Understanding Wheezing -- the Basics
What Is Wheezing?
Many people with respiratory allergies know that bouts of wheezing often come with the arrival of hay fever season. Mild wheezing may also accompany respiratory infections such as acute bronchitis and may be experienced by patients in heart failure and by some with emphysema (or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD). But the characteristic whistling sound of wheezing is a primary symptom of the chronic respiratory disease asthma.
A variety of treatments are available to help alleviate wheezing. You should be regularly monitored by a doctor if you have asthma, severe allergies, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or COPD. Evaluation by a specialist such as an allergist or pulmonologist may also be recommended in some cases..
Tracking Asthma Symptoms: Key to Control
Asthma symptoms are like the weather -- they change often and may seem unpredictable. But also like the weather, careful tracking of asthma symptoms can help identify patterns and what they may say about your asthma control. Research has shown that tracking and rating your asthma symptoms are key steps in successfully managing asthma. One study even found that it helps keep kids with childhood asthma out of the emergency room. Most asthma action plans track your “peak flow” (measured by a portable,...
Read the Tracking Asthma Symptoms: Key to Control article > >
What Causes Wheezing?
The whistling sound that characterizes wheezing occurs when air moves through airways that are narrowed, much like the way a whistle or flute makes music. In asthma, this airway narrowing is due to inflammation and spasm of the muscles in the wall of the airways.
Wheezing is usually the result of one of the following health problems:
- Asthma
- Allergic reactions to pollen, chemicals, pet dander, dust, foods, or insect stings
- Acute or chronic bronchitis, which can produce excess mucus in the respiratory tract and cause the lungs' passageways to become blocked
Less commonly, wheezing may also be caused by these health problems:
- Cystic fibrosis
- Obstruction from a foreign body which has been inhaled (such as a coin)
- A tumor in the lungs
- Congestive heart failure (usually in older adults)
WebMD Medical Reference
Today in Lung Health
Health Solutions From Our Sponsors
©2005-2012 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.