Chronic Wheezing - A Telltale Sign of Asthma
Asthma is currently an issue for more than three hundred million people around the world, and it causes thousands of deaths each year. Identifying the problem and taking steps to control it as soon as you can is important, and knowing some of the symptoms that are associated with asthma will help you determine if it's in your best interests to see a doctor. If you do have asthma, then professional help will be needed to curb the symptoms and live as comfortable a life as you possibly can. Chronic wheezing is one of the most common symptoms of asthma that you can experience, and is instantly recognizable.
Understanding why chronic wheezing occurs is simple when you understand just what asthma is. Basically, it's nothing more than a narrowing of the airways within your lungs. Each breath that you take passes through these airways and into your lungs, where the oxygen is converted and used by the body. But when these passages become inflamed it is much harder for air to pass through them. In severe cases it can be like trying to breathe through a drinking straw. And as the passages constrict, the reduced amount of air that passes through them causes wheezing to occur.
Chronic wheezing is a common sign of asthma because those narrowed passages are so common among sufferers. It's often the worst when you are breathing in cold air, in the morning, at night, or after periods of physical activity. It can start suddenly and can end just as quickly as it began, or in severe cases of asthma it could be a prolonged, regularly occurring issue that hardly ever seems to dissipate. While the wheezing itself may not be uncomfortable, the shortness of breath and other issues that usually accompany it are, and the wheezing may end up leading to a full-blown asthma attack.
The only way to control the chronic wheezing usually associated with asthma is to reduce the swelling within the airways. By widening the airways, more air can pass through the lungs and the wheezing will be greatly reduced. Anti-inflammatory medications and steroids are often the best method of doing so, and your physician will be able to help you determine exactly what course of treatment is right for your situation and just how severe your case of asthma may be. While asthma is serious and needs to be addressed as soon as possible, it is totally controllable with the right steps.