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ASTHMA

Asthma is a chronic (long-term) lung disease that inflames' and narrows the airways. Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing² (a whistling sound when you breathe), chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The coughing of­ten occurs at night or early in the morning.

Asthma affects people of all ages, but it most often starts in childhood. In the United States, more than 22 million people are known to have asthma. Nearly 6 million of these people are children.

The airways are tubes that carry air into and out of your lungs. People who have asthma have inflamed airways. This makes the airways swollen and very sen­sitive. They tend to react strongly to certain substances that are breathed in.

When the airways react, the muscles around them tighten. This causes the airways to narrow, and less air flows to your lungs. The swelling also can worsen, making the airways even narrower. Cells in the airways may make more mucus than normal. Mucus is a sticky, thick liquid that can further narrow your air­ways.

This chain reaction can result in asthma symptoms. Symptoms can happen each time the airways are irritated. Sometimes symptoms are mild and go away on their own or after minimal treatment with an asthma medicine. At other times, symptoms continue to get worse. When symptoms get more intense and/or ad­ditional symptoms appear, this is an asthma attack. Asthma attacks also are called flare-ups³ or exacerbations.

It's important to treat symptoms when you first notice them. This will help to prevent the symptoms from worsening and causing a severe asthma attack. Severe asthma attacks may require emergency care, and they can cause death.

Asthma can't be cured. Even when you feel fine, you still have the disease and it can flare up at any time. Current asthma treatment focuses primarily on prevent­ing or reducing the inflammation process, and relaxing the smooth muscle that tightens during bronchospasm. Healthcare professionals use asthma medications with two goals in mind:

1. To keep the airway clear so the patient can breathe normally.

2. To prevent airway remodeling, a thickening of the bronchial walls that can result from chronic inflammation and lead to permanent damage.

There are two categories of asthma medications:

- Quick-relief medications. Also called "rescue" medications, these are de­signed to instantly relieve the symptoms of an asthma attack. They are usually not meant to be taken long—term.

- Long-term-control medications. These are designed to minimize inflamma­tion and prevent asthma flare-ups before they occur. Long-acting beta₂-agonists are often used, as well as topical corticosteroids.

Patients with mild intermittent⁴ or mild persistent asthma may receive a quick-relief medication to aid them when their asthma flares-up. Those with moderate or severe asthma are more likely to need both quick-relief and long-term-control medications.

Asthma drugs can be delivered either in pill form or through an inhaler or nebulizer⁵, which allows the drug to travel directly to the bronchial tubes while minimizing the effect on the rest of the body.

Notes:

¹to inflame— запалюватися, викликати запалення

²wheezing — важке дихання, задишка

³flare-up— загострення

⁴intermittent — переривчастий, який припиняється (на деякий час)

⁵nebulizer— розпилювач

2. Answer the questions.

1) What is asthma?

2) What are the symptoms of asthma?

3) Can you describe the clinical course of asthma?

4) Do mild asthma symptoms go away on their own?

5) What is asthma attack?

6) Why is it important to treat first asthma symptoms?

7) What are the goals of using asthma medication?

8) Name the two categories of asthma medications.

9) How can asthma drugs be delivered?

10) Can the people with asthma live normal and active lives nowadays?

3. Say whether the sentences are true or false.

1) Asthma affects only children.

2) People who have asthma have inflamed airways.

3) Severe asthma attacks can cause death.

4) Asthma can be cured nowadays.

5) Quick-relief asthma medications are usually meant to be taken long-term.

6) With today's knowledge and treatments, most people who have asthma can sleep through the night without interruption from asthma.