Adult Onset Asthma | Symptoms and Causes of Adult Onset Asthma

What is Adult onset Asthma

Asthma is a syndrome characterized by increased responsiveness of trachea and bronchi to various stimuli and is manifested by attacks of bronchial narrowing variable in severity.
Bronchial asthma is of two types

1. Extrinsic – which has hereditary predisposition.
2. Intrinsic variety.

Adult onset Asthma is usually of intrinsic type and is usually idiopathic and is also called as idiopathic or cryptogenic asthma.

• In adult onset asthma there is no family or personal history of atopic disease.
• In this variant, serum IgE levels are normal.
• It usually starts late in life and perennial symptoms are common.

Symptoms of Adult onset Asthma

Clinical manifestations of adult onset asthma

1. Persons affected are usually present with symptoms of dyspnoea, wheezing and cough.
2. Some times there are complaints of tightness in chest or sensation of constriction in chest or bouts of cough.
3. Cough is usually non-productive and is followed by wheeze.
4. In some people asthma attack may start late in night and is called nocturnal asthma.
5. During an acute attack, patient is restless, anxious, sweating, orthopnoeic, tachypnoeic, breathing through pursed lips with a prolonged expiration, wheezing may be audible.
6. Examination of chest reveals signs of hyperinflation, bilateral wheeze is heard.
7. Presence of cyanosis, severe tachypnoea, tachycardia, widened pulse pressure, pulses paradoxus and on auscultation, completely silent chest are indicative of severe airway obstruction.

Adult onset Asthma Treatment

• In adult onset asthma, person improves clinically early but pulmonary function tests remain impaired, hence it is necessary that treatment should be continued for some time after the symptomatic period and the results of pulmonary function studies are to be monitored for the progression of disease.

Adult onset Asthma Diagnosis

Investigations

• Chest X-ray may show hyperinflation of lungs and sometimes chest infection, if present.
• Blood examination usually won’t show eosinophilia.
• Pulmonary function test may show reduction in dynamic lung volumes with decrease in FVC (forced vital capacity), MEFR (maximum expiratory flow rate) and FEV1 (force expiratory volume in one second) especially in acute attack phase.

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