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Asthma

Development Speed of Asthma

02/16/2004

Question:

About two months ago, I started having problems breathing while exercising. It`s hard to breathe deeply, it feels as though my airways are closing up, and I can hear myself wheeze. My doctors have said it could be asthma, but I`m wondering: is it typical or even possible for asthma to develop so quickly without any previous symptoms? I`m 19 and never had any problems before.

Answer:

Asthma can begin at any age in life. Often it follows a viral infection but can be triggered by exercise, cold air, air pollutants, allergens (dust mites, cats, dogs, mold...). I would recommend you have pulmonary function testing and allergy testing to see what is going on. With this information, appropriate treatment recommendations can be made. Not all that wheezes is asthma and all that is asthma doesn`t wheeze. 

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Response by:

Jonathan Bernstein, MD Jonathan Bernstein, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati