Asthma Signs and Symptoms

The patient usually gives a history of recurrent breathing problems (dyspnea) and air hunger. the dyspnea is usually worse at night and the patient may have to prop up in bed or sleep the remainder of the night in a sitting position. The breathing problems may start along with a cold so that it seems that the patient simply did not recover from the cold.

Along with the attack is a lot of coughing and this seems to be the only way to get a deeper breath of air. The way this can be explained is that due to the bronchoconstriction (=spasm of the airtubes) air gets trapped in the air sacs (called alveoli) and only coughing sqeezes the air out to a certain extent.

The problem with asthma is that due to bronchiolitis the air gets trapped and proper oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange cannot occur. As explained above, the physician can readily hear this as wheezing with the help of the stethoscope. But with a severe asthma attack an observant stand-by person can often hear this also as can the patient. A chronic cough is another symptom that often occurs, made worse with exercise or brought on by cold air. Parents are not infrequently the ones who pick up on this with a child that might cough in the sleep, but may be relatively OK during the day. If the physician measures the PEF with a peak flow meter, this can show at this point in time very often that early mild intermittent asthma is present.

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Disclaimer:

This outline is only a teaching aid to patients and should stimulate you to ask the right questions when seeing your doctor. However, the responsibility of treatment stays in the hands of your doctor and you.

References:

2. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program. Expert Panel Report II. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 1997.

6. Merck Manual 1999. Section 6: Pulmonary disorders

Last Modified: Nov. 4, 2006