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Asthma: Identifying Your Triggers
Asthma is a
long-lasting (chronic) disease of the
respiratory system
. It causes
inflammation in tubes that carry air to the lungs
(bronchial tubes). The inflammation makes your bronchial tubes likely to
overreact to certain triggers. An overreaction can lead to decreased lung
function, sudden difficulty breathing, and other symptoms of an
asthma attack.
If you avoid triggers, you can:
- Prevent some asthma attacks.
- Reduce the frequency and severity of some attacks.
You may not be able to avoid or even want to avoid all your asthma triggers. However, you can identify many things that trigger your symptoms by:
- Monitoring your lung function (peak expiratory flow). Your lungs will not work as well when you are around a trigger.
- Being tested for allergies. If you have allergies, the substances to which you are allergic can trigger symptoms.
What are asthma triggers?
Why identify asthma triggers?
How to identify asthma triggers
Where to go from here
Return to topic:
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: March 17, 2011 |
| Medical Review: | E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine Lora J. Stewart | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
