Types of Asthma | Understanding the different types of Asthma 

What do you think would be one of the scariest feelings in the world for you?

When you cannot breathe!

Just imagine how that would feel!

Now think of this…when someone has an acute asthma attack that is how they normally feel. 

There are several types of asthma in which the general treatment is usually the same. 

Asthma Statistics suggest that knowing which type of asthma you have can make a big difference in how you manage your asthma, as well as to know what types of treatment will help you most.

No matter what type of asthma you are diagnosed with, the basics of the disease are all the same. When you have asthma your body is exposed to some form of an asthma trigger.

Sometimes, your body overreacts to the trigger and this can cause inflammation in the tissue surrounding your bronchial tubes and lungs.

The inflammation then causes the surrounding muscles to contract, constricting even more air from reaching your lungs. 

Asthma triggers are what help define the type of asthma you may have.

Allergy induced asthma is the most commonly diagnosed asthma.  Studies have shown cases of allergy induced asthma have had a dramatic increase over recent years and doctors attribute that to many factors including being overly exposed to allergens such as:

• dust mites
• pet dander
• cockroaches
• dust itself
• mould

Being vigilant by eliminating these factors from you environment can help prevent asthma, or acute attacks in asthma patients.

Another type of asthma which is quite common is exercise induced asthma. 

Some doctors still believe that exercise induced asthma is only a form of allergy induced asthma, but is only triggered when physical exertion puts extra stress on the body. Other doctors contend it is a completely different type of asthma all together.

Exercise induced asthma is a type of asthma that is often triggered by excessive physical activity. There are some instances that can increase the chances of causing an asthma attack during exercise.

These factors include air temperature, pollen levels, smog and the presence of other allergens in the air. Physical condition also plays a role in whether or not you could have an acute asthma attack during exercise.

No matter which type of asthma you have, you can help lessen the severity and frequency of your asthma attacks by knowing what type of asthma you have, and learning how to avoid the triggers that set you off.

In general, if you have allergy induced asthma, you can:

• use linen to cut down on dust mites
• remove carpets that collect dust
• regularly treat for cockroaches and rodents
• vacuum often

But if you have exercise induced asthma, you would be wise to:

• do warm ups before exercise
• use your asthma inhaler at least 15 minutes before exercise
• exercise in short spurts

To help prevent asthma attacks get to know - and then avoid - the triggers that cause the attacks and control the environment around you. This is the best advice for allergy induced asthma.