is asthma a medical condition?
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Asthma is a chronic (long-term) condition that affects the airways in the lungs. The airways are tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the airways can become inflamed and narrowed at times. Asthma affects people of all ages and often starts during childhood.
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The most common risk factors for developing asthma is having a parent with asthma, having a severe respiratory infection as a child, having an allergic condition, or being exposed to certain chemical irritants or industrial dusts in the workplace.
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Non-atopic asthma may be caused by chronic viral, bacterial infections, or colonization with pathogenic bacteria.
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When symptoms are triggered by exercise, it's called exercise-induced asthma. You can be diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma without a diagnosis of asthma –about 10 percent of the general population experiences asthma symptoms only during exercise, without having underlying asthma.
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In childhood asthma, the lungs and airways become easily inflamed when exposed to certain triggers, such as inhaling pollen or catching a cold or other respiratory infection. Childhood asthma can cause bothersome daily symptoms that interfere with play, sports, school and sleep.
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Coughing in people with asthma can be helpful because it's one of the body's natural defense mechanisms. A productive asthmatic cough will expel phlegm and mucus from the lungs. In most cases of asthma, the cough is considered nonproductive.
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Santillan, MD, tells WebMD. "Asthma is a risk factor for lung cancer. [H]owever, only a small fraction of asthmatics are prone to develop lung cancer because of asthma," says Santillan, noting that the increased risk, almost two times above the general population, is still relatively low.
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Your level of asthma control If your asthma is well controlled, your airways will be less sensitive to exercise. You'll find exercise is less of a trigger for you. If you find exercise makes your breathing a lot worse, it could be a sign that your asthma is not controlled.
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It's usually possible to control those symptoms with medications that prevent attacks, and by using a rescue inhaler if you do get an attack. But even well-controlled asthma can cause problems every once in a while. And that's especially a bummer for people with anxiety.
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Asthma can be diagnosed by an ENT physician or an asthma specialist, and there are many treatment options available.
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People with asthma should still get regular exercise. And with the right approach, physical activity can benefit your asthma symptoms. Exercise helps by increasing lung capacity and reducing inflammation, which improves your overall lung health. Despite these benefits, you should still take your medicine as prescribed.
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Skipping your medication, even when you don't have symptoms, could mean more flare-ups and worsened asthma in the future. Asthma is a long-term, incurable disease that is caused by inflammation in the airways. The inflammation is always there and only produces symptoms when a certain threshold is reached.
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There's no cure for asthma. However, it's a highly treatable disease. In fact, some doctors say today's asthma treatments are so effective, many people have near-complete control of their symptoms.
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If you have asthma, you are not more likely to get a cold or the flu. But asthma and colds or the flu can be a dangerous combination for you, so you need to be ready. Talk to your doctor about flu and cold prevention, get your flu vaccine, and make sure your asthma action plan is in place.
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Exercised-induced asthma is a narrowing of the airways in the lungs triggered by strenuous exercise. It causes shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing and other symptoms during or after exercise. The preferred term for this condition is exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (brong-koh-kun-STRIK-shun).
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Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) is triggered when your child performs certain activities such as exercising or playing sports. EIA happens when cooling, warming, or drying air tightens your airways. The triggers for EIA are minimal compared to chronic asthma, mainly changes in air temperature and strenuous exercising.
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So can you join the military with Asthma? In almost all cases, if you currently have asthma you will not be able to join the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard. If you have or were diagnosed with Asthma past the age of 13, you may still be able to enlist with a waiver.