Re: about asthma?
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Do we have any doctors, med students, or others knowledgable about asthma? Everything I read about it says "there's no known cause." True or not?
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I'm a med student, I'll do my best to explain what I know.
I think what they mean when they say that they are uncertain about the cause is that they are not sure why some people get it and others do not. As opposed to something like lung cancer where we know that smoking is the primary reason people get it. We know an awful lot about what it is, and what is happening pathophysiologically.
It's an extremely complex process with lots of factors leading to one endpoint-an inappropriately constricted airway. Having so many factors is why there are so many different treatment options, and also why it is so tough to individualize treatment, each person has a different combination and of those factors and will thus respond differently to treatment.
The factors include (but are not limited to):
1) Hypersensitive allergic response
2) Smooth muscle hypertrophy in the bronchioles
3) Hyperplasia of mucous secreting cells
4) Increased sensitivity to airway stimuli like cold air/exercise
In many ways it is idiopathic because it can appear out of nowhere in a young adult or more rarely an older adult. It can also disappear in a young adult who has been suffering for their whole life.
There is a correlation with family history.
hope this helps.
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