Asthma Facts - Types of Asthma and Causes

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disorder and iscontinue to be prone to various allergies even in
very prevalent in almost all parts of the world.later stages of life. Sometimes allergy triggered
There are mainly two different kinds of asthma.off by one kind of allergen can be easily
Sometimes there are symptoms that resembletranslated into a full blown asthmatic attack also.
asthma but do not actually qualify to be the fullSometimes allergies caused by allergens may lead
blown disease. This brings us to the need ofto asthma like symptoms but they do not qualify
understanding asthma thoroughly as a disease soas full blown cases of asthma. Allergies are very
that proper prevention and cure can then bedifficult to detect because of the variety of
practiced.allergens as well as the variety of reactions
Asthma is generally broadly classified to be ofshown by the patients towards each. But careful
two types. These are the categories of bronchialanalysis by a qualified doctor can lead to proper
asthma and the categorization is based on thejudgement in the detection of asthma.
simple criteria of the predominant factors thatNormally most cases of extrinsic asthma may
cause the disease. These two types are:benefit tremendously with anti-allergic treatments
Extrinsic Asthma: Extrinsic asthma is classified asof different types. This is because the disease is
that form of asthma which develops when themainly caused due to the allergen triggers and
people prone to it are exposed to surroundingsgets suppressed with adequate suppression of
containing various allergens. Generally these peoplethe allergen. But once the allergen is identified or
do not show any symptoms and appear to beeven suspected the patients must take care in
perfectly healthy but upon exposure to annot exposing themselves to it to the extent
allergen that has the potency to developpossible.
symptoms in them they can develop theIntrinsic Asthma: This type of asthma is generally
symptoms of asthma very quickly.not a resultant of allergic reaction to any kind of
The symptoms thus manifested can range fromallergens. This may occur generally in the later
mild to chronic depending upon the reaction of thestages of life. The disease may take full blown
body towards the allergen. The people whoproportions and may manifest all of a sudden. This
generally develop asthma this way show ameans that the disease has a way of attacking
tendency towards other allergies and infectionsthe people who do not have any known history
also like eczema. If tested it is seen that suchof similar or even remotely similar disorders. This
people generally show allergic reactions to one oralso applies to not having any genetic history of
more than one allergens. These allergens can bethe disease. These facts make it very difficult for
of any kind. They can be food allergens or dustthe patient as well as the doctor as the patient's
or animal dander or smoke or pollutants of anypsychological acceptance of any disease is of
other kind.prime importance in any treatment. Since this
It is important to understand that the people whodisease is not triggered by allergens, these
are usually prone to this kind of asthma maypatients do not respond to the anti-allergic
have been suffering from recurrent mild totreatments of any kind.
severe bouts of cold, cough and repeatedIntrinsic asthma normally occurs due to some
sneezing. This happens generally because thedisease of the lung that may have existed for a
respiratory tract becomes weakened with everylong time but may not have been detected.
such bout of cold and since the person is alreadySometimes it is seen that the patients suffering
prone to allergies, chances of his systemfrom some kind of bronchial infection in the early
contacting asthma become very high. This is alsostages of life develop intrinsic asthma all of a
a type of asthma that is very prevalent insudden after many years of the infection being
younger stages in life especially in smaller kidscured and without any manifestation of any kind
who get exposed to atmospheric pollutants a lot.of symptoms of recurrence of the infection. This
In the third world countries the situation is veryonly goes to show that the lung infections need
bleak for patients showing tendencies of extrinsicto be detected and treated properly and should
asthma. This is because the laws controlling thenever be neglected.
effect of pollutants from various factories andAlso the people who have had any kind of lung
developmental outlets are very poor and most ofdisorder should take extra care and get
the time they are constantly flouted. So thethemselves checked from time to time. Such
tendency of extrinsic asthma can be really calledpeople should also take care to get the condition
as a developmental or lifestyle disease.of asthma ruled out properly if they ever find
It is also seen that many of the patients whothemselves in situations where even mild
show tendencies of this type of asthma maysymptoms of asthma are visible in their systems.