哮喘：了解气道症状与管理计划

Original source overview

What is asthma?Asthma is a chronic (long-term) lung disease. It affects your airways, the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. When you have asthma, your airways can become inflamed and narrowed. This can cause wheezing, coughing, and tightness in your chest. When these symptoms get worse than usual, it is called an asthma attack or flare-up.

What causes asthma?The exact cause of asthma is unknown. Genetics and your environment likely play a role in who gets asthma.

An asthma attack can happen when you are exposed to an asthma trigger. An asthma trigger is something that can set off or worsen your asthma symptoms. Different triggers can cause different types of asthma:

• Allergic asthma is caused by allergens. Allergens are substances that cause an allergic reaction. They can include

• Dust mites • Mold • Pets • Pollen from grass, trees, and weeds • Waste from pests such as cockroaches and mice

• Nonallergic asthma is caused by triggers that are not allergens, such as

• Breathing in cold air • Certain medicines • Household chemicals • Infections such as colds and the flu • Outdoor air pollution • Tobacco smoke

• Occupational asthma is caused by breathing in chemicals or industrial dusts at work • Exercise-induced asthma happens during physical exercise, especially when the air is dry

Asthma triggers may be different for each person and can change over time.

Who is at risk for asthma?Asthma affects people of all ages, but it often starts during childhood. Certain factors can raise your risk of having asthma:

• Being exposed to secondhand smoke when your mother is pregnant with you or when you are a small child • Being exposed to certain substances at work, such as chemical irritants or industrial dusts • Genetics and family history. You are more likely to have asthma if one of your parents has it, especially if it's your mother. • Race or ethnicity. Black and African Americans and Puerto Ricans are at higher risk of asthma than people of other races or ethnicities. • Having other diseases or conditions such as obesity and allergies • Often having viral respiratory infections as a young child • Sex. In children, asthma is more common in boys. In teens and adults, it is more common in women.

What are the symptoms of asthma?The symptoms of asthma include:

• Chest tightness • Coughing, especially at night or early morning • Shortness of breath • Wheezing, which causes a whistling sound when you breathe out

These symptoms can range from mild to severe. You may have them every day or only once in a while.

When you are having an asthma attack, your symptoms get much worse. The attacks may come on gradually or suddenly. Sometimes they can be life-threatening. They are more common in people who have severe asthma. If you are having asthma attacks, you may need a change in your treatment.

How is asthma diagnosed?Your health care provider may use many tools to diagnose asthma:

• Physical exam • Medical history • Lung function tests, including spirometry, to test how well your lungs work • Tests to measure how your airways react to specific exposures. During this test, you inhale different concentrations of allergens or medicines that may tighten the muscles in your airways. Spirometry is done before and after the test. • Peak expiratory flow (PEF) tests to measure how fast you can blow air out using maximum effort • Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) tests to measure levels of nitric oxide in your breath when you breathe out. High levels of nitric oxide may mean that your lungs are inflamed. • Allergy skin or blood tests, if you have a history of allergies. These tests check which allergens cause a reaction from your immune system.

What are the treatments for asthma?If you have asthma, you will work with your health care provider to create a treatment plan. The plan will include ways to manage your asthma symptoms and prevent asthma attacks. It will include:

• Strategies to avoid triggers. For example, if tobacco smoke is a trigger for you, you should not smoke or allow other people to smoke in your home or car. • Short-term relief medicines, also called quick-relief medicines. They help prevent symptoms or relieve symptoms during an asthma attack. They include an inhaler to carry with you all the time. It may also include other types of medicines which work quickly to help open your airways. • Control medicines. You take them every day to help prevent symptoms. They work by reducing airway inflammation and preventing narrowing of the airways.

If you have a severe attack and the short-term relief medicines do not work, you will need emergency care.

Your provider may adjust your treatment until asthma symptoms are controlled.

Sometimes asthma is severe and cannot be controlled with other treatments. If you are an adult with uncontrolled asthma, in some cases your provider might suggest bronchial thermoplasty. This is a procedure that uses heat to shrink the smooth muscle in the lungs. Shrinking the muscle reduces your airway's ability to tighten and allows you to breathe more easily. The procedure has some risks, so it's important to discuss them with your provider.

