How to identify and cope with different types of asthma

The guide presented by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) provides a concise look at the symptoms of asthma, while highlighting its contrary nature. The most common asthma symptoms are coughing, wheezing, tightness of chest and shortness of breath, but in varying forms and frequencies. While not everyone who has asthma experiences these symptoms, having some of these does not necessarily mean you have asthma. Some symptoms are merely annoying, but others could be troublesome enough to limit daily life.

The form of asthma, its symptoms and severity, and the ideal treatment thereof are best diagnosed by doctors. But knowledge is the first step to successful asthma management, and here is a comprehensive guide.

Allergy-induced asthma

Allergies and asthma often go hand in hand, and allergic asthma is the most common type. It is estimated that 90 per cent of children with asthma have allergies, compared to only 50 per cent of adults with asthma. While allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is the most common chronic allergy, inhaling allergens may also trigger the symptoms, which include a runny nose, ongoing sneezing, scratchy throat, excess mucus and weepy eyes.

Almost everyone with allergic asthma will experience certain characteristic symptoms after exercising in cold air, or inhaling smoke, dust and fumes. Medications to control allergies will usually result in asthma symptoms subsiding.

Adult-onset asthma

Pregnant or menopausal women, those who have just recovered from certain viruses or long illnesses, women who take oestrogen for ten or more years, and those who are allergic to cats, are most likely to get adult-onset asthma. Environmental irritants such as smoke, mould, dust, feathers, perfumes or other environmental irritants bring on sudden and persistent asthma symptoms in these adults.

Exercise-induced asthma

This may also be accompanied by wheezing and coughing. A doctor can advise the use of an asthma inhaler (bronchodilator) before exercise to prevent these uncomfortable symptoms.

Cough-variant asthma

The triggers for this type of asthma are mostly respiratory infections and exercise. Specific asthma tests, such as lung function tests done by a lung specialist, are necessary for an accurate diagnosis.

Occupational asthma

Often, asthma is caused by exposure to substances in the workplace, in one of three ways — an allergic reaction, irritant reaction and chemical reaction.

It can be caused by an allergy or as an irritant effect to certain substances, or by exposure to specific chemicals, proteins, metals, grains or fumes that build up in the lungs and result in an asthma attack.

With symptoms such as tightness of chest, shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing that only occur at night, nocturnal asthma can make sleep impossible, accompanied by daytime fatigue. Explanations include nocturnal narrowing of the airways, hormonal secretions that follow a circadian pattern and changes in bronchial function during sleep.

After diagnosis, a doctor will suggest treatment together with changes in sleeping position and air conditioning, and the treatment of heartburn, a condition that is closely associated with nocturnal asthma.