Symptoms of Asthma - Health Conditions

Symptoms of Asthma
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Symptoms of asthma

Symptoms of asthma can range from the very mild, to the severe and anything in between. Symptoms can vary greatly between individuals and asthma types.

During an asthma attack, the airways of an asthmatic narrow because the muscles around the air passages become tight, not allowing much air to go through which in turn makes the air passages inflamed and swollen. The more inflamed and swollen the air passages become, the more tight they become until breathing becomes very hard without wheezing. It then becomes very difficult for the person with asthma to breath properly without some assistance in the form of medication.

The most common asthma symptoms are:

Coughing - usually worse first thing in the morning or late in the evening
Noisy breathing - occurs for some people with asthma
Shortness of breath - inability to breath deeply and properly (inhalation or exhalation) due to pain
Tightness of the chest - which feels like a pressure or squeezing on the chest area
Wheezing - noisy, whistling type sound on inhalation

Symptoms of an acute, severe asthma attack

An acute asthma attack can be fatal and needs urgent emergency treatment at a hospital. The symptoms of an acute, severe asthma attack continue even after appropriate medication has been taken.

The symptoms of an acute asthma attack are:

Agitation
Blue lips
Confusion
Inability to breath properly
Inability to concentrate or think properly
Persistent coughing that does not abate
Unable to speak a whole sentence without coughing or getting short of breath
Unable to walk far without getting short of breath or coughing
Wheezing

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Last reviewed: 7 October 2007 || Last updated: 3 January 2009

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Disclaimer: This guide is not intended to be used for diagnostic or prescriptive purposes. For any treatment or diagnosis of illness, please see your doctor.

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