Bronchial Asthma, Causes and Potential Triggers
What is Bronchial Asthma?
Bronchial Asthma is an obstructive respiratory disorder. Asthma is generally a condition that is characterized by reversible bronchospasm and chronic inflammation of the airway passages due to irritant stimuli.
Who is affected by Asthma?
It is a commonest chronic disease in children in economically developed countries and is also common in adults. The incidence of Asthma has been increasing in recent years.
Why does Asthma occur?
Asthma is thought to be due to the genetic predisposition in individuals due to hyperreactivity in the airways.
Causes of Asthma:
Asthma is caused due to the exposure of susceptible individuals to certain substances (allergens/triggers), which induces marked bronchospasm and airway inflammation. Individuals with Asthma produce a large amount of the antibody IgE. These IgE antibodies attach to the mast cells present in the tissues. If the individual is exposed to a trigger, like pollen it results in allergen-binding mast cell-bound IgE. This causes the release of specific inflammatory mediators like histamines, leukotrienes, and eosinophilic chemotactic factors. The patient’s response to these triggers can be divided into two phases: early phase and late phase.
List of the potential Asthma triggers:
- Allergens like pollen, fungi, pet dander, dust mites
- Cold air
- Pollutants
- Strong emotions
- Cigarette smoke
- Respiratory tract infections
- Exercise
- Irritants such as ammonia and sulfur dioxide
- Capsaicin
- Endogenous inflammatory mediators