What Can Trigger An Asthma Attack

What You Can Do To Avoid Triggers

In addition to properly managing your asthma with medications, its important to know what your asthma triggers so that you can avoid them.

• Speak with your doctor about having an allergy test done. Write down what you are allergic to and learn how to avoid or reduce your allergen exposure.
• Use an Asthma Action Plan and an asthma diary or journal to keep track of your asthma symptoms and what triggered them. Review your findings with your healthcare provider to determine your asthma symptoms.

Once you have a clear idea of the things that make your asthma worse, take action and make plans to control your exposure to these triggers. Some triggers will be difficult to avoid , but many of them are avoidable. Start with your own home, and its indoor asthma triggers many of us spend a lot of time at home and its environment is under your immediate control.

Here are some tips for controlling your home environment:

Here are some tips for avoiding triggers outside your home:

Who Is At Risk For Asthma

Asthma affects people of all ages, but it often starts during childhood. Certain factors can raise your risk of having asthma:

• Being exposed to secondhand smoke when your mother is pregnant with you or when you are a small child
• Being exposed to certain substances at work, such as chemical irritants or industrial dusts
• Genetics and family history. You are more likely to have asthma if one of your parents has it, especially if it’s your mother.
• Race or ethnicity. Black and African Americans and Puerto Ricans are at higher risk of asthma than people of other races or ethnicities.
• Having other medical conditions such as allergies and obesity
• Often having viral respiratory infections as a young child
• Sex. In children, asthma is more common in boys. In teens and adults, it is more common in women.

Food And Food Additives Trigger Asthma

Food allergies can cause mild to severe life-threatening reactions. They rarely cause asthma without other symptoms. If you have food allergies, asthma can be part of a severe, life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis. The most common foods associated with allergic symptoms are:

• Eggs
• Salads
• Fresh fruits

Food preservatives can trigger isolated asthma, especially sulfite additives, like sodium bisulfite, potassium bisulfite, sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, and sodium sulfite, which are commonly used in food processing or preparation.

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What Are The Symptoms Of An Asthma Attack

Symptoms that may suggest an asthma attack are frequent coughing and wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath. These symptoms may occur alone or in combination with other symptoms. A sign that asthma may be present, especially in children, is an excessive number of chest colds or episodes of pneumonia. Because these symptoms are common to other disorders, asthma is often difficult to diagnose. Recognizing and reducing the frequency and severity of symptoms can help prevent further damage to the lungs.

What Causes Asthma In Cats

In cats with asthma, an inhaled allergen triggers an immune response that leads to inflammation and the production of mucus. This results in irritation and swelling, which constrict airways and make it difficult for oxygen to research the lungs.

Common allergens known to trigger cat asthma include:

• Pollen

During a cat asthma attack, symptoms are much more obvious and typically include:

• Noises when breathing
• Dramatically increased breathing rate
• Complete lack of appetite and activity
• Blue gums and lips
• Breathing with an open mouth

In more severe cases, the cat might be completely unable to breathe, which might result in loss of consciousness.

If you notice any of these cat asthma symptoms, be sure to see your vet.

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Common Asthma Triggers And How To Avoid Them

• Talk to your doctor

Common asthma triggers

Asthma triggers are materials, conditions, or activities that either worsen asthma symptoms or cause an asthma flare-up. Asthma triggers are common, which is precisely what makes them so troublesome.

In some cases, avoiding all of your asthma triggers can be difficult. However, with a little planning, you can learn to prevent exposure to your triggers and reduce your risk for an asthma flare-up or attack.

Asthma Compared To Anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis and asthma can look and feel very similar. Both cause difficulty breathing that can be both frightening and life-threatening. Anaphylaxis may be accompanied by some additional symptoms that are not often seen with asthma: hives and skin rashes, swelling in the face, stomach discomfort, bloating, diarrhea and vomiting.

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How Can We Avoid Asthma Triggers

If Allergens Are a Trigger

Allergens are one of the most common asthma triggers. They include:

• animal dander , saliva , or urine and feathers
• pollen

It’s impossible to avoid all allergens, but you can minimize them in your home. Focus on the rooms where your child sleeps and plays:

• Keep these areas as clean and dust-free as possible. Vacuum and dust weekly, eliminate clutter, get rid of unneeded stuffed animals and wash other stuffed animals in hot water regularly.
• Wash sheets weekly in hot water and get rid of feather pillows and comforters.
• Use hypoallergenic covers for the mattress, box spring, and pillows.
• Remove rugs and carpeting wherever possible.
• Clean curtains often.
• Make sure damp areas like bathrooms, basements, and laundry rooms are cleaned often and properly ventilated to prevent mold and mildew. Run dehumidifiers in damp areas.
• Don’t use humidifiers.
• Check your local mold and pollen count readings and plan indoor activities for windy days, which can lead to high counts.
• Use bait traps or professional extermination to rid your home of cockroaches. Keep your kitchen clean and your house free of stacks of paper.

