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HealthInfo Aoraki South Canterbury

Overview of asthma in adults

Tirohanga whānui ki te mate huangō ki ngā pakeke

Important

In an emergency, call an ambulance by dialling 111. For information about what to do next, see Asthma emergency.

Illustration showing an asthmatic airway with an inflamed and thickened wall and a asthmatic airway during an asthma attack with an inflamed wall and tightened muscles.When you have asthma, the small airways in your lungs are sensitive. This causes inflammation, which causes your airways to partially close up and swell inside. Your airways also make more mucus (sputum or phlegm) than usual. This makes it hard to breathe in and even harder to breathe out.

Asthma is common in New Zealand, and it can start at any age. We do not know the exact cause of asthma. But it is associated with allergies and it runs in families.

Symptoms of asthma may be triggered by something in the environment or something you do.

Common triggers include:

Symptoms of asthma

Symptoms include:

Diagnosing asthma

Your general practice team may be able to tell if you have asthma by asking you about your symptoms and listening to your chest.

Your general practice team may give you a peak flow meter to take home with you. You can use it to measure yourself at various times during the day over a period of time.

See the Peak flow and symptom diary booklet from the Asthma Foundation for peak flow diaries and graph sheets you can print. The booklet also has instructions for using your peak flow meter.

Spirometry is a more detailed look at how well your lungs are working. it involves simply breathing into a machine usually before and after using an inhaler.

A chest X-ray is not usually necessary to diagnose asthma, but your doctor may arrange one to rule out other conditions.

Treating asthma

Most people with asthma can control their symptoms with the right treatment, usually inhalers. It is important to use your inhaler as your health provider tells you. It is also important to follow your action plan or seek medical advice if your asthma gets worse.

  HealthInfo recommends the following pages

On the next page: Treating asthma in adults

Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed October 2024.

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Review key: HIASA-39947