WEB DESK, June 29(ABC): Share on PinterestSummertime is officially here.
This can mean outdoor sports, backyard barbeques, and family vacations.
However, for many people, summer also means more symptoms of asthma.
So, what exactly is asthma and why is it sometimes worse during the summer?
“By definition, asthma is a reversible airway obstruction,” Dr. Zab Mosenifar, FCCP, FACP, the medical director of the Women’s Guild Lung Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told Healthline.
Experts say if you have asthma, triggers from the environment can make it difficult to breathe. Anyone can have it, but some people may be at higher risk.
“Asthma is more common in people who live in congested environments because they have a higher exposure to pollutants. Also, asthma mortality is higher for different socioeconomic groups for very complicated reasons of social issues, lack of proper healthcare, lack of access to medical care, and so on,” Mosenifar said.
“Typical symptoms of asthma include intermittent cough, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath,” Dr. Jimmy Johannes, a pulmonologist and critical care medicine specialist at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center in California, told Healthline. “Many things can look like asthma so an evaluation by a physician is often important to confirm the diagnosis.”
And if you don’t have asthma now, that doesn’t mean you’re immune from developing it later.
“Asthma can often spontaneously resolve over time. Asthma can also spontaneously develop later in life,” Johannes said.