Asthma
Asthma is a long term (chronic) disease that affects your lung tubes (airways). When asthma is not controlled the inside walls of your airways are inflamed. This leads swelling and excessive mucus production. Sensitive airways become affected by triggers and things you may be allergic to. As the airways react, they get narrower leading to difficult air flow. The reduction of air flow causes symptoms like coughing, wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), and difficulty breathing. The first important step in controlling your asthma is to identify those triggers and allergen, and staying away from them! We recommend a breathing test on the initial visit then every year, to measures how air is moving through your lungs.
Common asthma symptoms include:
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Coughing: may be worse at night and in the early morning. You may have increased nighttime awakenings due to asthma.
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Wheezing: whistling or squeaky sound when you breathe.
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Chest tightness: you may feel as if something is sitting on your chest.
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Shortness of breath: you may feel out of breath or you can’t get enough air in and out of your lungs.
Noisy breathing.
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Fast breathing.
If you do have asthma, you should see your doctor regularly so that you can learn what things trigger your asthma symptoms to worsen and how to avoid them. Clemenceau Medical Center offers a spectrum of latest and state of the art diagnostic tools and tests for the assessment of asthma, including: complete lung function testing, methacholine challenge tests, specific allergy testing and pulse oximetry testing. In most patients asthma can be controlled with medications so that you only have minimal and infrequent symptoms. (For more information please refer to the corresponding patient information)