an author when a work is produced by an organization. Their airways become extremely inflamed and particularly sensitive to asthma triggers. They wheeze more, wake more throughout the night, and are at greater risk for breathing failure and trips to urgent care. If your asthma is severe, see a specialist to identify the most appropriate, personalized treatment.

The underlying causes of asthma are still unclear. Researchers believe asthma is caused by a combination of your genes Stretches of DNA, a substance you inherit from your parents, that define characteristics such as how likely you are to get certain diseases. Obesity and exposure to cigarette smoke may also raise the risk of developing asthma.

NIH scientists are continuing to investigate the causes of this disease. Researchers are also working to develop new approaches to help prevent and treat asthma. While exposing mice to dust mites, the researchers identified a protein in the lung that blocked the development of asthma. With further research, the finding may eventually lead to new approaches for preventing or controlling asthma symptoms in people.

If you or your loved ones have asthma, identify your triggers and try to avoid them. Monitor your symptoms, and take prescribed medications regularly. Keep your asthma under control so you can keep living life to the fullest. Marvels of Mucus and Phlegm.