Asthma is a disease.

Written by Yuan Qing
Pulmonology
Updated on April 09, 2025
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The full name of asthma is bronchial asthma. It is primarily caused by a variety of inflammatory cells and cellular components involved in chronic airway inflammation. This chronic inflammation can lead to symptoms of airway hyperresponsiveness. The main symptoms present in patients are sudden attacks or exposure to certain irritating factors, leading to wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing. These symptoms can improve either through medication or spontaneously without medication. A disease with these characteristics is called asthma. Generally, the occurrence of asthma is mainly due to genetic factors and exposure to external allergens. The disease is caused by a combination of internal and external factors. It is generally controllable but not curable, which is important to understand.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
49sec home-news-image

Is variant asthma allergic asthma?

Cough-variant asthma is not allergic asthma, although it is a type of allergic asthma. Generally speaking, there is a certain distinction between cough-variant asthma and allergic asthma. Clinically, cough-variant asthma is a special type of asthma, where the main symptom exhibited by patients is an irritative dry cough, typically quite severe, without other significant clinical discomforts. In contrast, patients with allergic asthma usually exhibit symptoms such as sneezing, nasal congestion, runny nose, itchy eyes, and itchy nose before the onset, triggered by exposure to certain allergens. Cough-variant asthma does not have these preliminary signs, marking a clear difference from allergic asthma.

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
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How to cure asthma completely

How can asthma be completely cured? First, we need to understand what type of disease asthma is. Currently, most references to asthma pertain to bronchial asthma. Whether allergic, cough variant, or chest tightness variant, so far, no method has been found to completely cure bronchial asthma. It is also predicted that it will be difficult to find a cure for asthma within the next ten or twenty years. Therefore, once diagnosed with bronchial asthma, it is crucial to deeply understand this disease and learn to accept the reality that asthma cannot be completely cured at this point. It is also important to recognize that asthma can be managed. Asthma can only be controlled, not cured. Any advertisement claiming to cure asthma through any means is false and not trustworthy. Moreover, in our practical experience, we often encounter many asthma patients who, through various channels such as search engines, television, newspapers, or magazines, find advertisements for medications claiming to cure asthma. However, in practice, although these patients may find their bronchial asthma symptoms well controlled in the short term after taking these medications, the symptoms of bronchial asthma recur repeatedly after stopping the medication, becoming increasingly difficult to control. Furthermore, some asthma patients who have taken these medications often develop typical drug-induced conditions, such as Cushing's syndrome or drug-induced diabetes. We suspect that these medications likely contain oral steroids. Oral steroids can indeed be used to treat asthma, but their use in the standardized treatment of asthma is governed by very strict guidelines. Therefore, patients with bronchial asthma must not be misled by these false advertisements, otherwise, the consequences could outweigh the benefits.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
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Is variant asthma the same as asthma?

Cough variant asthma is a very common type of asthma. Typically, patients with this condition predominantly experience chronic coughing, generally lasting over two months. These patients may not exhibit other clinical symptoms such as wheezing or breathlessness. It is a specific type of asthma characterized by recurrent chronic coughing. Once diagnosed, these patients should promptly receive treatment to relieve bronchospasm and anti-allergic medications among other symptomatic treatments. The course of treatment generally requires about 4 to 8 weeks, after which some patients may gradually discontinue the medication. Some patients might need intermittent long-term treatment. Therefore, this particular type of asthma requires significant attention. (Medication should be administered under the guidance of a professional doctor.)

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Written by Guo Xiao Yun
Pulmonology
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What are the symptoms of asthma?

Asthma is a chronic airway disease that clinically manifests as noticeable chest tightness and shortness of breath during acute attacks, especially when exposed to allergens such as cold air, pollen, animal dander, or consuming foods that are likely to cause allergies, such as eggs, milk, and seafood. This leads to high reactivity of the airways, causing spasms, and thus a range of clinical symptoms. In some patients, typical wheezing sounds can also be heard in the lungs. Asthma is a chronic disease that cannot be completely cured. During acute attacks, it is recommended to quickly remove oneself from allergens and actively administer antispasmodic and asthma-relieving medications to significantly improve symptoms of chest tightness and shortness of breath.

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Written by Xu Peng
Pulmonology
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Which is more severe, cough variant asthma or asthma?

There isn't a claim stating which is more severe between cough variant asthma and classic asthma. Cough variant asthma is a specific type of asthma characterized primarily by a dry cough, particularly noticeable at night. Patients usually do not exhibit significant symptoms of chest tightness, wheezing or difficulty in breathing. Typical asthma symptoms include paroxysmal coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and difficulty in breathing. If respiratory failure occurs, along with cyanosis of the skin and mucous membranes, headaches, dizziness, or even coma, the condition is considered severe and immediate emergency treatment is necessary.