A
ccording to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 17.7 million adults (age 18 and over)
in the United States currently have asthma. That is
7.4% of the adult population. And, 6.3 million children
(under age 18) in the U.S. have asthma – 8.6% of the
children in this country. It is, therefore, logical to assume
that many of those individuals also experience migraine.
What is asthma? Simply, it is a disease that affects the
lungs. Your airways narrow and swell, and produce extra
mucus. Breathing will then become difficult. The symp-
toms include wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of
breath. Coughing at night or during the early morning
is a common complaint. The individual with asthma
may experience difficulty sleeping because of shortness of
breath, coughing, or wheezing.
Similar to migraine, you may not always have the symp-
toms. But when an asthmatic attack occurs, it is because
something triggered a response in your lungs. For some
patients with asthma, its symptoms are only a minor nui-
sance. For others, asthma may be greatly impacting their
daily lives and can also place them in a life-threatening
situation.
What Causes or Triggers Asthma?
Asthma triggers vary from person to person. Some people
react to only a few while others react to many of these
triggers. For migraine patients, they are asked to keep a
headache diary to identify patterns and/or triggers of
the headache episodes. Similarly, if you have asthma, it
18
HeadW ise ®
|
Volume 6, Issue 2 • 2016
is important to keep track of the causes or triggers that
you know provoke an asthma attack. It may require ad-
ditional vigilance, as the asthma symptoms do not always
occur right after exposure to the trigger. Delayed asthma
episodes may occur depending on the type of trigger and
how sensitive a person is to that provocateur. Table 1 lists
the common triggers of an asthma attack.