The course of asthma
Asthma comes from the Greek word for wheezing because it is the primary symptom of a medium-severe asthma attack. Other symptoms are coughing, shortness of breath, feeling of lack of air and compression of the chest. In a severe asthma attack, breathing becomes almost impossible.
Oversensitive bronchi often respond to cold air or physical exertion. Shrinking muscles of the bronchial wall narrow the cross-section of the bronchi, which is why the air gets through them with difficulty. Exercise while breathing is accompanied by a feeling of lack of air. Sometimes it comes to it very quickly, which everyone knows about asthma from their own experience.
The bronchitis is narrowed, the muscles contract, the mucous membrane is swollen, which additionally limits the bronchial light.
The mucus-lining mucus is very viscous, malleable and clogs small airways in patients with asthma.
Bronchial narrowing is felt as a lack of air. This sensation can build up within a few minutes, until the feeling of suffocation. The feeling of total lack of air is not accompanied by an inconvenience in taking a breath, but an effort in exhaling air. Too much air remains in the lungs and can not be removed. This is the reason for feeling that you can not get as deep a breath as you feel: the lungs are already partially filled with air.
Wheezing
The reason for the wheezing typical of asthmatic patients is constricted airways. The air flowing through the narrow airways gives a typical sound. A person who has strong dyspnea and a feeling that the chest is compressed, tries to breathe faster. It only makes the situation worse, faster breathing requires more effort.
Many asthmatics experience facial bruising during a severe attack. The reason for the cyanosis is too small amount of air reaching the alveoli, and hence – an insufficient amount of oxygen in the blood.
The most frequent symptom in bronchial asthma is an increasing cough occurring most often in the early morning hours. The mucus that clogs the airways is so viscous that coughing is ineffective. A long-lasting coughing episode does not often bring relief, but the bronchial irritation begins an asthma attack.
Cough is particularly severe in children suffering from asthma. It should be borne in mind that a chronically persistent, dry cough in a young child may be the first symptom of asthma.
After many years of the disease, there are degenerative changes in the bronchial mucosa. There is a large amount of fluid accumulating in the mucous membrane, which further increases its swelling. Cilia, which in the healthy people cover the surface of the mucous membrane, are immobile or disappear at all.