Featuring: Dr. John Fleetham, MD
What Are the Symptoms of Asthma and Who is Most Susceptible to Asthma?
Duration: 1 minute, 10 seconds

Asthma presents in several different ways.

It can present with wheezing, some people will breathe out and make a sound like (wheezing sound), like a noise like that, sometimes it will present with chest tightness, sometimes it will present with shortness of breath, which quite often is episodic - sometimes they're normal, and sometimes when they're exposed to certain things they're short of breath, or quite frequently will present with a chronic cough that goes on for a prolonged period of time.

Patients with asthma have an irritable airway. Asthma runs in families, so it's very common if one member has asthma, that other members of the family will have asthma.

The typical symptoms of asthma is people when they're exposed to certain things, such as fumes, dust, cold air, and certain allergens. Patients with asthma have a lot, tend to be allergic, and tend to respond to different things which may provoke it, such as pets are one of the number one enemies in terms of asthmatics, especially cats.

If you have asthma symptoms or think you need treatment for asthma, you should go and see your family doctor to see whether it warrants treatment. And if you have difficult to treat asthma your doctor may send you on to a respiratory therapist.

Presenter: Dr. John Fleetham, Respirologist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Respirologist