Dr. Carlos Camargo answers the question: 'What Is Asthma, Common Symptoms?'
Question: What is asthma and what are some of the common symptoms?
Answer: Asthma is a chronic lung disease that has two main components. One of them is inflammation, which is irritation and the swelling of the airways. The other is bronchoconstriction, which is when the smooth muscles of the airway tighten up. And so both of these together cause a narrowing of the airway and make it harder to breathe.
Common symptoms of asthma are shortness of breath; wheezing, a musical sound that comes from having a narrowed airway; cough; and then a sense of chest tightness.
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