Complications of Asthma
Asthma can lead to both short- and long-term complications, affecting breathing, daily activities, and sleep quality.
Allergens, irritants, physical activity, and emotional or medical factors can trigger common asthma flare-ups.
If asthma symptoms don't improve after using an inhaler, seeking immediate medical attention is crucial to prevent severe complications.
Asthma causes inflammation and narrowing of the airways and can worsen over time. While there is no cure for asthma, early treatment can help prevent complications from developing.
These complications can be short term, such as asthma attacks, or long term, such as obesity or depression.
Read on to learn about the possible complications of asthma and how to potentially prevent them.
When to get immediate or emergency care
If your asthma symptoms do not improve after using an inhaler, it's best to get immediate medical attention.
You may need emergency care if you have:
extreme difficulty breathing
severe chest pain
difficulty walking or talking
bluish tint to the skin or lips
Complications of asthma
Asthma complications occur for various reasons. Common flare-up triggers include frequent or heavy exposure to irritants or allergens, such as:
pollen
dust mites
pet dander
cigarette smoke
household cleaners
In addition, some people are more prone to flare-ups after participating in physical activity. This is known as exercise-induced asthma.
Emotional and medical factors can also trigger asthma complications.
A doctor can help you identify your individual asthma triggers. Knowing them can help you manage your asthma. Keep a record of each attack or flare-up to pinpoint the underlying cause.
Insomnia and sleep deprivation
Some people with asthma experience most of their symptoms during the night, known as nocturnal asthma.
This can lead to sleep deprivation, which can negatively affect your overall health and contribute to other health conditions, including increasing the risk of diabetes and reducing your immune system function. It can also increase your risk for depression.
Lack of exercise
Asthma may prevent some people from participating in exercise or sports. Though exercise can trigger asthma, it can also help strengthen the lungs and cardiovascular system.
Not getting enough exercise can increase the risk of:
diabetes
high blood pressure
weight gain
depression
»MORE: Learn how to exercise with asthma.
Medication side effects
Treating asthma frequently involves medications like glucocorticoids and leukotriene inhibitors.
These medications can potentially lead to side effects that may be more likely if you use them over a long period of time. Side effects can include:
rapid heartbeat
hoarseness
throat irritation
oral thrush, a type of oral yeast infection
insomnia
gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
increased eye pressure, which can worsen glaucoma
osteoporosis and worsening postmenopausal osteoporosis
If you find you need to use prescribed asthma medications more frequently or they aren't managing your symptoms as well as in the past, it's best to talk with a doctor. They may recommend changes to your treatment plan.
Airway remodeling
For some people, asthma causes ongoing chronic inflammation of the airway. This can lead to permanent structural changes in the airways, known as airway remodeling. Airway remodeling includes all the alterations in structural cells and tissues in an asthmatic airway. Changes in the airway can lead to:
loss of lung function
chronic cough
airway wall thickening
increased mucous glands and mucus production
increased blood supply in the airways
Asthma attack and respiratory failure
People with severe asthma also have an increased risk for respiratory failure. Respiratory failure occurs when not enough oxygen travels from the lungs to the blood.
Life threatening asthma is rare, but it tends to cause symptoms that get progressively worse over several days. Ask your doctor more about your treatment options and how to manage your condition if you believe you may have severe or unmanaged asthma.
If respiratory failure isn't treated immediately, it can lead to death.
Recovery from respiratory illness
While asthma doesn't increase your risk of respiratory illness, it can affect how long it takes for you to recover. This may include illnesses like pneumonia and COVID-19.
Treating asthma complications
If you experience asthma complications, it's best to contact your doctor as soon as possible. If your symptoms are severe or concerning, seek emergency medical attention.
At the hospital, you may be given oxygen through a face mask or nasal tube. You may also need a fast-acting medication or a dose of steroids.
If your asthma attack is severe, the doctor may insert a breathing tube into your airway to maintain airflow into your lungs. You will be monitored closely and given appropriate treatment to help you recover.
It's important to follow your treatment plan closely to help manage your asthma symptoms and prevent exacerbations.
The bottom line
Asthma can be a serious condition, but with proper care, it's possible to live a healthy, active life. Treatment can help you manage your symptoms.
