If there was such a thing as an asthma map, you’d pass right by things like stress, smoke, and extreme weather, and head straight to the intersection of allergies and asthma to find allergic asthma. That’s because (as the name implies) this type of asthma is triggered by allergens like pollen, dust mites, ragweed, pet dander, mold, even cockroaches (yes, really). Of the 25 million–plus people in the United States with asthma, around 60% of them have allergic asthma, making it the most common type of asthma, according to the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America.
But how do you know whether the culprit behind your constant sniffling and sneezing is an allergy or allergic asthma?
“Allergies are just your immune system overreacting to something that it shouldn’t,” Panagis Galiatsatos, M.D., a lung doctor and assistant professor in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, tells SELF. If you’re allergic to something, “you breathe it in, have a reasonable sneeze, and move on. But if it happens in the lungs, we call it atopic asthma—the official name for allergic asthma.”
What causes allergic asthma?
With any type of asthma, the airways extending from your nose and mouth to your lungs sometimes can act erratically, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. In response to a trigger, they can become inflamed, causing swelling that makes the surrounding muscles tighten and restrict your intake of air. While that’s happening, your airways boost the production of mucus, and that makes breathing even more of a struggle.
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If you have allergic asthma—sometimes called allergy-induced asthma—allergens are the culprit. They trigger your asthma symptoms because your immune system thinks they’re harmful. In response, it releases a substance called immunoglobulin E (or IgE). Too much IgE can trigger inflammation of the airways in your lungs. This can make it harder for you to breathe and can cause an asthma attack, according to the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America.
Asthma can be triggered by lots of things—exercise, pollution, various irritants at work—but allergies are the most common. A 2014 study published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology found that 75% of adults with asthma between the ages of 20 to 40 have at least one allergy.1
Allergic asthma usually begins in childhood.2 People with this particular type of asthma tend to have a family history of allergies and asthma attacks that are often preceded by hay fever, and they might also have the skin conditions urticaria3 (red, itchy welts, or hives) or eczema4 (red, itchy, and flaky patches of skin).
What are the most common allergic asthma symptoms and triggers?
The symptoms of allergy-induced asthma are like those of any other type of asthma, so you may experience difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest, wheezing, and coughing. If you have hay fever or skin allergies, you might also experience itchy or flaky skin, a runny nose, watery eyes, or congestion, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.
Source: SELF
