Asthma
What is asthma?
Asthma is a chronic condition that causes narrowing of the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs, known as your airways, making it hard to breathe. The condition often begins in childhood, but some people don’t develop symptoms until they’re adults. Understanding what causes your asthma is key to reducing your symptoms.
Specialists from Penn Medicine have the expertise to treat even the most challenging asthma conditions. A team of providers collaborates to find the root cause of your symptoms and create a treatment plan that’s right for you. Experts in pulmonology care and allergy and immunology work closely with ear, nose, and throat (ENT) providers and other specialists to help you manage your symptoms and breathe better.
Types of asthma
There are several ways doctors categorize asthma.
Allergens, like pollen and pet dander, can cause allergic asthma.
Non-allergic asthma is caused by respiratory infections, irritants like smoke, and other triggers.
Physical activity, especially when it’s intense, can cause exercise-induced asthma, also called exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. Your asthma may be worse when you exercise in cold weather or when there’s pollen or pollution in the air.
Occupational asthma is caused by substances you inhale at work that irritate your airways, like dust, paint, wood, plastics, and other chemicals.
In this type of asthma, your only symptom is a persistent dry cough. It can be triggered by exercise, cold air, and changes in the weather.
Some people with asthma experience more severe symptoms when they take aspirin or another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) also causes recurring nasal polyps and other symptoms, like chronic sinus infections.
Asthma can occur with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a disease that causes damage to your lungs or airways.
Signs and symptoms of asthma
During an asthma attack, it’s common to feel your chest tighten and experience shortness of breath. Other symptoms can include coughing, wheezing, and feeling lightheaded and fatigued. Asthma attacks can either come on slowly or develop quickly. You might notice a pattern in your symptoms, like flare-ups in the mornings or evenings.
What causes asthma
Inflammation causes swelling and narrowing of your airways and tightening of the muscles around them, restricting how much air can move in and out of your lungs. Mucus may also build up in your airways. Often a combination of genetics and environmental factors leads to these changes. Respiratory conditions are also a common cause of asthma symptoms.
Having a parent or sibling with asthma increases your chances of experiencing it yourself. You’re also more likely to have asthma if you or family members have been diagnosed with eczema or allergies, like hay fever.
An asthma attack can be triggered by something in your environment, which can vary depending on the type of asthma you have. Pet dander, pollen, mold, dust, cold weather, cigarette smoke, and air pollution can bring on symptoms. Sometimes exercise or chemicals in food, like sulfites, trigger symptoms. If you have AERD, aspirin and other NSAIDs can cause worsening symptoms.
The common cold, the flu, COVID-19, RSV, and other conditions that affect your respiratory system can make asthma worse.
Testing for asthma
Your care team will ask about your personal and family medical history, if anything makes your asthma worse, and how often you have symptoms. You’ll likely need blood work and other tests to check how well your lungs are functioning and to see if you have allergies.
Managing asthma symptoms
Your health care team will help identify your asthma triggers and work with you on ways to avoid them. They’ll provide an asthma action plan that helps you recognize when your symptoms get worse and what actions to take. This may include creating daily habits, like minimizing dust or covering your nose or mouth in cold weather. You’ll also get advice on when to use quick relief (rescue) and long-term (maintenance) medications. Severe asthma that doesn’t improve with other treatments may need surgery.
Everyday asthma relief with whole-person care
Living with asthma isn’t always easy. At Penn Medicine, our multidisciplinary team of pulmonologists, allergists, and ENT specialists can provide tools to manage your symptoms with confidence. For those with AERD, you’ll have access to our internationally recognized AERD Center, which provides targeted AERD care not found at other centers in our region. Tailored, expert care from our highly trained specialists helps you live well with fewer flare-ups.