Asthma

What is Asthma?

Asthma is a disease that affects your lungs. It is the most common long-term disease of children, but adults have asthma, too. Asthma causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and nighttime or early morning coughing. If you have asthma, you have it all the time, but you will have asthma attacks only when something bothers your lungs. An asthma attack happens in your body's airways, which are the paths that carry air to your lungs. As the air moves through your lungs, the airways become smaller, like the branches of a tree are smaller than the tree trunk. During an asthma attack, the sides of the airways in your lungs swell, and the airways shrink. Less air gets in and out of your lungs, and mucus that your body produces clogs up the airways even more. The attack may include coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and trouble breathing. Some people call an asthma attack an “episode.”

Resources

Center for Disease Control

Asthma Brochure

Asthma UK

FAQs About Asthma

Translated Brochures in South Asian Languages

• Hindi
• Tamil
• Bengali
• Gujarati
• Punjabi
• Urdu
• Arabic

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology

Asthma Conditions and Treatments

Just For Kids

Disclaimer

The purpose of the South Asian Total Health Initiative is to improve the delivery  of culturally responsive, family-centered care to diverse populations. SATHI provides technical assistance/consultation, education/training, and research/evaluation services. SATHI does not provide medical advice or clinical professional services. Any medical assistance or other decisions should be made in consultation with your physicians. Rutgers University will not be liable for any complications, injuries, or other medical accidents arising from or in connection with the use of or reliance upon any information obtained from this website or on the Internet.