8 Early Warning Signs of Asthma

8 Early Warning Signs of Asthma

Asthma is a medical condition that can cause difficulty in breathing. For some asthma patients, the condition can hinder day-to-day functions in a life-threatening manner as there aren’t any signs that warn one of an impending asthma attack. Here are some of the early warning signs of asthma that one should be aware of.

Wheezing
Wheezing refers to the whistling sound a person makes while exhaling due to the narrow air passages. The narrowing of airways could be due to any kind of triggers, both from around the person or even something that is genetically passed. However, wheezing is also a symptom of other health conditions like pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases among others.

Breathing Problems
Asthma causes the airways to get inflamed and filled with mucus. This can lead to the air passages getting constricted, creating difficulty in breathing. Individuals with constricted airways finding it hard to breathe may also feel anxious, which further worsens the difficulty.

Nasal Flares
Asthma patients may also experience some nasal flaring, which is a clear sign of issues in breathing. Nasal flaring refers to the nostrils being stretched when one breathes. This is an important indicator of asthma in infants and older kids.

Anxiety
This warning sign can either evoke an asthma attack or may even be a result of one. For those facing breathing problems and have yet not been diagnosed as asthmatic, the unpredictable occurrence of a sudden bout of breathing issues can cause anxiety. This can, in turn, trigger an attack for some patients.

Tightness in the Chest
Chest tightening happens due to the narrowing air passages. It can be described as a feeling of something being tightened around the chest area. This can also trigger anxiety, other than the difficulty of a breather.

Extreme Tiredness
Patients suffering from asthma may feel tired from the lack of oxygen in the body. For those who suffer from asthma attacks at the night, it can be a major deterrent for a good sleep, causing the person to feel fatigued the following day. An asthma attack reduced the amount of oxygen taken in by the body.

Sighing
Thos is one of the major early signs of asthma. It is a natural action that causes the lungs to expand to full capacity. The constricted airways can lead to an asthmatic patient sighing often to get more air in or out of the body.

Coughing
Coughing is a bodily action to eradicate anything that can cause an infection. There are two types of coughing: productive and non-productive. Asthma patients can experience both kinds of cough, the former being helpful as it is characterized by the removal of phlegm from the lungs. Non-productive cough, which is more common among patients of asthma, is a reaction to any element that causes constriction of the bronchial tubes. Frequently coughing without expelling any phlegm and bouts of such coughing accompanied by wheezing could be a sign of asthma.