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Overly sensitive airways...difficulty breathing...perhaps you experienced it. These are some of the symptoms of asthma. Asthma is a long-term disease caused by overly sensitive (reactive, twitchy) breathing tubes (airways) in a person's lungs. A person with asthma may respond to a variety of stimuli, commonly called triggers. A trigger is something that causes the lungs to react and become inflamed. People can be susceptible to certain triggers like allergens, irritants, and exercise.
In the early stages of asthma, inflammation is reversible with certain medications and/or trigger avoidance. Proper asthma education and appropriate use of "controller" medications, such as inhaled steroids, allows most people to lead normal, healthy lives. Unfortunately, when asthma goes untreated, airway changes occur which gradually lead to less and less reversibility of symptoms.
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