what is asthma

Asthma is an inflammatory response in the airway brought about by the presence of allergens such as pollen, dust mites etc. People who have asthma are normally less resistent to these allergens than normal individuals (scientifically this is called "atopic"). Children who have asthma normally grow out of it by the time they reach adolescence, but some do carry them until adulthood. The best thing to do to avoid asthma is to stay away from trigger factors such as pollen, dust mites, exercise and so on. If you need inhalers to manage asthma, talk to your doctor about the blue inhaler (salbutamol) and the brown inhaler (corticosteroids). The blue inhaler is for acute asthma relief while the brown inhaler is for prevention.