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Allergic Asthma
The acute attack of allergic (or extrinsic) asthma is an episodic shortness of breath which lasts hours or days and varies from a tightness in the chest to a severe difficulty in breathing, accompanied by wheezing sounds in the lungs. It may develop suddenly; it may be accompanied by a cough which produces thick mucus; and it may cause breathing which is easy in inspiration but difficult in expiration. Prolonged coughing spells may cause vomiting of food and mucus. Between attacks, the child may be free of symptoms, or he may suffer from spells of coughing and difficulty in breathing.
The attack becomes chronic if the above symptoms continue for a few days in which mild activity and minor events (such as laughing) may be enough to start a new strong attack.
The acute attack becomes statics asthmaticus if it is not relieved by the conventional asthma drugs. The child becomes apprehensive and agitated; he leans forward in his bed, sweats, and strains to expand his chest; he has a quick heartbeat and a wheezing sound in the lungs that one can hear at a distance; his chest becomes inflated; and his breath sounds are diminished.
A special kind of asthma caused by molds has certain characteristics which distinguish it from other types of asthma. It has a dramatic onset at night. The child wakes up short of breath, livid, and panicky, but with very little wheezing in his chest. Or it may happen during any day of the year, provided that day has been sunny and warm. The child is free of symptoms when snow is on the ground because snow covers the soil and prevents the mold spores from rising into the air. It is also connected to the eating of mold-containing foods such as Chinese sauces or blue, Roquefort, or Camembert cheeses or to the drinking of any kind of beer fermented with yeast. It is frequent among children of farmers because manure, compost, dead leaves, and musty hay harbor molds.
The advent of air travel (causing extreme changes in the climatic environment), the increase of intermarriage, the use of molds as drugs (penicillin), and the frenzied pace of modern life all contribute to an increase in this kind of asthma.
Non-allergic Asthma
Non-allergic (intrinsic) asthma comes about when a spasm in the muscles of the bronchi occurs after irritants such as cold, damp air, or air containing fumes, tobacco smoke, insecticides, perfumes, and sprays succeed in breaking a child’s asthma threshold. An asthma threshold is a theoretical line of defense against spasm situated in the sensory nerve endings lying under the mucosa of the lungs.
Mixed asthma is both allergic and non-allergic at the same time; aspirin asthma is neither allergic nor non-allergic.
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