Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways which is characterized by coughing, wheezing and a heavy chest feeling. Cough as a symptom of asthma can occur with or without phlegm.
Then there is also shortness of breath with breath that sounds like wheezing, or the chest feels pressured. Sometimes there can also be pain in the chest.
Asthma is usually periodic. This means that it appears at certain times, such as at night and early in the morning.
The cause of asthma itself is chronic inflammation of the airways. Well, this inflammation can arise because it is triggered by several things.
Several things that can trigger airway inflammation that can lead to asthma are:
- Allergy
- Excessive activity
- Changes in the weather
- Respiratory infection
- Stress
One of the factors for asthma is also genetic factors. So there is a trait called atopic or allergic which is usually passed down from parents to their children. However, not all asthma is hereditary.
Continuing the issue of asthma in heredity, asthma can indeed arise due to hereditary factors. However, the potential size depends on the carrier. Indeed, there are hereditary causes (factors), so how big the possibility is depends on the carrier. So everything is determined by parents.
This means that if both parents have a history of allergies, the possibility of asthma in the child will be greater. However, if only one parent suffers from an allergic disease, the possibility of asthma in the child will be lower.
Apart from hereditary factors, children can also experience asthma if there are trigger factors. Factors that trigger asthma, apart from heredity, are quite diverse.
Cigarette smoke, vehicle fumes, air fresheners, powders, even diffusers (aromatherapy devices) can also trigger asthma attacks.
Indeed, most of the causes of children's asthma are what the child inhales. Although there are also other causes such as foods such as nuts or seafood, they can also cause asthma, but most of them are inhaled.
In society, sometimes the symptoms of asthma are not immediately recognized. For example, when there are symptoms of coughing, the sufferer may not realize that these symptoms refer to asthma.
So, how do you diagnose asthma so that treatment is carried out immediately and appropriately?
The diagnosis needs to refer back to the definition of asthma. Where the basis of asthma is airway inflammation. The basis is inflammation of the airways so that usually there are symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, and the definition mentioned above is periodic, namely occurring at night.
To make a diagnosis, the doctor will interview the patient because the history determines 80 percent of the diagnosis for asthma.
Questions in the anamnesis generally revolve around genetic history, when the symptoms appeared, breathing sounds or not, and so on.
We also rule out other diagnoses because sometimes other diseases have the same symptoms, so maybe we need X-rays, chest photos, and there is an examination called spirometry to determine lung function so we can find out whether there is airway obstruction.
Article written by dr. Herman, Sp.P (Lung and Respiratory Specialist Doctor at EMC Sentul Hospital).
Healthy Monday program together with Liputan6.com.