In the UK, asthma death rates have gone up by over 20% in the last 5 years. While no one is sure what causes asthma (though genetics does have a part to play), it is possible to prevent, or at least alleviate an asthma attack.
You can do that by learning about your attack triggers.
What Are the Common Asthma Attack Triggers?
Asthma is a chronic disease that is characterised by an inflammation of the airways, causing difficulty in breathing. Typically, the attack is caused by a reaction to these common triggers.
Irritants & Particulate Matter
Irritants are the most common asthma trigger. They come in the form of different types of particles, like pet dander, dust mites, cockroach droppings, mould spores, mildew, and pollen.
You will also notice your asthma acting up in the presence of smoke (both cigarette and other types), fumes, aerosol products, insecticides, cleaning products, and even strong perfumes.
With the smoke from bonfire night, people suffering from asthma might notice the symptoms flaring up!
Allergies
Allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, is an allergic reaction to pollen in the air. It affects your nose as well as your sinuses, leading to a blocked and runny nose, excessive sneezing, congestion, with itchy and inflamed eyes and nose.
The allergens that cause hay fever, like pollen, dust, and smoke, can also affect the lungs, causing wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath.
Food & Food Additives
Food allergies and certain food additives can cause an adverse reaction in the body, including symptoms of asthma. The most extreme (and potentially fatal) reaction is anaphylaxis, where asthma is a part of the anaphylaxis symptoms.
Foods that can cause a severe reaction in people who are allergic to them include eggs, peanuts, shellfish, tree nuts, eggs, soy, fish, and cow’s milk.
Additionally, sensitivity to histamines and sulphites can also trigger symptoms of asthma. Histamines are naturally found in certain foods like yogurt, mature cheese, smoked meats, and wine.
Sulphites are present as preservatives in processed meats and pickled food items, as well as alcoholic drinks like wine, cider, and beer.
Exercise
Here’s the funny thing: Exercise does not trigger an attack for everyone with asthma. Some people will find it easy to exercise without any adverse effects, while others will have breathing troubles almost as soon as they start working out.
With people who do suffer from exercise-induced asthma, the symptoms will ease off as soon as they stop exercising, although in some cases, they might reappear some hours later.
Do you normally suffer not from exercise-induced asthma, but find yourself breathless and wheezing when exercising outside? It could be the pollution particles in the air, or the weather, to blame.
Weather
Weather can play havoc with your asthma, with symptoms appearing when it’s too hot, too cold, or too humid. Both heat and cold can dry up the air passage, causing distress, while humidity will increase the airway resistance. Hot and humid weather is ideal for mould spores as well as dust mites, which can trigger asthma symptoms.
Sinusitis
What is sinusitis? It’s an infection of the sinus passageways, which are cavities filled with air located around the nose, behind the eyebrows, and within the cheeks.
Sinusitis and asthma are often interconnected. People suffering from asthma will contract sinusitis frequently, and sinusitis can trigger an asthma attack.
Note: Sinusitis is not the same as rhinitis. It is important to know the difference between rhinitis, which is an infection of the nasal passage, and sinusitis, which is an infection of the sinuses.
Heartburn
There are two theories as to why heartburn or acid reflux triggers asthma. One is that the stomach acid harms the throat lining, causing breathing problems. Since the lining is damaged, it also becomes more sensitive to dust and pollen, which are common asthma triggers.
The other is a physical response caused by a protective nerve reflex. This is a reflex that causes the air passage to tighten so the stomach acid cannot enter the lungs. The tightened passage also does not let in air, causing symptoms of asthma.
Conversely, asthma can actually make acid reflux worse, but that is a topic for another discussion.
Medication
Certain medicines, like pain relievers, beta-blockers, and ACE inhibitors, can trigger an asthma attack.
In our years in the extraction business, we at VODEX have learned how poor extraction solutions at work can affect your health. One of the most common consequences of dust and fumes at work is occupational asthma.
While it isn’t possible to prevent most other forms, occupational asthma can be prevented with proper extraction solutions. We can offer a number of solutions for fume and dust extraction, for a variety of industries. Get in touch with us if you need specialist extraction solutions!