If Irritants Are a Trigger

Irritants can affect anyone even someone who doesn’t have asthma. They’re not usually a serious problem, but for kids with asthma, they can lead to swollen airways and flare-ups.

Common irritants include:

• air pollution

Here are some ways to reduce household irritants:

Preventing Infections

If Extreme Weather Is a Trigger

Laughter Or Crying And Asthma

Extreme emotional states like heavy laughter or intense crying can prompt an asthma attack by changing breathing patterns and restricting airflow. Its a form of hyperventilation, which, like exercise, tends to trigger an asthmatic response in people with underlying airway inflammation, Zitt says.

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How Do Healthcare Providers Diagnose Asthma

Your healthcare provider will review your medical history, including information about your parents and siblings. Your provider will also ask you about your symptoms. Your provider will need to know any history of allergies, eczema and other lung diseases.

Your healthcare provider may order a chest X-ray, blood test or skin test. Your provider may order spirometry. This test measures airflow through your lungs.

What Causes Anaphylaxis

An allergy occurs when the bodys immune system sees something as harmful and reacts. Your immune system tries to remove or isolate the trigger. The result is symptoms such as vomiting or swelling. The most common triggers of anaphylaxis are allergens. Medicines, foods, insect stings and bites, and latex most often cause severe allergic reactions.

With proper evaluation, allergists identify most causes of anaphylaxis. Some people have allergic reactions without any known exposure to common allergens. If an allergist cannot identify a trigger, the condition is idiopathic anaphylaxis.

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About Pets And Asthma

Proteins in your pet’s skin flakes, urine, feces, saliva and hair can trigger asthma. Dogs, cats, rodents and other warm-blooded mammals can trigger asthma in individuals with an allergy to animal dander.

The most effective method to control animal allergens is to not allow animals in the home. If you remove an animal from the home, it is important to thoroughly clean the floors, walls, carpets and upholstered furniture.

Some individuals may find isolation measures to be sufficiently effective. Isolation measures that have been suggested include keeping pets out of the sleeping areas, keeping pets away from upholstered furniture, carpets and stuffed toys, keeping the pet outdoors as much as possible and isolating sensitive individuals from the pet as much as possible.

Physical Exercise / Activities

Exercise can also cause the symptoms of asthma because of a higher respiratory rate that leads to dryer air. This makes it difficult for your airways to breathe, resulting in lower stamina, cough, wheezing, and other asthma symptoms.

This is called bronchoconstriction caused by exercise or asthma generally associated with exercise.

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What Should I Do If I Think I Have Asthma

If you suspect you might have asthma, you should see your doctor for a professional diagnosis. Dont ignore it if you do have asthma, the sooner you get it under control, the faster you can get back to living a full and active life. For more information on how Asthma Australia is helping people with asthma to breathe so they can live freely, visit About Us.

How Do You Reduce Asthma Triggers

Taking steps to reduce your exposure asthma triggers is a key part of asthma control, including:

Is water good for asthma? Staying hydrated with plenty of fluids such as water, juice, and tea can help alleviate asthma symptoms.

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Feathered And Furry Friends Can Trigger Asthma

Pets and animals, while adorable, can trigger an asthma episode in people who are allergic to them. Dander is one trigger, and all animals have it .

Additionally, proteins found in an animals saliva, feces, urine, hair, and skin can trigger asthma. The best way to avoid a flare-up from these triggers is to avoid the animal altogether.

If youre not ready to part ways with a beloved family pet, try keeping the animal out of your bedroom, off furniture, and outside most of the time if possible. Indoor pets should be bathed frequently.

Medical History And Physical Exam

Your doctor will ask about your risk factors for asthma and your symptoms. They may ask also about any known allergies. This includes how often symptoms occur, what seems to trigger your symptoms, when or where symptoms occur, and if your symptoms wake you up at night.

During the physical exam, your doctor may:

• Listen to your breathing and look for symptoms of asthma
• Look for allergic skin conditions, such as eczema

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Exercise Sex And Physical Activity

People affected by exercise-induced asthma can experience an asthma attack as a result of intense physical activity. But even for others, increased heart rate can sometimes lead to exacerbation of symptoms. During exercise or sexual activity, breathing usually becomes heavier. In ordinary circumstances, the inhaled air will get warmed up in the nose prior to entering the lungs, but, during physical activity of any kind, most people breathe through mouth, causing colder and dryer air to enter the organism. Asthmatics commonly react to these changes, so its important to be aware of them.

What Causes An Asthma Attack Common Asthma Triggers And How To Avoid Them

An asthma attack denotes a sudden and acute exacerbation of symptoms of asthma, leading to serious breathing difficulties. As all asthmatics know, these attacks can be caused by different factors and stimuli, usually called triggers. They can be very varied and can affect different individuals in different ways. So, while there are no universal asthma triggers, we can still single out the most common ones that affect the largest percentage of asthmatics. Usually, breathing in allergens is considered to be the most common trigger, but even then, the exact type of those allergens will play a crucial role in the possible onset of an asthma attack.

