Do You Know The Symptoms of an Asthma Attack?
What Is an Asthma Attack?
An asthma attack is a sudden worsening of asthma symptoms caused by the tightening of muscles around your airways (bronchospasm). During the asthma attack, the lining of the airways also becomes swollen or inflamed and thicker mucus — more than normal — is produced. All of these factors — bronchospasm, inflammation, and mucus production — cause symptoms of an asthma attack such as difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and difficulty performing normal daily activities.
Symptoms of Asthma Attack
If you experience breathlessness after laughing or talking this could mean asthma. You may also find that you feel the need to breathe in before you have finished breathing out.
Asthma attack symptoms that are rapidly becoming more severe and do not get better even after you take your airway opener (bronchodilator) medication.
Asthma may resemble other respiratory problems such as emphysema, bronchitis, and lower respiratory infections. It is often under-diagnosed and many people with the disease do not know they have it. Sometimes, the only symptom is a chronic cough, especially at night, or coughing or wheezing that occurs only with exercise. Some people think they have recurrent bronchitis, since respiratory infections usually settle in the chest in a person predisposed to asthma.
With a more severe asthma attack symptoms will likely worsen and you may notice that the child has a constant cough, is getting very short of breath, and he likely won’t be able to do any of his usual activities. You may also notice that your child’s peak flow has dropped to less than 50% of his personal best and his quick-relief asthma medications aren’t working.
Asthma attack, may be severe, moderate or mild. They can come on suddenly or take days in developing. A severe asthma attack can be deadly. It can cause the person to literally suffocate. In the severe asthma attack the person become so breathless that they may be unable to talk. The person suffering the attack may feel their neck and chest muscles tightening. Due to the lack of oxygen in the blood, lips and fingernails may begin to turn bluish in color.
People suffering from asthma may prevent acute attacks by making sure they take the necessary medication to prevent the situation from aggravating. They can make use of a peak flow meter to monitor their condition. It is required that they get their baseline measurement by inhaling and then exhaling into the meter when they are feeling fit. If their peak flow measurement is 50%-80% lesser than their baseline peak flow measurement, it may indicate they are at risk of an acute asthma attack if they do not take immediate action. If the peak flow reading is lesser than 50% of their normal reading it is time they sought medical intervention as a severe attack can become life threatening in some cases.
An asthma attack can vary in degrees. There are mild asthma attacks, however there are also moderate ones, and worst, severe asthma attack cases. An asthma attack could take days before becoming full blown, or it could creep up on somebody so suddenly. You may never know. A severe asthma attack has caused many deaths worldwide. Suffocating is something you should be prepared when it comes to a severe asthma attack. When an asthma attack is so severe, the person may not be able to talk due to breathlessness. Commonly, when having an asthma attack, the chest muscles and the neck muscles as well would tighten. The fingernails and the lips could turn blue because of the absence of oxygen in the blood.
