Complications of Asthma

Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List

| A |

| B |

| C |

| D |

| E |

| F |

| G |

| H |

| I |

| J |

| K |

| L |

| M |

| N |

| O |

| P |

| Q |

| R |

| S |

| T |

| U |

| V |

| W |

| X |

| Y |

Occasionally, asthmatics may experience symptoms getting suddenly worse, or steadily worsening over a period of days. Signs that asthma is getting out of control may include:

Waking at night with coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath or a tight chest
Having to take time off work because of your asthma
Finding it difficult to breathe, and breathing short shallow breaths
Needing more and more reliever treatment (treatment that helps symptoms); using it more frequently than every 4 hours
Finding that your reliever does not seem to be working
Feeling unable to keep up with usual levels or activity or exercise

Very rarely, a person with asthma will have a severe attack in which none of the treatments work and the attack continues to get worse. This can be life-threatening.

This condition calls for urgent medical attention at any time of the day or night. The same applies to a steady worsening, when treatment seems to be working less and less.

The risk of death from asthma can be increased by the following factors:

A previous near-fatal episode of asthma
Abrupt development of symptoms that respond poorly to treatment and that rapidly progress
Asthma attack with a rise in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood (detected by blood tests or if the lips had turned blue-grey)
Not being aware how severely the airways have become blocked
Clear daily variations in ease of air flow
Frequent hospital admissions or emergency visits
Recent increased frequency of night-time awakenings or daytime breathing difficulty
Failure to diagnose asthma or to provide adequate treatment, or failure to ensure the patient can cope with self-care measures.

Asthma can also reduce quality of life if not properly controlled, causing tiredness, underperformance at school, and time off school or work. It can cause psychological problems when a child is stigmatised or bullied for needing an inhaler, and it may reduce the growth rate and final height to which a child grows.