World Asthma Day will be observed n May 3 throughout the world with a goal for educators to raise awareness about asthma and improve asthma care. The theme of World Asthma Day 2011 is “You Can Control Your Asthma”. Like previous years, a seminar is being organised by the Pulmonology Department of Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore under supervision of Professor Nazim Bokhari. Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterised by recurrent breathing problems and symptoms such as breathlessness, whistling noise, chest tightness and coughing.
During normal breathing, air flows freely into and out of the lungs. But when asthma is not under control, air ways of the lungs are swollen and narrowed. The air ways become very sensitive to environmental changes and thus an asthma attack happens easily. During an asthma attack, tight airways make breathing difficult. Asthma symptoms vary from hour to hour, day to day, week to week and over months. They are often worse at night and in early hours of morning. The severity of asthma also varies from individual to individual. Although we cannot get rid of asthma forever, it can be effectively treated.