History

• Bust of Hippocrates
  
  Although both the ancient Egyptian and ancient Chinese cultures had developed remedies for asthmatic conditions long before the Greeks, the Greek physician Hippocrates (460 - 357 BC) is commonly acknowledged as the first doctor to identify and define asthmatic spasms. Several hundred years later, the Greco-Roman philosopher Galen (201 - 130 BC) determined that asthma was caused by bronchial problems, specifically, bronchial obstructions.
  The word asthma is derived from the Greek word, aazein, which means to gasp with an open mouth or pant. The term asthma first appeared in the Iliad; however, it was first used as a medical term in the Corpus Hippocraticum.
  
  

Types

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  Historically, asthma has been treated in a variety of ways. In ancient Egypt, a mixture of herbs were heated on a brick and the asthmatic person was made to breathe in the fumes, while the ancient Chinese inhaled the fumes of herbs that contained ephedrine.
  In the mid 12th century, the famous physician Moses Maimonides recommended that sufferers of asthma exercise moderation in food, sleep, drink, and sex and to regularly eat chicken soup and avoid polluted city environments.
  In the early 1900s, drugs that dilated the bronchial tubes were used for treating asthmatic attacks, however, it was not for many decades that asthma would not be considered simply a psychosomatic disease, but rather, a condition with a strong inflammatory component.
  
  

Features

• Maginified view of animal dander
  
  Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease in which certain environmental triggers cause the bronchial airways to constrict, become excessively inflamed, and fill with mucus. The triggers for an asthma attack can include a number of factors: a particular allergen, tobacco smoke, air of either extreme cold or extreme heat, perfume, animal dander, moist air, exercise, stress, or viral illnesses such as colds.
  
  

Identification

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  Individuals with asthma often experience tightness in the chest, episodes of coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
  A person experiencing an asthma attack will often experience severe wheezing, a rapid heart beat, and visible over-inflation of the chest. During an extremely severe attack, an individual with asthma may turn blue and become unconscious.
  
  

Considerations

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  While the best way to avoid an asthmatic episode is to identify and avoid the particular individuals' triggers and the only known "cure" is to desensitize sufferers to their triggers, there are a number of treatments for asthma victims, including medications for relief of symptoms as well as prevention, long-acting beta-2 agonists, and emergency treatments.