Acute asthma attacks are normally provoked by some exposure to allergens and the infections of upper respiratory tract. The level of attacks’ severity depends on how the underlying asthma is controlled (how airway inflammation is controlled). Acute attacks are life-threatening as they might persist in spite of the use of quick relief medicines (such as inhaled bronchodilators).
Cases when asthma does not respond to treatments with inhalers are to be promptly revolted to medical assistance at the nearest emergency room or to some asthma specialist, dependant on the situation and time. Asthma attacks cannot stop by themselves without any treatment. If the first warning symptoms are ignored, you are definitely at high risk of getting status asthmaticus.
Allergy fact
Prolonged asthma attacks not responding to the treatments with bronchodilator are considered medical emergencies. Doctors call severe attacks status asthmaticus. Such attacks require emergency care right away.
The signs of serious asthma are the following: constant coughing, incapability to say full sentences and to walk not feeling short of breath. There might be a sense of closed chest, and lips might have a kind of bluish tint. Besides you can feel confusion, agitation, and incapability to concentrate. Asthma sufferers hunch their shoulders, stand up or sit so that to breathe easier, strain the neck and abdominal muscles. The signs mentioned above indicate an ongoing failure of the respiratory system. In this case it is hardly possible that inhaled medicines can reverse the process. You may need a mechanical ventilator to help the respiratory muscles and the lungs. For the treatment a face mask and a breathing tube should be inserted in the mouth or in the nose. Such breathing aids are actually temporary and are usually removed when the attack is subsided and when the lungs have already recovered enough to restart breathing by themselves. A hospitalization in the intensive care unit might be the result of some serious attack which is not treated promptly. In order to avoid hospitalization, it is advised at the symptoms outbreak, to start early treatment right away at home or maybe in the doctor’s office.
Coughing and wheezing in and of itself is actually not a reliable sign to judge the rate of asthma attack severity. Really serious attacks might block the tubes to the degree that the air lack in and out of the lungs can fail to cause coughing and wheezing.