Question: What is Asthma?
Answer: Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that affects the air passages to the lungs. Asthma causes the inside of the walls of the airways to become inflamed. This inflammation makes the airways supersensitive, causing strong reactions to respiratory irritants and allergies. Reactions to respiratory irritants causes the airways to narrow, restricting airflow to the lungs.
Although asthma cannot be cured, it can be controlled. The most important way of controlling asthma is to avoid exposure to respiratory irritants that would trigger an asthma attack.
Source: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
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