It's important to know when to talk with a doctor if you have asthma complications. Consider making an appointment if you have asthma symptoms with little or no exertion or if the frequency of your symptoms increases and you have to use an inhaler more often. Your doctor may need to adjust your treatment.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
FDA names former pharmaceutical company executive to oversee US drug program
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Monday named a longtime pharmaceutical executive to run the agency's drug program, the latest in a string of leadership changes at the agency. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announced that Dr. George Tidmarsh, a cancer and pediatric specialist, will direct the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which regulates the safety and effectiveness of all U.S. drugs. His appointment comes a month after the center's acting director, Dr. Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, announced her retirement. As the agency's top drug regulator, Tidmarsh will be charged with following through on a number of commitments made by Makary and his boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including reviewing the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone. The FDA is also scrutinizing certain uses of other long-established drugs, including antidepressants and hormone-replacement drugs for menopause. Tidmarsh founded and led several pharmaceutical companies, including Horizon Pharmaceuticals, maker of an anti-inflammatory medication for arthritis. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Stanford University. The FDA's drug center is the agency's largest unit, with nearly 6,000 staffers responsible for reviewing the safety and effectiveness of new drugs and monitoring the use and marketing of older drugs. About 2,000 FDA staffers have been laid off as part of widescale cuts to the federal health workforce overseen by Kennedy. More than 1,000 others have taken buyouts or early retirement, while many others are reportedly searching for new jobs. The departures have threatened basic FDA operations, including the timely review of new drugs. FDA's drug center hasn't had a permanent director since January, when Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni stepped down days before President Donald Trump took office. Nearly all of the FDA's senior leadership positions have turned over in recent months, either due to retirements, resignations or actions by administration officials placing them on administrative leave. FDA center directors typically hold their positions for years or even decades, serving across multiple administrations, whether Republican or Democrat. In May, Makary named Dr. Vinay Prasad, a prominent critic of the FDA's COVID response, to run the agency's vaccine center. He was also named to the post of FDA chief medical officer. Prasad joined the agency after his predecessor, longtime vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks, was forced out in March. The head of FDA's tobacco center was also forced to step down in April. A permanent replacement has not yet been named. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Matthew Perrone, The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio
Medscape
21 minutes ago
- Medscape
Prevention, Screening, Treatment: Impact on Cancer Deaths
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Hello. I'm Dr Maurie Markman from City of Hope, and I'd like to discuss a very important study. I think many of you may have heard about this, but it's important to emphasize what these investigators reported in terms of the impact of what we are doing in the cancer world today and, in my opinion, what the focus needs to be on in the future. The paper I'm referring to is "Estimation of Cancer Deaths Averted From Prevention, Screening, and Treatment Efforts, 1975-2020," published in JAMA Oncology . This was a very interesting effort; there was modeling done, and assumptions were made, in order to do what these investigators did. But this is, I think, very high-quality and reasonable data science. The paper outlines the assumptions made in coming to the conclusions reached by these investigators. They looked at breast, cervix, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers — obviously, major cancers — and specifically looked at what the impact has been over the past 45 years of these three different strategies in averting deaths: prevention, screening, and actual treatment. The bottom line, as reported by these investigators, is that over this 45-year period, 5.94 million deaths have been averted in these five cancers combined, due to the efforts of countless numbers of individuals, researchers, clinicians, public health officials, government regulators, etc. It's an incredible and an enormously positive contribution to society and to individual patient health. They note, and this is a powerful message, that 8 of the 10 deaths, 80%, that had been averted were due to efforts in cancer prevention and screening. It may come as a surprise to some, but not to all, because of our often very intense focus and money spent on treatments for established and advanced cancers over the past decades. There's no intent either in this paper or by me to denigrate — in any way, shape, or form — the enormous efforts that have been made in treatment. But if you look at the question of deaths averted, the vast majority have come from prevention and screening efforts. And clearly, there's cost involved in these efforts, but far less than that associated with development of treatments. They're even more specific in this paper: Screening, according to these investigators, has been responsible for essentially all reduction in cervix cancer, which we certainly know from the enormous contributions of the Pap smear screening and now HPV screening: 25% of breast cancer deaths were averted due to screening; 56% from prostate cancer; 79% of deaths from colorectal cancer; and, of course, from lung cancer, 98% of the impacts on cancer deaths has resulted from a reduction in smoking. So, overall a tremendous impact, a positive impact. So many individuals and organizations avert deaths, but it's critical to remember the role of prevention and screening. And as we move forward to the future, as we look at the epidemic we have of obesity in this country and the concern about the risk of alcohol on the risk for cancer, it is important to remember the critical role to the present but also for the future of prevention and screening. Thank you for your attention.
