Articles

Is There a Link between Allergies and Asthma?

The short answer is absolutely YES, there is a link between having allergies and developing asthma. As you know, asthma is a chronic disease of the respiratory tract with symptoms like a choking sensation, tightness in your chest, shortness of breath and characterized by a wheezing sound. Simply stated, continued research now suggests that allergies are somehow related to the development of asthma.

An allergy specialist at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. James T. Li, has suggested that as many as 60% of the people with asthma have actually some form of allergy caused asthma. If completely accurate, this makes allergies one of the leading causes of asthma but at the very least, it establishes some type of casual link between allergies and asthma. This makes sense given that according to Dr. Li, up to 78% of the people who have asthma also suffer from hay fever.

While many of the common allergy treatments such as allergen immunotherapy, which is shots to desensitize are used also treat asthma, as the treatments are not used to treat an allergy. This is probably due to the fact that allergies are more nasal oriented, while asthma is much deeper into the respiratory tract and airway passages.

The key then is to understand that at a minimum, there is a casual link between allergies in the development of asthma. For this reason alone, it makes sense to try and limit your exposure to potential asthma triggers that may be in your home. Below is a link for a free report on eliminating asthma triggers in your home.

Although allergies seem to play a key role in the development of asthma, it's not the only cause to consider. There are many other forms of asthma that can develop over the course of time. With the prevalence of allergies playing a large role in the number of asthma cases, it just makes sense to protect yourself as much as possible.