What Kind of Asthma Specialist Is Right for You?
Asthma is defined as…”a lung disease that is characterized by three airway problems: obstruction, inflammation, and hyper-responsiveness.”
Asthma is a disease of the lung that affects the bronchial tubes or airways. Asthma affects almost 20 million Americans and more than 70% of them also suffer from allergies. There are various different types of asthma. Today, asthma is divided into a number of different types: allergic, non-allergic/intrinsic, exercise-induced, nocturnal, occupational and steroid-resistant asthma. To properly treat asthma it is important to classify a patient’s current severity to determine the appropriate therapy choices.
Therefore a stepwise approach is used. Asthma is classified as either mild intermittent or persistent.
Persistent asthma is further classified as mild, moderate or severe. Regardless of the classification there may be periodic exacerbations ranging from mild to severe which can make therapy quite challenging and requires the patient, patient’s family and physician to watch closely for any changes.
What Kind of Asthma Specialist Is Right for You?
There are many types of doctors who treat asthma. Here are a few examples:
* Allergy & Asthma Doctor, also known as an allergist. This might be the right kind of healthcare professional for you if you have the allergic kind of asthma.
* Pulmonary Specialist, also known as a pulmonologist. This kind of doctor specializes in treating people with lung diseases, including asthma.
What Are The Various Types Of Asthma?
There are many different types of asthma. Some of them are related to when it started — for instance, childhood versus adulthood.
Others are related to the times of the day that it’s worse, so you might hear about nocturnal asthma or nighttime asthma. Also, we talk often about the causes of asthma, and so you might hear about obesity-related asthma or gastroesophageal reflux-related asthma.
Most asthma types and symptoms relieved by proper indoor air filtration
The main two asthma symptom types are classified as intermittent asthma and persistent asthma. The asthma type classified as extrinsic asthma is caused by an immune system reaction to inhaled allergens like dust, dander, pollens, plant and mold spores, and dust mite particles. The asthma type classified as persistent asthma is not allergen related but caused by inhalation of chemicals such as cigarette smoke, cleaning agents and solvents, as well as many other substances lurking in the air of our homes and
buildings.
