The Pathophysiology Of Asthma

Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by: Airway inflammation, Airway hyper responsiveness to various stimuli such as a virus, allergen or exercise and Airway obstruction or narrowing that is reversible, with treatment or spontaneously. The underlying problem is inflammation as a result of complex interactions among inflammatory cells, mediators and the tissues in the airways. The stimuli activate the release of inflammatory mediators from mast cells, macrophages, eosinophils and other cells in the airways.

The mediators signal migrate to the airways where they are activated. This causes injury of the epithelium, prolonged contraction of smooth muscle and secretion of mucus, as well as swelling and changes in the involuntary control of the airway. There is increasing evidence that transcription factors, such as NF-kappa B, play a pivotal role in the expression of inflammatory genes in asthma and may be the major molecular target for glucocorticoids. General symptoms associated with asthma are: wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and decreased endurance.

The pathophysiology of asthma is closely related to an overreaction of your immune system. Some of the first questions you may have after being diagnosed with asthma are how does it affect my body? What changes will I notice? And what's going on behind the scenes? Understanding the facts about the asthma pathophysiology will help you get the answers to those questions and more. But first, let's look at that word, ‘The pathophysiology' to make sure you know what we're talking about here. If we break it down, we have 2 parts: Patho, which roughly translates to something wrong or abnormal and Physiology, means the study of how the body works.

So, in looking at the pathophysiology of asthma for this article, we're looking at what goes wrong with how the body works when you have asthma. Specifically, we're talking about what goes wrong in your airways, which includes your bronchial tubes, lungs, and small air sacs called alveoli. To put it in a nutshell, what goes wrong with the airways in people with asthma is based on abnormal reactions by your immune system to substances that are perfectly harmless in people who do not have asthma.

Preventing asthma is a hard thing to do, especially if you have a strong family tendency towards allergy and asthma. Genetics is certainly a risk factor for developing asthma, but there are others as well, including exposure to cigarette smoke and other allergens at a young age, living in an urban environment, and other health conditions. We can't really control our genetic background, but parents can reduce risk for their children by not smoking around them, not living in urban areas, and reducing the number of allergens in the home.

All of these factors may prevent asthma from taking a foothold in the first place. And, if asthma symptoms do develop, then an early diagnosis and treatment is essential in preventing long-term airway damage. Once asthma is diagnosed, a solid asthma management plan that includes both a controller medicine and an emergency quick-relief asthma inhaler and knowing how to use them can help reduce the impact asthma has on our body.