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When To See A Doctor

If a person has any symptoms of a food allergy and suspects that they have an oat allergy, they can see their doctor or an allergist.

A doctor or allergist will be able to carry out tests to determine whether or not oats are causing the allergic reaction.

If a person experiences any severe symptoms, anaphylactic shock, or the symptoms of FPIES, they need immediate medical attention.

A person with an oat allergy may need to avoid certain products. These include certain:

Different Types Of Triggers

There are two types of asthma triggers:

Inflammatory triggers set off an allergic reaction and can cause inflammation of the lung airways or tightening of the airway muscles. Inflammatory triggers include dust mites, animals, cockroaches, moulds, and pollens. Identification of allergic triggers is best confirmed by an allergists assessment.

Symptom triggers generally do not cause swelling, but they can provoke twitchy airways, especially if theyre already inflamed. Symptom triggers include smoke, exercise, cold air, chemical fumes , and intense emotions.

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How To Manage Asthma If I React To Pollen

Its not that often that people are allergic to all types of pollen. So, for most asthmatics, the exacerbation of symptoms may be tied to specific months of the year when the plant species they do react to are in flowering. If your condition is rather seasonal in nature, than pollen is probably whats causing it. By keeping a diary on when the symptoms manifest, you will be able to single out the months when the symptoms are at their worst. With this information, you can easily find out which plant species are flowering at that same time of the year. Alternatively, you can go to a doctor and ask to be tested for different types of pollen.

To mitigate the symptoms you can try to keep windows and doors shut when you are indoors, and also shower immediately after returning home and changing your clothes in order to eliminate exposure to pollen that might have already reached you. Finally, keeping an eye on pollen forecast and adjusting your plans accordingly can also be rather successful preventive strategies.

Triggers Of Asthma Attack

Asthma is a condition that inflames and restricts the lung’s airways. The inflammations and swelling of airways worsen when an asthma attack takes place, and mucus production rises, making it hard to breathe. Such symptoms can result in wheezing, coughing, and breathlessness.

Several triggers can exacerbate your asthma and boost the risk of an asthma attack leading to a quick visit to an Oklahoma allergy and asthma clinic. Here are a couple of triggers for an asthma attack:

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What Are The Symptoms Of Asthma

While symptoms vary from person to person, the most common signs of mild asthma include:

• difficulty breathing feeling breathless, even while resting, or being unable to finish full sentences before needing to take another breath
• wheezing making a whistling sound while breathing
• coughing either at specific times or after certain activities

During a severe asthma attack, you may notice more serious symptoms, such as:

• feeling very distressed, exhausted or even limp from trying to breathe
• deep sucking motions at the throat or chest while trying to breathe

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Allergies And Asthma Can Be Caused By Yeast Infections Or Fungal Infections

Medically reviewed by Dr. Vibhuti Rana, PhD. â Written by Dan Jackowiak Nc, HHP and Dr. Atmika Paudel, PhD

Can allergies and asthma be caused by yeast and fungi? Keep reading, the answer may surprise you!

Asthma is a disease, for which the cause is mostly unknown. Some causes can be traced to airborne substances like cement dust, or inhaled chemicals that damage the lungs. Interestingly, yeast and fungi can also cause allergies and asthma.

Typically when some one suffers an asthma attack the lungs and airways become inflamed, which results in:

• Shortness of breath
• A feeling of pressure in the chest
• Intolerance to dairy, especially milk

Another possible âcauseâ that worsens asthma is acid reflux, i.e., acid from the stomach going back up the esophagus and back down into the lungs, causing irritation and gastroesophageal reflux disease .

Allergic reactions to food products are a definite reason of asthma in many people. Food allergies can cause numerous signs of respiratory discomfort including asthma, cough, nasal congestion, excess mucus production, hoarseness, postnasal drip, tonsillitis, sore throat, sneezing, and stuffy nose.

The only way to identify these food allergies is to test them or see a doctor who specializes in Nambudripadâs Allergy Elimination Techniques .

Airborne allergies usually cause:

• A feeling of pressure in the sinus

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What Are Alternatives To Aspirin And Nsaids

People with aspirin-induced asthma can either avoid these medications or undergo aspirin desensitization. If you chose to avoid the medications, your health care provider can recommend safe alternatives to take for pain and inflammation.3

Aspirin desensitization leads to improvements in about 60% of people.5 The process takes two to four days and is done in a specialized facility.4 You are given a very low starting dose of aspirin. The next dose you are given is slightly higher. Increasing doses are given until all the reactions disappear.1 After aspirin desensitization, you will need to take aspirin daily to maintain the effect.

Breathing Through Your Mouth

Breathing is automatic so you will need to pay attention to how you breathe. When you breathe in frosty air through your mouth, it doesnt warm up in your nasal passages which irritate the respiratory system. Its natural and healthier to breathe through your nose because it helps your body effectively use the air being inhaled.

Nose breathing also filters out foreign particles, humidify inhaled air and produces nitric oxide, a vasodilator, which means it helps to widen blood vessels. This helps improve oxygen circulation in your body.

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