Allergy-induced asthma, also called allergic asthma, occurs when you experience asthma symptoms on breathing in an allergen. The most common allergens that induce asthma include mold spores, dander, and pollen. Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, stuffy nose, itchy eyes, and a rash.
Allergies can impact your life in several ways, including what you eat, the type of products you use, and how you breathe. When your allergies combine with asthma, you have allergic asthma.
Allergic asthma occurs when you breathe in allergens, such as mold spores, dander, or pollen, and your airways tighten in response. When you have an allergy, your body’s immune system responds and tries to protect you by releasing immunoglobulin E (IgE), a natural defense chemical your body creates.
In general, IgE is great, as it helps your body protect itself and fight back against danger. However, if too much IgE is released, it can cause your airways to tighten, resulting in difficulty breathing.
The allergen can thus trigger your asthma. Your airway lining becomes inflamed, thick excess mucus is created in your airways, and the muscles around your airways tighten.
Allergic asthma is the most common type of asthma. Around 25 million people in the U.S. have asthma. Approximately 5.1 million children have asthma. Allergic asthma impacts around 60% of people with asthma.
The symptoms associated with both allergic asthma and non-allergic asthma are the same.
The exact cause of asthma is unknown. For those with allergic asthma, symptoms occur when inhaling an allergen, triggering an asthma attack.
Allergens exist all around you, and most are so small that they can’t be seen with the naked eye. It is essential to know what allergens trigger your asthma, so you can control your environment and thus your condition.
Another common allergy-induced asthma trigger is seasonal allergies. Many people suffer seasonal allergies in the spring when many plants bloom.
The symptoms of allergic asthma are the same as those of other asthma types. These symptoms include:
These symptoms can be intense when you experience an allergy-induced asthma attack. You want a treatment plan to prevent and deal with severe asthma symptoms.
With allergy-induced asthma, you can also experience symptoms that are not as intense as asthma symptoms. Allergy symptoms include:
When you experience an allergy-induced asthma attack, the feeling is similar to a regular asthma attack. Your airways tighten, making breathing hard, and you may cough, wheeze, and feel pressure in your chest.
The primary difference between an asthma attack and an allergy-induced asthma attack is the cause of the attack, which in this case is exposure to an allergen.
We will run a range of tests to arrive at a diagnosis of allergic asthma.
You will undergo a series of allergy tests to determine what your allergens are. The most common allergy tests are skin or blood tests.
Different allergens are applied to your skin with a skin test to see how you react to them. This can help us determine what allergen you breathe in that triggers your asthma.
To diagnose your asthma and ensure that you are not suffering from a different medical condition, we will run a series of additional tests:
With allergic asthma, it is crucial to figure out what you are allergic to and diagnose your asthma.
We encourage you to keep notes about when you experience asthma or allergy symptoms. This can help us determine your allergy triggers and allow us to create a more detailed plan to control your allergic asthma.
With allergic asthma, our primary goal is to help you learn how to control your condition. There are a few different ways we can do this:
You can control allergic asthma by learning your triggers, controlling the environment, and knowing what medications to take. This is a commonly occurring condition that you can manage.
At West Hills Allergy & Asthma Associates, Dr. Anderson-Cowell has more than two decades of experience diagnosing and treating patients with allergy-induced asthma.
Her training and expertise make Dr. Anderson-Cowell an expert in treating patients who are dealing with allergy-induced asthma.
If you’re looking for expert diagnostic experience and effective treatment history, Dr. Anderson-Cowell can help. For a consultation, please call (503) 297-4779 or request an appointment online.