Last updated: June 2023
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways associated with airway hyperresponsiveness that leads to recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing. These episodes are usually associated with airflow obstruction within the lung, often reversible, either spontaneously or with treatment.
Factors that precipitate/aggravate asthma include: allergens, infection, exercise, drugs (aspirin), tobacco, etc. Symptoms are sometimes worse at night.
In children up to 5 years, most initial episodes of asthma-like symptoms are associated with a respiratory tract infection, with no symptoms between infections. Wheezing episodes usually become less frequent with time; most of these children do not develop asthma.