Allergic & Non-Allergic Asthma: 10 Facts About This Condition You Must Know About

We all have some idea about asthma till now. Recently world asthma day went by where OnlyMyHealth provided with brief articles about different aspects of asthma and how can it affect your health. This lung disease is much anticipated and is known to create breathing problems throughout. Asthma appears to be a chronic lung condition that could affect the airways and become inflamed. There are majorly two types of asthma that could happen to people, allergic and non-allergic. They are also known as intrinsic and extrinsic asthma. However, in any type of asthma some symptoms or signs remain same- it causes wheezing, coughing and chest tightness. Since not many people are aware of these two conditions, we are going to tell you about some facts about these asthma types.  

Allergic and Non-Allergic Asthma 

We spoke to Dr. Ravi Shekhar, Head and Senior Consultant in Department of Pulmonology & Sleep Medicine at Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad to tell us about allergic and non-allergic asthma. He explained that asthma is majorly an allergic illness but its non-allergic phenotype is also fairly common. Asthma is a disease that has multiple triggers. Most of the asthmatics feels worsening of symptoms with exposure to pollen and fungal spores. They have increased allergic markers and they show good response to avoidance of allergens. Let us know about some more facts about these asthma types in detail. 

Facts about Allergic & Non-Allergic Asthma 

1. They also show good clinical response to conventional inhalers. The other variant of asthma, non-allergic variant is slightly difficult to treat because the common pollen trigger and house dust mite triggers are not seen.  

2, Non allergic form of asthma shows only partial response to inhalers and there is no role of allergen avoidance.  

3. The non-allergic asthma is mostly sensitive to temperature change and chest congestion may get triggered by exposure to dust and smoke. Dust and smoke are not allergen but are mechanical triggers. 

4. Asthma is a respirator condition, characterized by swollen or inflamed airways. Patients often feel chest tightness, wheezing, breathlessness and cough, around midnight or early morning.  

Also Read- Cold Induced Asthma: Symptoms Causes & Prevention Tips

5. There are many factors that can lead to worsening of asthma or unfolding of asthma. These factors can be allergic (extrinsic) or non-allergic (intrinsic).  

6. Extrinsic asthma or allergic asthma develops in response to allergens such as house dust mite, pollen and mold. This is the most common type of asthma and many a times; this type of asthma can be controlled by controlling to avoiding the allergens.  

7. Non-allergic asthma or intrinsic asthma is relatively less common (about 25 percent) and it often develops in adults, especially women. Intrinsic asthma also has multiple triggers and especially dust, smoke, stress and extremes of temperature.

8. The treatment of both types of asthma is majorly similar and is mainly dependent on prevention of the cause or trigger that affects the person.  

9. The trigger of allergic asthma can be identified with the help of allergy testing. Most of the allergic asthma usually has hereditary relation or family history of some kind of allergy.  

10. In case of non-allergic asthma triggers can be identified only with the help of anecdotal correlation. Treatment of both types of asthma includes avoidance of trigger and proper use of inhalers. 

Also Read- Fasting Before Taking A Blood Test: Is It Safe? Here's What The Expert Says

Conclusion- 

Asthma of any type could create complication in the body. In this article, we saw that allergic asthma is more common and you need to stay away from the allergen in order to manage the symptoms of allergic asthma. In case of non-allergic asthma, it is slightly difficult, because the cause of it is not known easily. Also the inhalers, which are the most effective and commonly used treatment methods are not totally effective. Therefore, you need to go for regular checkups and try to avoid conditions that could instigate asthma attack in your body. Keep your symptoms in check and eat proper diet to stay healthy. 

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