Medscape
21 minutes ago
- Medscape
A Review of Transnasal Cooling for Migraine Relief
Transnasal evaporative cooling as an acute treatment for migraine has been tested in two randomized clinical trials showing some level of efficacy and tolerability as well as safety. CALM1 Accrual Issues The first, CALM 1, was presented as a virtual poster at the 2023 American Headache Society meeting. Although this study enrolled 87 patients with migraine with or without aura, only 24 were randomized to the CoolStat Transnasal Thermal Regulating Device (CoolTech LLC). This comprised 15 minutes of air flow as soon as they arrived at their local testing center during an attack. CoolStat device in use The primary endpoint was pain relief at 2 hours; pain freedom, relief of most bothersome symptom, and tolerability were also measured at 2 and 24 hours. Three air flow rates were tested: 24, 18, and 6 liters per minute (LPM). It was originally assumed that the 6 LPM flow rate would act as the sham, but it turned out to be the most effective rate. In this group, 8 of 9 patients reported pain relief at 2 hours with 4 of them being pain free. Patients treated with the other doses reported a similar rate of pain relief, but none were fully free of pain at 2 hours. There were no adverse events in the lowest flow rate group and only mild events in the other groups. The study was terminated due to insufficient accrual rates. The company decided to do a second study with a smaller portable device which patients could use at home earlier in the course of their migraine attack. CALM 2 At Home Treatment The CALM 2 study used a 2 LPM dose as the sham: This used an inactive drying agent and patients experienced the sensation of treatment including saline mist. This small, phase 2, dose range-finding trial tested active doses of 4, 6, and 10 LPM. Patients treated their migraine for 15 minutes within 1 hour of pain onset using the Mi-Helper, an investigational device similar in size to a sleep apnea machine. The Mi-Helper The Mi-Helper No other treatment was allowed for 2 hours. Of the 172 adults randomized, 128 used the device and were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis. Only 74 were included in the efficacy analysis because the others did not fully follow the protocol for a variety of reasons. In this study, the 10 LPM air flow rate was the most effective, producing pain freedom at 2 hours in 8 of 17 patients, vs 4 of 25 sham-treated patients. This difference was statistically significant. Two-hour pain relief was seen in 70.6% of this group vs 56% of the sham group, a difference that did not reach statistical significance. Sustained pain freedom from 2 to 24 hours with no rescue treatment was numerically but not significantly higher than sham with the 10 LPM dose. Results for the other air flow rates (4 and 6 LPM) were not statistically significant. The most common adverse events, scattered across the three active-treatment groups, were rhinorrhea, nasal irritation, ear pressure, nasal congestion, sore throat, and jaw pain. More events occurred in the 10 LPM group (with none in the sham group), but no patient discontinued the trial because of side effects. How Does it Work? The proposed mechanism of action for Mi-Helper, according to Steve Schaefer, the CEO of Cooltech, is that it 'noninvasively cools and inhibits structures of the pterygopalatine fossa, including the sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) and the maxillary division of the trigeminal nerve.' The device delivers dry room-temperature air into one nostril with a nebulized saline mist for comfort and to facilitate evaporation. The evaporation from liquid to gas requires energy drawn from the surrounding tissues, particularly the vascularized membranes of the nasal turbinates. This purportedly results in a localized cooling effect targeting the structures of the pterygopalatine fossa, including the SPG and maxillary division of the trigeminal nerve (V2), both areas integrally involved with migraine and cluster headache. This hypothesis has yet to be corroborated; no preclinical trials have shown any electrical effect on the SPG. The Mi-Helper is not the same as remote electrical neuromodulation (REN) or other electrical stimulation devices that are already cleared by the FDA for the acute care and/or prevention of migraine attacks. REN uses electrical stimulators and works on various combinations of peripheral nerves involved with migraine. [By way of disclosure, I recently authored a poster on REN.] What Next CALM 3, a third, larger, phase 3 trial of the Mi-Helper is underway. It will test a 10 LPM dose of dehumidified air against a 2 LPM sham. According to CEO Steve Schaefer, it should be completed in September, 2025. I believe that we need to see data from at least two carefully done phase 3 trials at the correct flow rate (10 LPM), in an appropriate number of patients, before we will know if this device can successfully treat migraine, but the results so far are very promising.
