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Asthma - Triggers Vs Causes
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes airways (bronchial tubes)
particularly sensitive to irritants, and this is characterized by difficulty in
breathing.
Asthma cannot be cured, but for most patients it can be controlled so that they
have only minimal and infrequent symptoms and they can live an active life.
If you have asthma, managing it is an important part of your life. Controlling
your asthma means staying away from things that bother your airways and taking
medicines as directed by your doctor.
When talking about diseases, it is important to distinguish between causes and
triggers.
A trigger is something which sets off an attack, but which does not make you
asthmatic in the first place.
The "trigger factors", or "triggers", of asthma are used to describe the things
which can cause an attack in someone who already has asthma.
But you hear these words used for the dog to which you may be allergic, or the
cat, or the mould on the wallpaper which causes your asthma, or the pollen that
cause your asthma, and even about house dust mites. Instead of calling these
things causes, which is what they are, people call them "triggers". They say
that your cat is triggering your asthma.
This is a bit like calling an on-coming car the trigger for an accident.
Demoting causes, by calling them triggers, makes people think they are not so
important, and that maybe they should just keep using their inhalers instead of
making efforts to root out the cause of their asthma and remove these from their
environment.
A cause is something without which an effect (such as asthma) will not happen.
That is, a cause is something without which you would not be asthmatic. There
may be more than one cause for an asthma attack.
We normally think of a trigger factor as something small, which causes something
big to happen suddenly. A trigger is a type of cause. But the implication is
that the important causes have to be there already if the trigger is to work,
and that the trigger is not so important. It is the cause which is important.
For example, if you don't have asthmatic lungs, or your asthma is really well
controlled by treatment, a cold won't give you any symptoms of asthma.
So in this sense, it is fair to call the cold a "trigger factor". In addition,
if you did not catch colds, this would not stop you having asthma, so in that
sense it cannot be called the true cause of the disease.
But if you have asthma whenever you go near dogs, then dogs in the past have
been the cause, and a dog now can trigger an attack. In other words, a dog can
be a cause of asthma and also a trigger of an attack.
Concentrating only on the triggering of the attacks misses the really important
point that contact with dogs was a cause of the asthma in the first place.
Obviously, an asthma sufferer will want to avoid both causes and triggers of
asthma, but the causes are more serious. Without the causes, the triggers would
do absolutely no harm.
At a Glance … Asthma
- Triggers Vs Causes-
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that makes airways (bronchial
tubes) particularly sensitive to irritants, and this is characterized by
difficulty in breathing.
-
When talking about diseases, it is important to distinguish between
causes and triggers.
-
A trigger for asthma is something which sets off an attack, but which does
not make you asthmatic in the first place.
-
A cause is something without which an effect (such as asthma) will
not happen. That is, a cause is something without which you would
not be asthmatic.
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Asthma Books
Here we are launching two asthma eBooks with basic information and tips about
Astma and Allergies.
- The Asthma Secrets
- The Asthma Basics
Come back and Check them out in a few weeks!
Asthma Resources
The asthma resources on this site are based on various reports and the experience of respected authorities.
Asthma and Pregnancy
The first question most women on medication ask when they are expecting a baby,
is "Will this medicine harm my baby?"
Safe Drugs and Pregnancy
Which Drugs and Medicines are Safe for use during Pregnancy?
Asthma Medicines and
Pregnancy
Far from being dangerous in pregnancies, certain asthma medicines can help to
protect your baby and help it to develop normally.
Exercise and Asthma
A few people seem to get asthma attacks only when they run or take other
exercise.
Type of Exercise
Some types of exercise are worse than others. For example, if you do different
types of exercise that you use the same amount of oxygen, then some will cause
more wheeziness or chest tightness than others.
Avoid Exercise
People with asthma should definitely exercise. Enjoyable exercise is even more
important for asthma sufferers than for other people.
Occupational Asthma
Some jobs can actually cause asthma. Asthma caused by dust or fumes at work is
called occupational asthma.
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