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Sorting out Asthma Allergies From Other Asthma Symptoms |
 Symptoms of asthma can be unpleasant at best. And if they become severe, those symptoms will make it virtually impossible to go about your day. The more you understand about your symptoms, the easier it is to cope with the problem you have. There are actually two kinds of asthma. Some asthma problems are directly related to allergy problems you may have. Other asthma sufferers have a variation on the problem that is not tied to any allergy symptoms at all.
It is a good idea to know whether you or a loved one is dealing with asthma allergy symptoms or if you have asthma unrelated to allergies. The reason to understand the distinction is that it affects how you avoid the incidence of asthma episodes. The key to both problems is to understand what triggers your episodes and avoid those triggers. To avoid asthma allergies, you must stay away from the allergens that cause your misery. So to help sort out this distinction, let's spend a little time on the difference between asthma allergies and asthma that is not allergy related.
One of the key determination factors to separate asthma allergies from regular asthma is age. Asthma allergies almost never develop in people over the age of 40. Very often asthma allergy problems begin early in the life of a child. You might notice your child has developed a wheeze as early as his or her first birthday.
As the child grows older, typical allergy problems will become associated with the asthma symptoms the youngster experiences. So in the spring, pollen will set off asthma allergy problems or if your family keeps a dog or cat around, a pet allergy can be the source of asthma allergy symptoms. That distinctive asthma wheeze will be a common element of these various allergic reactions to allergens.
The good news is that for a large amount of asthma allergy problems, the symptoms are somewhat manageable and they can often be controlled with over the counter medications like Benadryl. Once you understand the triggers that set off the asthma allergy symptoms, simple avoidance can cut down or eliminate the potential of an episode of symptoms entirely. Most children who have to deal with asthma allergy problems in infancy and childhood grow out of the problem or see the frequency of asthma allergy episodes go down significantly over time. Roughly 75% of children who are diagnosed with asthma allergies grow out of them in adulthood.
By contrast, asthma problems that are not connected to asthma allergy symptoms almost always develop after the age of 40. In some cases, the adult who suffers with these kinds of asthma problems may have had asthma allergy issues at a young age that disappeared for a number of years. Something may trigger the return of asthma symptoms like a bad cold or the flu. If you notice that wheezing and asthma symptoms linger long after you have recovered from your illness, it might be smart to visit a doctor to see if you are experiencing an asthma episode.
While adult asthma that is not allergy related commonly occurs in adults who had breathing related illnesses like bronchitis in their youth, this is not always the case. But that characteristic tightness of the chest that is so disturbing that we often associate with asthma can arrive rather suddenly and take a new asthma sufferer by surprise. Some adults suspect they are having heart problems when the truth is they have just developed non-allergic asthma and the symptoms are causing that concern. A visit to the doctor is always smart in either case.
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