Asthma can affect anyone and can be life-threatening if not treated immediately. In order not to be late for help, this is an early asthma symptoms that you should know.
Early symptoms of asthma need to be known to prevent the disease from developing to become more severe.
Asthma is a chronic disease of the respiratory tract characterized by bronchial hyperactivity, i.e. sensitivity of the respiratory tract to various stimuli.
Asthma is known to attack all ages. However, the disease is more about children and young older persons.
In children, asthma can be a serious problem because its various symptoms can be life-threatening. Meanwhile, in older persons, asthma can interfere with any activity, such as work, social relationships, including exercise.
Asthma Symptoms
The main symptoms of asthma include
Chest tightness
The first symptom of asthma is a chest condition that feels claustrophobic. The airways, or bronchi, in humans, are covered by muscle fibers. When a person has asthma, the muscles will become stiff or tense, making the chest of the asthma sufferer feel tight and depressed.
These asthma symptoms will make it difficult for you to breathe and will be painful when going to take a breath. You will feel sensations such as being pressed or punched with heavy objects on the chest. Other symptoms such as coughing and wheezing will also worsen when these sensations appear.
However, chest pain is known as a subjective symptom. This is because a person’s ability to withstand pain varies, so the doctor cannot take measurements with certainty. The doctor will usually rely only on the description of the pain complained by the patient.
Difficulty Breathing
The most common symptom for asthmatics is the difficulty of breathing. Usually this makes the sufferer become short of breath so as to make the sufferer up to gasp. It could also cause a “whining” sound when breathing. His breath will also be half-and-half only and not intact causing the sufferer to become disturbed while doing his activities.
Tired and Lethargic
Asthmatics will also often experience fatigue and lethargy despite only doing simple activities. Tired and lethargic is caused by a lack of oxygen in the body because oxygen circulation is impaired or not smooth due to narrowing in the respiratory tract. Lack of oxygen will affect oxygen levels throughout the body.
Disappearance of Sound
Symptoms of asthma in another severe stage are loss of voice, this is caused by a persistent cough so that within a certain period of time asthmatics may lose their voice. And if you have a conversation in a normal time, the person’s voice will sound hoarse.
Cough
Coughing is a sign that your airways are inflamed, a hallmark of asthma. Clogged airways cause the airways to become sensitive.
Increased sensitivity makes you more likely to cough in response to allergens such as pollen or perfume-like irritations in an effort to reduce irritation.
Coughing can also be caused by smo**king or signs of viral infection, but is more likely to become asthmatic if it lasts more than two weeks, keeps returning or is triggered by allergens such as pollen.
Asthma-related coughs tend to get worse at night and in the morning.
Wheezing
Wheezing or squeaking or whistling while breathing, is a sign that the inflamed respiratory tract is narrowing.
Asthma-related wheezing tends to occur more while exhaling than inhaling.
But wheezing can also be a sign of inflammation of many other conditions, especially chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (COPD), bronchitis, respiratory tract infections, allergies, emphysema, sleep apnea, heart failure and even some treatments.
Wheezing is more likely to be asthmatic when it persists, sometimes for years, especially in children under the age of three.
The severity of asthma symptoms varies from mild to severe. Worsening of symptoms usually occurs at night or early in the morning. Often this makes it difficult for asthmatics to sleep and the need for inhalers is increasingly frequent. In addition, worsening of symptoms can also be triggered by allergic reactions or physical activity.