What Causes Asthma?
One of the best ways to understand asthma is to compare it to nasal allergy. In reality, nasal allergy and asthma are the same condition occurring in two different places. Both nasal allergy and asthma are triggered by an overactive immune system, and both occur in parts of the body that are designed for breathing. The only difference is that the nose sits right on the face, so any irritation is plainly obvious. Asthma is basically an allergic reaction that occurs inside the lungs. It's more mysterious because the lungs are hidden deep inside the body. You can't see the result of the irritation easily.
Fact
Children with asthma are more likely to suffer from nasal allergy and skin allergy. These conditions often occur in the same individual or in the same family. A good pediatrician will inquire about these other conditions when evaluating a child for asthma.
The symptoms of nasal allergy and asthma are directly comparable. With nasal allergy, the nose is often itchy and the sufferer sneezes frequently. For an asthmatic, coughing is basically sneezing of the lungs. For nasal allergy, congestion of the nose is a major manifestation. For asthma, chest tightness is the equivalent of congestion. For nasal allergy, the copious amount of discharge is often a major annoyance. For asthma, the “wet” cough that is full of phlegm is the corresponding nasal discharge.
As you can see, nasal allergy and asthma are closely related. In fact, an untreated nasal allergy is one of the most common triggers for asthma. This is the reason why it's so important to treat both nasal allergy and asthma when both conditions coexist in the same child. Otherwise, it is nearly impossible to adequately control asthma symptoms if the presence of nasal allergy is overlooked.
Drawing from the comparison above, which demonstrates that nasal allergy is irritation and inflammation of the nose, you should understand that asthma is an inflammatory condition as well. Inflammation is when a part of the body becomes raw and irritated. The result of inflammation is swelling, redness, and irritation of the tissue involved. Understanding inflammation is the key to understand asthma and its symptoms.
Asthma is inflammation inside the lungs, which means when an asthma attack occurs, it's not simply a problem with coughing and wheezing, but a problem with inflammation. Whenever the lung tissue becomes inflamed, it becomes swollen, irritated, and makes a lot of mucus.
Alert!
You should not administer regular over-the-counter cough medications to your asthmatic child. These regular cough medications do not have any effect on the inflammation in the lungs. Temporarily suppressing the cough just delays the appropriate treatment for asthma.
It is important to view asthma as an inflammatory condition because this is fundamental to understanding the treatment strategy for asthma. It is inadequate to simply treat the cough. It is more important to suppress the inflammation inside the lungs. Without taking care of the inflammation, the short-term cough-suppressing medication just masks the danger beneath the surface.
