Asthma Triggers: Adult Asthma
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Asthma triggers
Some people have compared the irritated bronchial tubes of asthma to a scraped knee after a fall on the pavement. The irritants and allergens that you breathe in every day are like harsh chemicals poured on the wound. If you can avoid them, the swelling and sensitivity lessen. You will gradually notice less coughing, fewer nighttime awakenings, easier breathing, and less frequent need for medications to relieve the symptoms of asthma.
That is why a basic part of asthma management is to identify and try to avoid the triggers that make your symptoms flare. You may be able to minimize or perhaps even eliminate the need for some asthma medicines by identifying those things in your environment — particularly in your home — that make your asthma worse and either removing them or reducing your exposure to them.
If you have had asthma for any length of time, you are likely to know what your particular asthma triggers are. You may know, for example, that if you run to catch the bus on a cold day, you will begin to cough and breathe heavily once you sit quietly in your bus seat. Or perhaps if you are exposed to tobacco smoke or strong perfumes, you can count on feeling your chest tighten and having to use your asthma medications.
Common irritants and physical states that can trigger asthma symptoms include vigorous exercise (especially in cold air), smoke (from tobacco and other sources), air pollution, certain medications, and respiratory infections. Other triggers are based on individual allergic sensitivities and therefore vary from one person to the next. For instance, some people with asthma find that their symptoms worsen in springtime, when many tree and grass pollens are plentiful, while other people are unaffected. Most of the allergens that worsen asthma symptoms are airborne and cause trouble when you inhale them. Common examples include dust mites, cat and dog dander, bird feathers, and mold and mildew. Many allergic triggers are encountered primarily indoors, whether at home, work, or school. If you are uncertain about your allergic sensitivities, allergy testing can help to identify those things that cause you to have an allergic reaction (see "Allergy tests and shots").
To minimize your exposure, start by thinking about what your own asthma triggers are. Then do an inventory to identify those triggers in your environment and take steps to eliminate or minimize them. Some suggestions for dealing with the most common asthma triggers follow.
Allergy tests and shotsIf you are left wondering about possible allergic triggers, even after paying attention to when your asthma gets better or worse, consider being tested for allergies. There are two types of allergy tests. One is a blood test, known as RAST (for radioallergosorbent test), that measures blood levels of IgE antibodies to specific allergens. Another option is an allergy skin test, in which a technician scratches or pricks your skin and exposes it to a drop of solution that contains an allergen. If a rash or hive develops soon afterward, that indicates an allergic reaction to the particular substance. Usually your reaction to multiple allergens is tested at one time. If you discover you are allergic to one or more substances, you can try to avoid them in order to prevent asthma symptoms. You and your doctor may also want to discuss treatment of your asthma with allergy shots, properly called allergen immunotherapy, typically administered by allergists. Allergy shots are different from other treatments because they can modify the basic immune process by halting the immune system's reaction to the allergen. The jury is out in the medical community on the wisdom of allergy shots for people with asthma. Some patients think they have benefited from allergy shots, while others say the shots didn't help or made symptoms worse. A landmark study published in 1997 attempted to resolve this issue. It found no difference in symptoms in a group of children receiving allergy shots and those receiving placebo (inactive) shots. It's possible that only certain asthma sufferers benefit from allergy shots, or that the shots are more effective at treating some types of allergic sensitivities than others. |
| Last updated: | September 27, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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