Asthma can occur to anyone, at any age. Approximately fourteen million adults and six million children in the U.S. alone are suffering from asthma. Sometime there is a history of asthma or allergies in other family members.

Human lungs are quite similar to the branches of a tree. Air tubes get narrow and narrower until they reach the air sacs (alveoli) that make up the spongy look of the lungs.

Asthma is caused when the airways are inflamed or contracted.

When asthma is under control, the airways are open and air freely flows in and out of lungs. When asthma attacks the airways get constricted and swollen.

The production of mucus also increase that cause further obstruction in the airways. In this way, a person can hardly inhale and exhale, causing coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.

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