How Asthma Affects Your Respiratory System

How does asthma affect your lungs?

Your lungs are responsible for taking in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide. When you have asthma, your lungs may not function as they should, leading to several effects.

While these may happen any time of day, asthma exacerbations occur mostly at night and in the early morning.

Swelling in airways

Airway inflammation (swelling) is a key effect of asthma on the lungs. Both short-term and long-term inflammation can make it harder to breathe, leading to other symptoms such as wheezing and coughing.

Tightening of muscles

Airway inflammation can make the muscles around your airways constrict (tighten). It’s common to feel tightness in your chest during an asthma attack.

Extra mucus production

Tightening can cause mucus to remain trapped in your airways, so you may cough more to get rid of it. Coughing is typically worse at night and early in the morning after waking up.

Gas exchange

With asthma, you may experience shortness of breath. The tightened muscles around your airways cause them to narrow. This makes it more difficult to take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.

How does asthma affect the rest of your respiratory system?

Asthma primarily affects your lungs. Still, the effects of asthma can extend beyond your lower respiratory tract into other parts of your respiratory system.

Trachea (windpipe)

Your windpipe is a smooth muscle that delivers oxygen to your lungs. Asthma can inflame and constrict this key airway, leading to coughing and breathing difficulties.

Larynx (voice box)

Your voice box is a small but complex portion of your upper respiratory tract. It connects your throat to your windpipe. Your larynx houses your vocal cords (or vocal folds), which create sound as you pass air through them.

Some people with asthma experience vocal cord dysfunction, which can cause coughing, wheezing, and breathing difficulties. While asthma and vocal cord dysfunction share similar symptoms, they are separate conditions.

Pharynx (throat)

Right before an asthma attack, you may notice that your throat feels itchy. This can cause you to cough more. If you have mucus buildup from postnasal drip, you may also find yourself having to clear your throat more than usual.

Mouth

Your mouth is one way your lungs can receive oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. However, you may find it harder to breathe during an asthma attack, with shortness of breath and wheezing sounds coming out of your mouth.

If you’re currently taking asthma medications, you may experience dry mouth.

Nose

Your nose is another passageway for air going in and out of your lungs.

If you have allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and asthma, you may experience additional symptoms such as a runny nose, nasal congestion, and postnasal drip.

Does asthma affect your other body systems?

Your lungs are located close to other organs that asthma may affect, including your esophagus and heart.

As such, asthma is also associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

With GERD, your stomach acid travels back up to your esophagus, causing symptoms of acid reflux and heartburn. It may even trigger asthma symptoms, such as coughing.

During a severe asthma attack, your body may not get the oxygen it needs to function. This may lead to potential damage to your organs that rely on oxygen.

Researchers also believe that asthma may increase your risk of cardiovascular (heart) disease. A 2017 meta-analysis suggests that people assigned female at birth with asthma have an even higher risk.

Can you prevent the effects of asthma on your respiratory system?

There’s no cure for asthma, but you can limit your number of exacerbations and their effects on your respiratory system. According to a 2017 review, there are four essential components to this:

• Education: Knowing more about asthma and how exacerbations affect you can improve your control of the condition.
• Monitoring: Regularly monitor how your treatments are working. This can help doctors or healthcare professionals make any necessary adjustments to your treatment plan.
• Avoiding triggers: Limit your exposure to factors that trigger your asthma.
• Medication: This may involve both quick-relief and long-term controller medications.

Left uncontrolled, asthma could potentially lead to airway remodeling. This means that frequent flare-ups have caused scarring in your lungs. Airway remodeling can also make your asthma medications less effective over time.

If you have GERD, you may be able to reduce the symptoms and associated triggers of asthma by doing the following:

• Avoid spicy and fatty foods or others that trigger reflux.
• Eat smaller meals.
• Avoid meals within a few hours of bedtime.
• Consider taking over-the-counter or prescription heartburn medications such as proton pump inhibitors.

The bottom line

While asthma commonly develops during childhood, this chronic lung disease may occur at any age. It’s characterized by airway inflammation and constriction. This can lead to respiratory symptoms, including coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.

If you suspect you have undiagnosed or uncontrolled asthma, it’s important to talk with a healthcare professional about next steps. Management and treatment can help reduce the effects of asthma on your respiratory system, as well as related complications such as GERD.