asthma :: essays research papers

IntroductionMost of you may not think of asthma attack as a killer disease, yet more that 5,000 Americans die of asthma each year. According to the Mayo Clinic web page, asthma also accounts for more that 400,000 hospital discharges annually. As the number of people with asthma increases, the more likely you argon to come in contact with a person who has the disease. As far as I can remember, I consume had asthma my whole life. My stimulate and one of my sisters also have asthma, so I have a first hand experience with it. This morning, I will discuss some raise facts about asthma, I will specifically focus on what it is, warning signs, symptoms, causes, and the treatments that are used. What it isAsthma is best described by its technical name rechargeable Obstructive Airway Disease (ROAD). In other words, asthma is a condition in which the airways of the lungs become either narrowed or blocked. The results are normally temporary but they cause shortness of breath, breathing tro uble, wheezing, coughing, and tightness in the chest. To agnize what it acceptedly feels like to have asthma, I would like everyone to pick up the straw thats on their desk and put it in their mouth as if they were using it to drink something. Then, pinch your nose. Try breathing for twenty seconds. A real attack can last up to more than 10 minutes and you are only doing it for 20 seconds. If we had more time, I would have the class go to a stairwell and have you run up and down and see what it is like to have asthma while doing other activities. SymptomsAsthma symptoms can range from delicate to very severe. A person may experience only occasional severe episodes one time and then experience frequents mild episodes. According to the book, sustentation Well With Asthma, there are four main symptoms of an asthma attack. Since an attack can be so overwhelming and frightening, it may be difficult to know whats going on inside of a persons body. Here are the major elements of an ast hma attack-Shortness of breath=described as tightness of the chest. around people have trouble breathing during exercise, others experience it after inhaling smoke, while others need to ingest a particular food-regardless of the circumstance, all people with asthma have trouble breathing. -Wheezing=not all people will asthma wheeze, but many do.