Condition Center: Asthma

This informational guide, part of POPSUGAR's Condition Center, lays out the realities of this health concern: what it is, what it can look like, and strategies that medical experts say are proven to help. You should always consult your doctor regarding matters pertaining to your health and before starting any course of medical treatment.

Asthma is the most common chronic illness to affect children — and most don't outgrow it. Of the approximately 25 million people in the US with the breathing condition, more than 20 million are adults, according to 2020 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It's also possible to develop the condition, which is characterized by airway inflammation, in adulthood. And while more boys are affected by childhood asthma, in adulthood, the condition starts to affect more women, studies show. Regardless of when you first develop symptoms, it's crucial to learn how to manage them effectively: in 2020, more than 4,000 people died of an asthma attack, per the CDC.

"Asthma is a chronic (long-term) condition that affects the airways in the lungs," according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "If you have asthma, the airways can become inflamed and narrowed at times. This makes it harder for air to flow out of your airways when you breathe out." Symptoms of asthma include wheezing (you may notice a high-pitched whistling sound when you inhale or exhale), breathlessness, coughing, and a feeling of tightness in your chest.

When you have asthma, the passages that carry air to the lungs can become severely swollen and inflamed, making it hard to breathe; this could result in an asthma attack. Attacks often hit at night or early in the morning. They can be caused by specific triggers, such as tobacco or wood smoke, air pollution, pets, mold, dust mites, or cockroaches. For some people, exercise can set off an attack. Triggers differ among people with asthma, so one of the most important things you can do is identify — and avoid — your particular triggers.

Asthma attacks can also be caused by infections that affect your lungs, including COVID-19 or the flu. "After a viral infection, some people develop postinfectious airway disease, which mimics asthma, but it resolves after a few months," says Russell Buhr, MD, assistant clinical professor in pulmonary and critical-care medicine at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine.

There's no single test for asthma. The condition is diagnosed based on symptoms, Dr. Buhr says, and sometimes via lung-function tests (spirometry). So if you're wheezing or coughing at night, it's important to bring it up with your doctor so that you can come up with a treatment plan.

It's not completely understood why asthma impacts some people over others, but experts have a few theories.

"The mainstay of treatment is inhaled steroids, which people take as needed," Dr. Buhr says. If you have exercise-induced asthma, for instance, you might take a puff before a workout to prevent problems. Others may need to use their inhalers more during allergy season if they're sensitive to pollen.

If inhaled steroids aren't enough to control your asthma, doctors may also prescribe injectable medications, known as biologic therapy, which block inflammation-causing molecules in your immune system.

Adhering to your asthma treatment plan is vital since poor asthma management can lead to airway remodeling, in which the lungs become scarred and no longer respond well to asthma medications. It can also put you at risk of a deadly asthma attack. "Asthma is controllable, but it's important to work with a doctor to make sure you're staying on top of your symptoms and getting the treatment you need," Dr. Buhr says.