Can Asthma Be Life-Threatening?

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that gives rise to episodes of coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and shortness of breath. It affects about 26.5 million people in the United States, resulting in 12.7 million visits to doctor’s offices and outpatient hospital departments, 1.3 million emergency room visits, and 439,000 hospitalizations every year. 

If you have asthma, you know that a symptom attack can be serious. What you may not realize, however, is that under the right circumstances, it can be deadly. 

As board-certified pulmonologists who specialize in creating effective and responsive asthma management plans for people of all ages, our team at Fivestar Pulmonary Associates in Allen, McKinney, and Plano, Texas, can help you take control of your asthma so you can enjoy life, prevent severe symptom flare-ups, and avoid emergency situations. 

Here, Dr. Anthony Nebor, Dr. Asif Najmuddin, and Dr. Deepthi Gandhiraj discuss the ins and outs of severe, life-threatening asthma attacks, and explain how you can avoid having one. 

What happens during an asthma attack? 

When your asthma is well-controlled, the muscles around your airways are calm and relaxed — and your breathing is normal and effortless. When an allergen, airborne irritant, or exercise triggers an asthma attack, three things happen inside and around your airways:

Bronchospasm

First, the muscles around your airways constrict. As they tighten, your airways begin to narrow, obstructing normal airflow. 

Inflammation

In short order, the lining of your airways begins to swell, further restricting your airflow. How? Inflamed airways allow much less air to pass in and out of your lungs.

Mucus production

At the same time, your respiratory system ramps up its production of mucus (phlegm) to help trap the irritants in your airways so you can expel them through coughing. Unfortunately, in the midst of an asthma attack, this thick mucus only serves to further block your airways.

Risk factors for a severe asthma episode

Anyone who has asthma can have a severe asthma symptom flare — even people with mild asthma are at risk. Even so, there are certain risk factors for a severe, life-threatening asthma attack that demand extra precaution: 

• You’ve had one or more severe asthma attacks in the past
• You’ve had two or more asthma-related hospital stays in the past year
• You’ve had three or more asthma-related emergency room visits in the past year
• You use two refills of your quick-relief medication each month
• An oncoming asthma attack is difficult to sense and feels like a surprise 

When you have one or more of these risk factors, it means your asthma isn’t well-controlled. Such circumstances become even more problematic if you have comorbid conditions — such as obesity, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), sinusitis, and depression — that can worsen your asthma and make it harder to control. 

Signs of a life-threatening asthma attack

About one in two people with asthma experience at least one major symptom flare each year. In the same span of time, more than 3,500 people die from a severe asthma attack. 

Just as an asthma management plan aims to prevent asthma episodes altogether, an asthma action plan is designed to keep a serious asthma attack from turning into a deadly event. This means knowing how to recognize the signs of worsening asthma and knowing what steps to take in the event of a serious attack. 

Signs of worsening yellow zone asthma include: 

• Having some amount of wheezing, chest tightness, coughing, or shortness of breath
• Waking up at night, or not being able to be as active, because of asthma symptoms 
• A peak flow meter reading that shows half to three-quarters of your best peak flow

In such situations, your asthma action plan will prompt you to add your quick-relief medicine and continue your long-term control medicine as directed. If your symptoms get better after an hour or so, you can continue monitoring them and taking your long-term control medicine.

But if they get worse, you’re entering the serious red zone of your asthma action plan, which is considered a medical high alert. Signs you’re in the midst of a severe asthma episode include:

• You’re having a lot of trouble breathing
• Your quick-relief medicines haven’t helped
• You can’t do any of the things you normally do because of asthma symptoms
• You’ve been in the yellow zone for 24 hours, and you’re not getting any better
• Your peak flow meter reading is less than half of your best peak flow

In this situation, it’s important to start taking your emergency asthma medications as directed and call your doctor. If your symptoms don’t get better, call 9-1-1 or go directly to the hospital.

Asthma control equals episode prevention 

Whether your asthma is intermittent or persistent, keeping it under control — and following a detailed asthma action plan when symptoms appear — is the first step in preventing a serious asthma emergency. 

Remember, asthma can be life-threatening, but deadly asthma attacks are preventable. 

To improve your asthma management plan, call or click online to schedule an appointment at your nearest Fivestar Pulmonary Associates office today.

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