Asthma, which manifests itself with symptoms of coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, and a feeling of pressure in the chest, can be confused with other diseases. Anadolu Medical Center Chest Diseases Specialist Assoc. Dr. Tayfun Çalışkan said, “Since asthma is a chronic disease, long-term medication is needed. This is not an addiction, on the contrary, it is a form of treatment to control the patient’s complaints.

It is a disease that is more common in young patients and is usually diagnosed under the age of 40, resulting from personal and allergens such as asthma, genetics, obesity and male gender, occupational factors, infections, smoking, air pollution, diet and environmental factors such as stress. Underlining that asthma is one of the diseases in which confusion is most intense in the society, Anadolu Medical Center Chest Diseases Specialist Assoc. Dr. Tayfun Caliskan touched upon the 9 most frequently asked topics about asthma, which is a chronic disease and is more common in young patients:

Quitting smoking is very important for asthma patients.

Smoking during pregnancy is a factor that increases the risk of asthma in the child. Even passive smoking in asthma patients can lead to worsening of asthma and hospitalization. Active smoking, on the other hand, can lead to worsening of asthma, hospitalizations, the development of COPD, impaired respiratory function, decreased effectiveness of drugs, and even death. However, when smoking is stopped, lung functions improve and inflammation in the airways decreases. Elimination of passive smoking exposure is effective in controlling asthma and reducing hospitalizations.

Asthma is a chronic disease

Asthma progresses with chronic inflammation in the airways. It does not go away on its own and completely disappear. Cough, shortness of breath, feeling of pressure in the chest and wheezing are the main symptoms. Their severity may increase especially with exposure to allergens, seasonal changes, air pollution or viral inflammation. Complaints may disappear spontaneously or with medications, sometimes even absent for months. But there is also the other side of the coin; Asthma symptoms can sometimes worsen to the point of being life-threatening. Even if there are no symptoms and breathing tests are normal, inflammation in the airway usually persists and can be controlled with medications.

Asthma does not get better on its own

Airway inflammation persists even if there are no complaints and respiratory tests are normal. Clinically, the term remission, that is, suppression, of asthma is a new definition; In some of the patients, it is stated as the complete disappearance of the complaints and the absence of the need for medication for at least 1 year. However, this does not mean that asthma is completely cured by itself.

Asthma sufferers do not need protection from all allergens

When an allergy to an allergen is detected, whether it increases asthma complaints or not is determined by the patient’s history. If the allergen does not cause worsening of the patient’s complaints, protection from this allergen is not required.

Asthma can be confused with other diseases

Many diseases cause similar complaints. In childhood, it can be confused with conditions such as upper respiratory tract cough syndrome, foreign bodies entering the lungs, congenital heart diseases, and in adulthood, in addition to these, permanent enlargement of the bronchi, loss of vocal cord function, COPD, heart failure, and other lung diseases. It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between asthma and COPD. But in general, asthma occurs at a younger age (