Asthma is a chronic disease involving the airways in the lungs. At least 20 million American adults and children have asthma. The airways, or bronchial tubes, allow air to come in and out of the lungs. If you have asthma, your airways are almost always inflamed. They become even more swollen, excess mucus is produced, and the muscles around the airways contract when something triggers your symptoms. This makes it difficult for air to move in and out of the lungs, causing symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and/or chest tightness. Factors that can cause an asthma attack include contact with allergens (pollen, dust, animal dander, mold spores), smoke, strong smells, exercise, cold air, and infections--usually viral infections.
We will help develop a plan to avoid trigger factors and modify the environment to decrease exposure to allergens. An action plan involving available therapies will be instituted as well.
Recent medical discoveries have revealed subtypes of asthma characterized by different clinical characteristics including age of onset, triggering factors, inflammation characteristics, and predicted response to certain medications to treat the asthma. At Partners in Allergy and Asthma Care, we are experts in determining the type of asthma you have, and therefore providing precise and specific management options. This includes some of the newer biologic therapies including Xolair, Nucala, Cinqair, and others scheduled to be released in the next year. These therapies are used in addition to the standard anti-inflammatory, bronchodilator, and inhaled medications.
For more information, see options for Asthma Treatments.