Having asthma means your airways (the tubes that carry air to and from the lungs) are inflamed. Inflammation makes the airways more sensitive and likely to narrow when they become irritated. This narrowing can cause coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing.
There are several different types of asthma:
- Allergen-triggered asthma
- Exercise-induced asthma
- Cough-variant asthma
- Occupational asthma
How Can I Get Help for Asthma?
Call your doctor if you have any of these symptoms of asthma and they do not go away:
- Coughing
- Wheezing
- Difficulty breathing (dyspnea)
- Chest tightness
Having these symptoms doesn't necessarily mean you have asthma. Other conditions have similar symptoms.
Experts at Rush can draw on their experience to find the root of your problem.
Care for Asthma at Rush
If you or your child has been diagnosed with asthma, doctors at Rush will help you create an asthma action plan (a list of triggers, daily medications and instructions for what to do during an attack).
Your plan will depend on the type and severity of your asthma. It might involve one or more of the following medications:
- Inhaled corticosteroids, the most common treatment for long-term control of asthma
- Other long-term control medications
- Quick relief medications, such as short-acting beta2-agonists, which you can use to relieve asthma attacks as they happen
Meet our asthma providers
Rush Excellence in Asthma
- All the answers in one place: Allergies, sinus problems, acid reflux and stress can make asthma symptoms worse. And many people with asthma also have one or more of these other conditions. At the Rush Sinus, Allergy and Asthma Center at Rush University Medical Center, doctors work with children and adults to deal with all of these related problems at the same time.
- Finding new treatments through research: Doctors at Rush are also researchers looking for new ways to treat asthma in people who don't respond to standard therapy. Through clinical trials, you may be able to receive treatments that might not be widely available.
- Free education: At Rush, you can take advantage of a free asthma management class run each month by the Respiratory Health Association. Clinicians at Rush also offer one-on-one asthma education.
- Among the best in the nation: Rush University Medical Center's ENT program was named among the best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.