Asthma and Teens

[dave paprad]

Asthma is a lung condition that causes difficulty in breathing for a person. It is a common condition and more than 6 million teens and kids are known to be suffering from this disease.

In this disease, the bronchial disease, or the airways are affected. In a normal case, the air is taken through the nose or mouth, then to the trachea, the bronchial tubes and then to the lungs and back out again. But people suffering from asthma are known to have inflamed airways. They swell and produce lot of thick mucus. They are very sensitive or hyperactive to exercise, dust or cigarette smoke. Such triggers cause the smooth muscle that surrounds the airways to tighten up. The airway inflammation and the muscle tightening together narrow the airways and make it difficult for the passage of the air. The difficulty in breathing happens periodically in most people. When it happens, it is known as an asthma attack, flare, episode or exacerbation.


Asthma is known to be caused due to a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Triggers are the things that set off asthma symptoms in a person. The common triggers are sir borne irritants and pollutants, allergens, exercise, weather, respiratory tract infections etc.

Certain pollutants in the sir like chalk dust or smoke trigger asthma as they irritate the airways. Cigarette smoke is known to be a major cause of asthma symptoms. This is not just for smokers because even second hand smoking can trigger asthma symptoms in people. Teenage smoking is one of the major causes of asthma in teens. It may also lead to flare-ups. Perfumes, cosmetics, cleaning solutions, fresh paint, gasoline fumes and other scented products also trigger the symptoms of asthma.