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Asthma Information - Special Types Of Asthma
by Tom Alter
A few types of asthma are special because they are caused due to certain special
conditions. There are mainly four such special conditions that are well
recognized by doctors. These can be described as:
Exercise Induced Asthma: As the name suggests this is the difficulty in
breathing and asthma like situation induced after heavy exercise. The intensity
and duration of any exercise depends upon the endurance and the physical
conditioning of an individual. Many asthmatics are capable of exercising for
longer durations of time as well as even during an attack. But others must stop
immediately at the onset of the attack. This would therefore depend completely
on individual discretion.
During the normal exercise routine the bronchial tubes open or dilate to improve
the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. This is mainly attributed to release
of adrenalin into the system because of the exercise. This is because during
exercise a person mainly needs more oxygen, but when a person suffering with
asthma exercises exactly the opposite situation manifests.
The bronchial tubes tighten and constrict instead of dilating. So within a very
short span of exercising the asthmatic person starts to cough and wheeze. In
some cases it is seen the person develops the symptoms of coughing and wheezing
only after several hours of exercising. This is called delayed exercise induced
asthma. It is seen that most of the exercise induced asthma attacks subside
within a few minutes even if they are left untreated. The maximum duration of an
attack lasting is generally not more than thirty to sixty minutes.
Several factors influence exercise induced asthma. These may be the type of
exercise and also the type of weather conditions that are there. It is seen that
the disease troubles people more when they exercise in cold and dry climates.
Running may be a more troublesome activity than swimming and bicycling.
Hidden Asthma: Everyone who suffers with asthma may not have more obvious
symptoms of coughing and wheezing. Sometimes people only have shortness of breath,
tightness of chest or just a nagging cough. Many people suffer with undiagnosed
cough and it is seen that one in three of them has undiagnosed asthma.
This is called cough variant asthma. This kind of cough is different from normal
cough. It is usually more irritating. It gets triggered off with cold weather
and exertion due to exercise. It is very nagging in nature and can wake a person
from deep sleep. Most people with hidden asthma sooner or later develop symptoms
of full blown asthma.
Patients of hidden asthma may have difficulty in getting their condition
diagnosed and treated properly. Very often they are treated with antihistamines,
cough medicines, decongestants and antibiotics. This is mainly because their
cough is not accompanied with wheezing.
Patients with hidden asthma usually respond quite well to the basic asthma
medications. Usually the most important symptom here is coughing during sleep
and exercise. Wheezing may not be a symptom at all. So if someone coughs
repeatedly during sleep and upon exertion it is best for him to get himself
checked for hidden asthma.
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