What is Asthma?

Asthma is when the normal process of breathing is harder because one’s airway is skinnier, swollen or slightly blocked with mucus. It doesn’t happen all the time, but those with asthma can have “flares” during which the difficulty breathing occurs.

What Causes It?

Things that can make someone have an asthma flare are called triggers. These include:

• Allergens—like pet hair or pollen

• Irritants—like cigarette smoke or chalk dust

• Exercise

• Illness

• Breathing in cold air

How to Treat?

Asthma can be treated with medicine and/or by avoiding triggers. Often, the medicine is breathed in through a device called an inhaler. A spacer can be used to make breathing in all the medicine easier. The spacer goes between the inhaler and the mouthpiece. After the medication is let out of the inhaler, it stays inside the spacer until one is ready to breathe it in.