What Asthma is:

Think of your lungs as an upside down tree, where the branches are the
air tubes with ribbons of muscles surrounding them and the leaves are the balloon like structures called alveoli. As you breathe, air enters the airways
and travels down to the alveoli, where oxygen enters the blood and carbon dioxide leaves the blood as a waste gas.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder that often begins in childhood. No one is sure what causes asthma but it can often run in families.

People with asthma have overly sensitive lungs and are susceptible to such triggers as pollen, cigarette smoke and dust. Asthma does not go away
nor can it be cured.  The three characteristics of asthma that you should remember are:

• Inflammation
• Bronchoconstriction
• Excessive Mucous