Children who suffer from asthma use inhalers, or bronchodilators, which allow them to breathe easier.
(B. S. I. P./Custom Medical Stock Photo)from particles (such as viruses or bacteria) that may
be breathed in but that should not be absorbed into
the lungs or the body. The cells do this by trapping
particles in mucus and moving them out by a brush
border, which acts as a moving carpet by beating and
bringing the particle laden mucus back out of the
lungs. When the particles get closer to the throat, a
person can feel them and is then stimulated to cough
to get them out of the lungs. The third part is the
lumen, or airway opening through which the air pass-
es on its way to the alveolus to bring oxygen to the
lungs (that will then be used by the body). The size of
this lumen is affected by the smooth muscle, the lin-
ing cells, and by any debris (mucus and particles).
When someone has an acute asthma attack, their
airways narrow because of smooth muscles, swelling
or edema of the airway lining cells, and production of
excessive mucus by these cells, making it more diffi-
cult to move air in and out of the lungs. When this
happens, the patient will often cough, breathe more
quickly than normal, and feel short of breath. People
with asthma may also have noisy breathing, or wheez-
ing. Wheezing occurs because the patient must still
move the same amount of air through a narrower air-
way in the same amount of time. This means the air
has to move faster to move past these narrow areas.
This is heard as wheezing. The process is similar to
water flowing through a narrowed pipe or tube; for
example, through a nozzle. Water flow becomes noisy
and audible, where it is normally quiet. Wheezing,
however, may also occur in patients who do not have
asthma but may have airway narrowing for other rea-
sons such as a foreign body in the airway. Very young
children may wheeze in response to a cold but may
not have asthma when they get older. Patients having
an asthma attack also can appear to be breathing
hard, using extra muscles like their abdomen, shoul-
ders and rib muscles to breathe. If allowed to contin-
ue without treatment, a patient will continue to work
harder and harder until the muscles of breathing are
exhausted, thus leading to death. Patients with
asthma may be mildly to severely ill with an asthma
attack, and symptoms can progress very quickly if not
treated.
Many things can cause asthma attacks. For some
people key triggers can be identified. Triggers are en-
vironmental, infectious, or social causes that set off a
person’s asthma. Common triggers include pollens,
cigarette smoking, secondhand smoke exposure, dust
mites, molds, pet dander, colds, cold air, exercise,
stress, and changes in weather. These triggers are
sensed by the lungs and the body over-responds,
causing an asthma attack. Some patients have asthma
where no clear trigger can be identified. Individuals
with many allergies are at higher risk for getting asth-
ma. People with eczema (an itchy dry skin conditionASTHMA 31