It is very important to understand the difference between Asthma and allergies. They are two very different and separate diseases. Common ground shared by the two diseases is the fact that they are both immune-based diseases. They share a diagnostic name: Rinobronchitis (allergic airway syndrome). Allergies are an immune system condition. Asthma is better considered a respiratory condition.
An allergy can be defined as an exaggerated and/or abnormal response of the body when exposed to allergens. Allergens are basically irritants. What happens during an allergic reaction is the body begins to over-produce antibodies known as immunoglobulin E. This causes histamine to be released and this release causes typical allergenic symptoms. A few known allergens are: air pollution, dust mites, molds, perfumes, smoke, viruses, and pollens. The negative effects of the allergens can be drastically reduced if you use common allergy reduction medicines.
Asthma is a respiratory disease. In an asthma attack, the airways in the lungs react to certain irritants in a hypersensitive manner. Continual labored breathing occurs usually combined with sneezing, coughing, and gasping. There is a feeling of tight constriction in the chest. When airways constrict, bronchial tubes will begin to swell, mucus develops, and difficulty in breathing becomes predominately worse. The end result of asthma attacks is difficulty in getting air into the lungs.
What does all this information tell us? You can suffer from allergies and not have asthma. Likewise, you may have asthma, but not suffer from allergies. Asthma can be caused by underlying allergies. So can depression. Asthma will not be the cause of suffering from allergies of any type. It is important to note that not every person who has allergies will develop asthma. Understanding that there are important differences with the two diseases of asthma and allergy is very important. Knowing exactly what disease you have determine what type of treatment will be sought.
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