Acute Asthma Attacks

An acute asthma attack, or sudden, generally caused by an exposure to allergens or an upper respiratory infection. The severity of the attack depends on how good your underlying asthma controlled (reflecting how well controlled airway inflammation.) An acute attack is potentially life-threatening because it can still take place despite the use of drugs commonly used for quick relief(inhaled bronchodilators). Asthma that is not responsive to treatment with an inhaler should encourage you to seek immediate medical assistance at the nearest hospital emergency room or place of practice asthma specialist, depending on the circumstances and time. Asthma attacks did not stop by itself without treatment. If you ignore the early warning signs, you endanger yourself on developing "status asthmaticus".

Allergy Facts

Asthma attacks that extended that do not respond to treatment with bronchodilators is a medical emergency. Doctors call this serious attacks "status asthmaticus," and they require immediate emergency care.

The symptoms of severe asthma is a persistent cough and inability to complete full sentences or walk without running out of breath. Your chest may feel tight and your lips may have a bluish color. In addition, you may feel inflammation, confusion, or an inability to concentrate. You may be hunching your shoulders, sit or stand to breathe more easily, and tense the abdominal muscles and your neck. These are signs of respiratory system failure is imminent. At this point, it seems that inhaled drugs can not reverse this process. A mechanical ventilator is needed to help the lungs and respiratory muscles. A face mask or breathing tube is inserted into the nose or mouth for this treatment. This breathing assistance is temporary and is released immediately after the attack subsides and the lung has sufficiently recovered to resume work of breathing on his own ability. A brief hospitalization in the ICU may be a result of a severe attack that is not immediately treated. 
To prevent such hospitalization, it is best, at the time of onset of symptoms, to start immediately beginning treatment at home or your doctor's examination room.

Allergy Facts

The presence of wheezing or coughing itself is not a reliable standard to assess the severity of an asthma attack. The attacks are very hard to clog the tubes at a level where the lack of air in and out of your lungs failed to produce wheezing or coughing.