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Asthma in Teens and Adults

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What is asthma?


Asthma affects people in different ways. Some people only have asthma attacks during allergy season, or when they breathe in cold air, or when they exercise. Others have many bad attacks that send them to the doctor often.



What causes asthma?


  • Asthma runs in families.
  • Asthma is much more common in people with allergies, though not everyone with allergies gets asthma. And not everyone with asthma has allergies.
  • Pollution may cause asthma or make it worse.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of asthma can be mild or severe. You may have mild attacks now and then, or you may have severe symptoms every day, or you may have something in between. How often you have symptoms can also change. When you have asthma, you may:

  • Wheeze, making a loud or soft whistling noise that occurs when you breathe in and out.
  • Cough a lot.
  • Feel tightness in your chest.
  • Feel short of breath.
  • Quickly get tired during exercise.

Your symptoms may be worse at night.


How is asthma diagnosed?


  • Peak expiratory flow (PEF). This shows how fast you can breathe out when you try your hardest.
  • An exercise or inhalation challenge. This test measures how quickly you can breathe after exercise or after taking a medicine.


How is it treated?

There are two parts to treating asthma, which are outlined in the asthma action plan. The goals are to:


If you need to use the quick-relief inhaler more often than usual, talk to your doctor. This is a sign that your asthma is not controlled and can cause problems.


How can you prevent asthma attacks?


  • Irritants in the air, such as cigarette smoke or other air pollution. Don't smoke, and try to avoid being around others when they smoke.

Sometimes you don't know what triggers an asthma attack. This is why it is important to have an asthma action plan that tells you what to do during an attack.

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