ASTHMA is a serious breathing condition which has no cure.
While there are treatments, occasionally an asthma attack can prove fatal.
According to the NHS the main symptoms of asthma are wheezing – a whistling sound when you breathe – breathlessness, a tight chest and coughing.
Treatment is usually in the form of an inhaler, which people carry around with them.
There are two types; a reliever inhaler, which quickly alleviates symptoms for a short period, and preventer inhalers, which are used every day to prevent symptoms occurring.
In some cases, people can take tablets for their asthma.
Can you get asthma as an adult?
Asthma is a lung condition which causes breathing difficulties, and often affects children.
According to the NHS, it can affect people of all ages.
Their website says: “It affects people of all ages and often starts in childhood, although it can also develop for the first time in adults.”
Asthma UK states other causal factors are if you have a family history of asthma, allergies or eczema, a low birth weight, your mother smoked while pregnant, your parents smoke or you were around smoke as a child, or if you suffered from bronchiolitis as a child.
Is it triggered by allergies?
There are numerous 'triggers' for asthma, and people will often soon work out what their individual trigger is.
The NHS says common triggers include;
- Allergies – to house dust mites, animal fur or pollen
- Smoke, pollution and cold air
- Exercise
- Infections like colds or flu
But in adults, asthma triggers are less likely to be allergies, such as pets, pollen, house or dust mites, and more likely brought on by hormonal changes or work-related.
What causes people to develop it later in life?
There are many different causes of asthma, but if you develop it later in life this is known as adult-onset or late-onset asthma.
Asthma UK details the factors which could increase the risk of developing it as an adult.
these include being exposed to certain substances at work can cause it, and this is known as occupational asthma.
Work-related, or occupational asthma, can include things such as chemicals found in spray paint, flour or grain dust, animals, wood dust, latex or substances found in fumes.
According to the NHS, people who work in industries such as paint sprayers, bakers, pastry makers, nurses, chemical workers, animal handlers, timber workers, welders and food processing workers have a higher risk of being exposed to these substances.
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And if you’re a woman, hormones can affect asthma symptoms, and some women first develop asthma before and after the menopause.
Sometimes adults develop it after a viral infection.
Asthma UK state that one in 12 adults are being treated for the condition.
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