Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsImpact of InflammationResponse to InfectionsWhen Allergies StrikeNon-Allergic AsthmaAtopy and the Risk of AsthmaWhat You Can Do
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Impact of Inflammation
Response to Infections
When Allergies Strike
Non-Allergic Asthma
Atopy and the Risk of Asthma
What You Can Do
The Impact of Inflammation
These includemonocytesthat instigate the generalized frontline assault (a.k.a. innate immunity) andB cells and T cellsthat are tailor-made to recognize and target the specific pathogen (a.k.a. adaptive immunity).
Differences Between Innate and Adaptive Immunity
As part of the immune assault, white blood cells release a variety of substances, calledcytokines, into the bloodstream. These cytokines provoke an inflammatory response, causing tissues and blood vessels to swell abnormally so that larger immune cells are able to access to the site of the infection or injury.
Inflammation is a beneficial response that speeds the resolution of illness and starts the healing process. But it is also one that can cause localized pain, swelling, sensitivity, and redness in the affected tissues.
Triggers and Asthma
As essential as inflammation is when it comes to the body’s defenses, it can cause harm if it is provoked inappropriately. Such is the case with diseases like asthma in which the body overacts to environmental triggers that are generally of little to no harm to the human body.
Against the backdrop of chronic inflammation, the airways will become increasinglyhyperresponsive, meaning that the tissues will become extra-sensitive to triggers and more likely to provoke anasthma attack.
Infections' Impact on Asthma
Respiratory viruses are the predominant infectious cause of asthma attacks. As the viruses attach to receptors on the lining of the airways, they effectively “trip the alarms” for the immune system to attack, leading to inflammation and the onset of acuteasthma symptoms.
In some cases, the symptoms of the infection will precede the attack; in others, the infection and asthma symptoms will co-occur.
Among the respiratory viruses closely linked to asthma symptoms are:
Viral-induced asthma attack is extremely common, affecting roughly 85% of children and 50% of adults with asthma.
Less commonly, bacteria likeStreptococcus pneumoniae,Hemophilus influenzae, andMoraxella catarrhalishave been known to trigger asthma attacks, particularly if asinus infectionis involved.
Fungal infections are more closely associated withpoor asthma controlrather than the onset of an attack, although it can occur.
The Relationship Between Colds and Asthma
Asthma-Related Risk of Infection
On the flipside, asthma can increase the risk of respiratory infections, in part because persistent inflammation can compromise the integrity of the lining of the airways. This can provide infectious pathogens with easier access into deeper tissues of the lungs, leading to severe lower respiratory infections such as pneumococcal pneumonia and Bordetella pertussis (whooping cough).
Poor control of asthmais a major risk factor for the development of secondary infections as it allows inflammatory damage to persist unimpeded. Certain medications, likecorticosteroids, can also compromise airway tissues and increase the risk of infection.
Allergens(generally harmless substances that triggerallergy symptoms) can also trip the immune system and trigger attacks in some, but not all, people with asthma. Those affected will have a form of the disease calledallergic (or atopic) asthma.
The onset of asthma symptoms in people with allergies mostly starts in the epithelial cells that line the airways. When airborne allergens are introduced into the lungs, such aspollenorpet dander, the immune system activates immune cells in the epithelium and sets off a series of events referred to as the allergic cascade.
This not only causes allergy symptoms (including sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose, and itching) but stimulates the production of a type of white blood cell known as aneosinophil. The accumulation of eosinophils in the airways triggers the rapid rise of inflammation and, in turn, the development of acute asthma symptoms.
Food allergies are also associated with asthma but don’t so much trigger asthma symptoms as increase the likelihood of a severe attack.
The Allergic Cascade
The allergic cascade generally occurs in the following steps. Though involved, this process happens quickly, and it’s possible that related breathing troubles could linger:
The accumulation of eosinophils not only provokes inflammation, triggering an attack, but floods the airways with chemicals that can irritate and damage tissues, increasing hyperresponsiveness.
What Is Eosinophilic Asthma?
Non-allergic asthma is a less common form of asthma, accounting for 10% to 30% of all cases, and is more common in adults than children.
There other similarities that suggest a relationship between asthma and autoimmunity. For example, mast cell activation is believed to be involved in the onset of acute symptoms of autoimmune diseases likerheumatoid arthritisandmultiple sclerosis.
Stress and extreme temperatures are also known to influence many autoimmune diseases, including lupus,gout, andpsoriasis.
Different Types of Asthma: Which One Do You Have?
The immune system is not only involved in the frequency and severity of asthma symptoms but also plays a major role in the onset of the disease. As much as a person’s genetics contributes to the risk of asthma, the way that the immune system responds to the environment plays a major role.
Asthma is believed to be a part of the progression of diseases referred to as the atopic march. The hypothesis, gaining acceptance among scientists, contends that atopy occurs in stages as one atopic disease gives rise to another.
The atopic march tends to progress in a consistent pattern, involving:
The atopic march is believed to start during infancy with the onset of eczema, a disease that most often affects babies between the ages 3 and 6 months.
In children with eczema, otherwise harmless substances can enter the body through breaks in the skin and trigger a response from an immune system not yet able to recognize the substance as harmless. In doing so, it leaves behind “memory” cells that will trigger an inappropriate immune response whenever the harmless substance reappears.
Is Asthma an Autoimmune Disease?
Asthma and the Hygiene Theory
Other factors that can predispose a person to atopic diseases is thelackof contact with substances that build a healthy immune response. It a hypothesis referred to as the “hygiene theory.”
What Is Infant Asthma?
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This is clearly complex, and there is only so much you can do to alter your response to the immunologic triggers of asthma.
One of the primary tools used to control an overactive immune response areasthma medications. Some non-drug strategies can be helpful complements as well.
Medications
Drugs that help temper airway inflammation can do so locally or systemically, or block specific stages of the allergic cascade.
Among the commonly prescribed asthma medications are:
Key to the control of asthma symptoms is theconsistent useof asthma medications. This is especially true with inhaled corticosteroids and LABAs, whose therapeutic effects decline rapidly if not used daily as prescribed.
People who take theirdaily asthma medicationsas prescribed are 67% less likely to have a severe attack, 62% less likely to be hospitalized, and 52% less likely to have functional limitations than people with suboptimal adherence.
How Asthma Is Treated
Lifestyle and Self-Care Strategies
Beyond medications, there are things you can do to prevent immune overreaction if you have asthma:
An Action Plan to Prevent Asthma Attacks
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