Acute severe asthma
Medical condition / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Acute severe asthma?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Acute severe asthma, also known as status asthmaticus, is an acute exacerbation of asthma that does not respond to standard treatments of bronchodilators (inhalers) and corticosteroids.[2] Asthma is caused by multiple genes, some having protective effect, with each gene having its own tendency to be influenced by the environment although a genetic link leading to acute severe asthma is still unknown.[3] Symptoms include chest tightness, rapidly progressive dyspnea (shortness of breath), dry cough, use of accessory respiratory muscles, fast and/or labored breathing, and extreme wheezing. It is a life-threatening episode of airway obstruction and is considered a medical emergency. Complications include cardiac and/or respiratory arrest. The increasing prevalence of atopy and asthma remains unexplained but may be due to infection with respiratory viruses.[4]
Acute severe asthma | |
---|---|
Other names | Status asthmaticus, asthmatic status |
Specialty | Respirology |
Symptoms | Anxiety, panic, laboring to breath, tightened neck and chest muscles, difficulty performing normal daily activities[1] |
Usual onset | Silent chest, worsening symptoms despite use of medication.[1] |