What is Asthma?

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease manifested as difficulty breathing due to the narrowing of bronchial passageways which may be accompanied by wheezing, coughing, and a sense of constriction in the chest.

What is it like to have Asthma?

Common Symptoms Patients' Latest Severity My Current Severity  
Severity
Severe
Moderate
Mild
None
Chest tightness None Mild Moderate Severe
Cough None Mild Moderate Severe
Shortness of breath (dyspnea) None Mild Moderate Severe
Wheezing None Mild Moderate Severe

What do patients take to treat Asthma and its symptoms?

Commonly prescribed and frequently used treatments

Treatment name Efficacy Overall rating of side effects # of Evaluations
Albuterol
(Albuterol Nebulizer, Respigen, Proventil, ProAir HFA)
56
Prednisone
(Encorton, Deltasone, Pronizon)
18
Fluticasone
(Avamys, Flovent Diskus, Fluticapen, Flixotide)
14
Budesonide
(Pulmicort Respules, Budesonide Nasal, Entocort EC, Pulmicort Flexhaler)
8
montelukast
(Azlaire, Singulair)
6
Fluticasone-Salmeterol
(Seretide Evohaler, Seroflo Rotacap, Advair HFA, Advair Diskus)
6

These charts show data from Asthma patients' latest treatment evaluations

Who has Asthma at PatientsLikeMe?

<20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+
Current Age
Distribution of females vs. males
Gender
82% Females
18% Males
Age at first symptom
Age at first symptom # of patients Proportion
0-19 yrs 698
20-29 yrs 199
30-39 yrs 162
40-49 yrs 128
50-59 yrs 36
60-69 yrs 10
70+ yrs 1
Diagnosis status
Diagnosis status # of patients Proportion
Diagnosed 1522
Not Officially Diagnosed 24

These charts show data from Asthma patients who have completed their condition history