Encyclopedic background — Wikipedia

The following selected excerpts provide background on “Asthma”. The scope here is Asthma; it does not establish an individual diagnosis or treatment plan. They are not a substitute for the source overview or current local clinical guidance. Each excerpt below comes from the fixed Wikipedia revision [W1].

Definition and overview [W1]

Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms and reduced lung function. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. A sudden worsening of asthma symptoms sometimes called an asthma attack or an asthma exacerbation can occur when allergens, pollen, dust, or other particles are inhaled into the lungs, causing the bronchioles to constrict and produce mucus, which then restricts oxygen flow to the alveoli. These may occur a few times a day or a few times per week. Depending on the person, asthma symptoms may become worse at night or with exercise.

Asthma is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Environmental factors include exposure to air pollution and allergens. Other potential triggers include medications such as aspirin and beta blockers. Diagnosis is usually based on the pattern of symptoms, response to therapy over time, and spirometry lung function testing. Asthma is classified according to the amount of medication required to control symptoms or mechanisms underlying the condition.

There is no known cure for asthma, but it can be controlled. Symptoms can be prevented by avoiding triggers, such as allergens and respiratory irritants, and suppressed with the use of inhaled corticosteroids. Long-acting beta agonists (LABA) or antileukotriene agents may be used in addition to inhaled corticosteroids if asthma symptoms remain uncontrolled. Treatment of rapidly worsening symptoms is usually with an inhaled short-acting beta2 agonist such as salbutamol, corticosteroids taken by mouth, and oxygen therapy. In very severe cases, intravenous corticosteroids and hospitalization may be required.

Signs and symptoms [W1]

Asthma causes recurrent episodes of wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing. Symptoms are usually worse at night and in the early morning or in response to exercise or cold air. Some people with asthma rarely experience symptoms, usually in response to triggers, whereas others may react frequently and experience persistent symptoms.

Classification [W1]

Due to the diversity in onset, symptoms, outcomes, and response to treatment, asthma is often considered a syndrome—a collection of signs and symptoms—rather than a single condition. Historically asthma was classified as being caused by external factors (extrinsic) such as allergens or by internal factors (intrinsic), unrelated to allergies. Asthma is most commonly classified according to severity, control of symptoms, phenotypes and endotypes.

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cause airway restriction and have a wide range of overlapping mechanisms and symptoms. The main difference between the two disorders is that in asthma expiratory airflow fluctuates over time while in COPD airflow obstruction is chronic and often increases in severity over time.

Causes [W1]

Asthma is caused by a mixture of genetic and external factors. The disease manifests when those with a genetic susceptibility to asthma are exposed to specific environmental factors. Environmental factors can also trigger asthma symptoms.

Reading this topic in context

Use “Asthma” as a starting point for a focused discussion, rather than treating every statement in the broader encyclopedia article as applying to you. The original source overview and the background excerpts answer different questions: the overview explains the health topic for readers, while the encyclopedia supplies terminology and general context. Keep a record of which questions concern symptoms, a confirmed diagnosis, prevention, or an existing treatment. This helps a healthcare professional address the relevant issue without relying on an internet label.

Questions to take to a professional

1. How is asthma diagnosed and how is control assessed?

2. What should my written plan say about medicines, triggers and worsening symptoms?

Evidence, scope and next steps

The health-topic overview is attributed to MedlinePlus / the National Library of Medicine at the original topic link below. Wikipedia [W1] is a secondary background source; its references can support further reading, but their presence is not evidence that WellPrimer has independently reviewed every study. No clinical review, guideline certification or NLM endorsement is claimed. For screening intervals, diagnostic thresholds, pregnancy or child-specific advice and treatment choices, check current guidance in your country with a qualified professional. Do not start, stop or change a prescribed medicine based on encyclopedia excerpts. New or worsening symptoms need appropriate clinical assessment rather than more reading alone.

Attribution and reuse

[W1] Wikipedia contributors, “Asthma”. Version 1378594635, edited 2026-10-05. Retrieved 2026-10-16. Fixed revision: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asthma&oldid=1378594635. Contributor history: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asthma&action=history. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ .

The MedlinePlus health-topic summary retains its original attribution. Wikipedia excerpts and the added compilation/commentary are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; selections, section ordering and editorial reading prompts have been added. No images are reused. This is an educational compilation, not a clinician-reviewed guideline.