Not only will you now have to deal with the different signs and symptoms of asthma, but you will probably have to make some considerable lifestyle changes as well.

What is Asthma?

Getting adult onset asthma means that you now have asthma. Not much help there, so let me explain in basic terms what asthma really is. Having asthma means that your airways (or breathing tubes going from your nose/mouth to your lungs) are now extremely sensitive to certain 'things'. We call these 'things' your asthma triggers, which we will talk about in a minute. When you have asthma, you also get your own personal list of asthma triggers to go along with it.

Coming into contact with anything on your asthma triggers list starts a chain reaction of unwanted events. Unfortunately, once this chain reaction starts, there is no backspace button. You can't undo what you just started. The three events listed below are the first part of this chain reaction and you won't even know they are happening until they reach a certain point.

1. The insides of your airways get very sensitive and also start to swell up. This reduces the amount of space for the air to get through when going back and forth to your lungs. As the swelling continues to increase there is less and less room for the air to get through.

2. The muscles around the outside of your airways start to get real tight and begin trying to squeeze your airways shut. They more they squeeze the smaller they make your airways. This keeps reducing the space that your air uses to get through to your lungs.

3. The insides of your airways now start to fill with what I call gunk. You might also hear the term mucus or phlegm being used. Whatever it is called, it begins to plug up your airways. With your airways getting smaller and smaller and now starting to get plugged up, there is not much room left for the air to get back and forth to your lungs.

You probably won't even be aware that bad things have started to happen. Sometimes they will continue to get worse very slowly and you might not notice them for a day or two. Other times they will get very bad almost immediately.

Once they get bad enough, you will start to have the usual outward asthma signs and symptoms that are common to most types of asthma. I have listed the four most common symptoms below.

1. Coughing - with the insides of your airways now very sensitive, you will develop a chronic cough, with all that gunk coming out when you do.

2. Wheezing - this happens more often when you breathe out or exhale. It is from the air trying to get through what are now your very small airways.

3. Tightness in the Chest - this tightness can sometimes be painful. It is the result of the muscles around your airways squeezing them shut.

4. Shortness of Breath - taking a normal breath is just not possible.

Having these symptoms is what we call having an asthma attack. Sometimes these symptoms aren't real bad but other times they get so bad that you can hardly breathe.

Age does not appear to be a factor as to when you can get adult onset asthma. You are just as likely to develop it as a 25 year old as you are as a 65 year old. One interesting statistic is that more women develop adult onset asthma than men.

There Do Appear to be Some Increased Risk Factors For Getting Asthma as an Adult

Nobody has come up with a definite reason as to why some adults suddenly develop asthma. However, there do appear to be some common factors that increase an adults chances of getting it. These are listed below:

1. Environmental Conditions - Long term exposure to various environmental conditions at work could lead to more asthma cases.

2. Infections - Coming down with other conditions such as infections, a cold, the flu, etc., seems to increase your chances of developing asthma.

3. Allergies - Of those people unfortunate enough to get adult onset asthma, about fifty percent of them also had allergies.

4. Estrogen Supplements - Women taking estrogen supplements for more than ten years after menopause are fifty per cent more likely to get adult asthma.

5. Cat Allergies - Having cat allergies seems to increase your odds of getting adult onset asthma.

6. Obesity - Those who are more than a little overweight have a higher risk of getting asthma.

7. Medications - People taking certain medications have a higher risk for adult asthma. Some examples are anti-inflammatory drugs, oral beta blockers, beta blocker eye drops for glaucoma, and even aspirin.