Its prevalence in girls by adulthood is due to hormone fluctuations, particularly the impact of oestrogen changes at ovulation and prior to menstruation.
The hallmark symptoms are a wheeze, chest tightness, dry cough and shortness of breath. Other clinical indicators of an asthma attack can include: slow onset with gradually worsening symptoms that can last minutes, hours, or even days; initially a shortness of breath, coughing or chest tightness; itching of the chest or neck might be experienced especially in children; anxiety and sweating are common during an acute attack as well as wheezing when breathing out (expiratory wheeze). However, the only symptoms could be a dry cough at night or while exercising. During an attack the narrowing of the airways is due to bronchial smooth muscle spasm, swelling of the bronchial mucosa and excess viscous mucus secretion.
Asthma can be classified as either:
Allergic/atopic (or extrinsic and affects 60-90% of cases) with common triggers including pollen, mould, dust mites, pet dander and foods (which are normal in our environment), or
Non-allergic (or intrinsic asthma affecting 10-40% of cases) with possible triggers including humidity, cold temperatures, stress, exercise, pollution, respiratory infections and irritants in the air such as smoke.
Inhalers are prescribed for asthma which help sufferers manage their symptoms, they either dampen airway inflammation or open up the airways during an attack. They will not, unlike nutritional therapy, address the underlying cause. Naturopathic investigations rely on allopathic diagnosis but will consider all factors, for example dietary, lifestyle (including stress and anxiety) and occupational, and focus on addressing the underlying imbalances and the root cause.