Living with Asthma
Asthma (Az-muh) is a chronic disease that affects the airways of millions of Americans. The airways are the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways become swollen and inflamed in reaction to irritants. When the airways react, they get narrower, and less air flows through to your lung tissue. This causes symptoms like wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), coughing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing, especially at night and in the early morning.
Asthma cannot be cured, but most people with asthma can control it so that they have few and infrequent symptoms and can live active lives.
Helpful Resources
- Uncas Health District’s Putting on AIRS Program can help you identify things in your home that may be making your Asthma worse.
- For more information on Asthma, visit the State of Connecticut’s Department of Public Health Asthma Program website.
- Air Quality and Asthma
Air quality can affect your Asthma. Visit the DEP’s Air Quality Monitoring website to view the current air quality in our area. - National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: What is Asthma?
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