Causes of asthma

Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
Updated on October 19, 2024
00:00
00:00

Asthma is a common respiratory disease, with typical symptoms including episodic coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and difficulty breathing, among others. The exact causes of asthma are not entirely clear at present, but it is generally believed to be related to genetic factors and environmental factors. Genetically, the closer the familial relation to an asthma patient, the greater the likelihood of developing the disease. Environmentally, elements such as allergens, pollen, dust mites, infections from certain bacteria or viruses, certain seafood, and medications, among others, can all trigger asthma attacks.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
55sec home-news-image

Is variant asthma the same as asthma?

Cough variant asthma is a very common type of asthma. Typically, patients with this condition predominantly experience chronic coughing, generally lasting over two months. These patients may not exhibit other clinical symptoms such as wheezing or breathlessness. It is a specific type of asthma characterized by recurrent chronic coughing. Once diagnosed, these patients should promptly receive treatment to relieve bronchospasm and anti-allergic medications among other symptomatic treatments. The course of treatment generally requires about 4 to 8 weeks, after which some patients may gradually discontinue the medication. Some patients might need intermittent long-term treatment. Therefore, this particular type of asthma requires significant attention. (Medication should be administered under the guidance of a professional doctor.)

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Yuan Qing
Pulmonology
49sec home-news-image

Asthma cough symptoms

Asthma is a chronic airway inflammation involving multiple inflammatory cells. After being diagnosed with asthma, a patient may exhibit airway hyperresponsiveness. Upon exposure to allergens or cold stimuli, the patient often experiences wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. These coughing symptoms generally worsen during the early morning and night, especially after exposure to odors or cold air, which can easily trigger coughing. The cough is primarily dry, without phlegm or with a small amount of white sticky phlegm, accompanied by symptoms like nasal itchiness, throat itchiness, and itchiness in the voice box. Treatment can involve the use of bronchial asthma medications or warm water, which can also lead to improvement. This describes some unique aspects of cough-variant asthma.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
1min 14sec home-news-image

Can asthma be cured?

So far, there is no known cure for bronchial asthma, and it is estimated that curing asthma within the next ten or twenty years will be very challenging. Therefore, any methods or medications claimed to treat or cure bronchial asthma found on any search engine cannot be trusted. We often encounter many people who, influenced by various advertisements, such as flyers, television, and even some newspapers, take medications containing powders that may control asthma temporarily. However, this can increase the risk of future control issues and cause many adverse reactions. Through these reactions, we can infer that these may contain oral steroids. Although oral steroids can indeed be used to control asthma, their use is subject to strict indications, and they are generally not the first choice for asthma control. Therefore, if you have asthma, you must seek standard treatment in a qualified hospital instead of self-medicating through any means, as this is inadvisable.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
30sec home-news-image

The typical manifestations of asthma

Asthma is quite common in clinical settings. Asthma attacks often occur suddenly when exposed to allergens, during physical activity, emotional excitement, or infections, presenting symptoms such as paroxysmal coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and breathing difficulties. Breathing difficulties often manifest as expiratory difficulties. Symptoms of asthma typically alleviate upon leaving the allergenic environment or after the application of bronchodilators. These are the typical clinical presentations of asthma.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
1min 11sec home-news-image

Can asthma be cured completely?

We often refer to asthma as bronchial asthma, which, whether it is cough variant asthma, allergic asthma, or caused by other factors, has not yet a cure found to date. It is now generally believed that bronchial asthma can be controlled, which means that as long as patients with bronchial asthma receive standardized treatment in reputable hospitals, most can be controlled and will not suffer from recurrent attacks. So far, there is no cure found, and all advertisements using Traditional Chinese Medicine or ancient secret remedies or any other means claiming that asthma can be cured are false. These are not to be trusted, and many asthma patients often suffer because they take some medications containing oral corticosteroids under these false beliefs. While these might control asthma in the short term, they are detrimental to the long-term management of asthma, and prolonged use of such non-standard corticosteroid treatments can lead to many adverse reactions, such as drug-induced Cushing's syndrome and medication-induced diabetes, among others.