What are the symptoms of asthma?
Symptoms of asthma vary widely from person to person and within each person over time. Acute asthma episodes can range from mild to severe. Asthma is a condition that affects the air passages of the lungs. When a person has asthma, the air passages are red and swollen. This inflammation of the air passages makes them over extra-sensitive to a number of different things that can "trigger" asthma symptoms. Symptoms of asthma may include:
Wheezing
Coughing. This is the only symptom for some people.
Chest tightness.
Rapid, shallow breathing or difficulty breathing
Sleep disturbance
Shortness of breath
Tiring quickly during exercise
Symptoms of asthma may develop or worsen when you:
Exercise
Sleep (or during the night). In all people, lung function changes throughout the day and night. In people with asthma, this often is very noticeable, especially at night, and nighttime cough and shortness of breath frequently occur. In general, waking at night because of shortness of breath or cough indicates poorly controlled asthma.
Are exposed to triggers such as cold air or tobacco smoke
Have a viral respiratory infection, such as the common cold or influenza
Have changes in hormones, such as during the start of a woman's menstrual blood flow or pregnancy
Eat foods that you are allergic to or take certain medications, such as aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Laugh or cry hard
Symptoms are also used to classify asthma by severity.
