• Question: How do people get asthma?

    Asked by anon-220698 to Nina on 15 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Nina Rzechorzek

      Nina Rzechorzek answered on 15 Jun 2019:

      Hi Sophia,

      Asthma is a common, chronic inflammatory disorder affecting the airways. There are many types of asthma, and many potential causes and triggers, but common to all cases of asthma is ‘over activation’ of the immune system leading to excessive inflammation. Probably the best resource I’ve found online that covers this and many related questions is:

      https://www.asthma.org.uk

      Look especially at the ‘Health Advice’ and ‘Research’ tabs. Ultimately what determines whether a person will get any form asthma depends on a combination of their genetic profile and the things they are exposed to during life.

      Other animals can also suffer from immune-mediated inflammatory airway diseases – these have various different names; examples include feline asthma and equine recurrent airway obstruction.

      Let me know if you have any more questions!

Comments

  • Photo: Anabel

    Anabel commented on :

    Great question Sophia, and Nina’s answer covers it very well – as she said, asthma is constriction of the airways due to over-activation of the body’s immune system. Asthma is known to run in families (i.e. it has a genetic link), but in addition, environmental factors are also a major cause/trigger. Exposure to animal dander or to cigarette smoke as a child may prompt asthma, as well as excessive exposure to air pollution or certain chemicals. Premature babies have a high likelihood of developing asthma since the lungs are one of the last organs to develop during pregnancy and if not yet fully developed at the time of birth can be very sensitive to any air pollutants or infections. Lastly, there is a school of thought that says that being “too clean” around babies can make them predisposed to developing asthma since they haven’t learnt to fight any biological invaders (bacteria) or normal levels of dust and dirt.