An asthma attack feels somewhat like taking a deep breath of air on a very cold day, holding it in, and trying to take another breath. Breathing becomes difficult and can even hurt. You may cough, wheeze or make a whistling sound.

These problems happen because the airways narrow. The muscles around the airways tighten, and the inner lining of the airways swell while membranes lining the airways secrete mucus that can block air passages.

The result: a wheezing sound resulting from the rush of air through the narrowed passages. And there could be other symptoms-coughing, chest tightness, breathing difficulty or, in severe attacks, feelings of anxiety, profuse sweating, an increased pulse rate or even a bluish color in the face and lips.

Early Warning Signs

Although asthma attacks can come on suddenly, most people experience some warning signs-often as much as one day in advance. The signs can be subtle and differ from person to person. but by learning to recognize signs of an impending attack, you can take steps to head it off, or at least reduce its severity.

Changes in breathing patterns, such as an unexplained shortness of breath, or a gradual increase in coughing are two of the most common warning signs. but any of the following symptoms could indicate a coming attack and should prompt you to take appropriate measures (which depend on your doctors management medication plan):

Sudden coughing Itchy chin or throat Dryness in the mouth Tightness in the chest Breathing through the mouth, unrelated to vigorous exercise Increased pulse rate (unrelated to exercise) Fatigue Complaints of not feeling well Feelings of nervousness, anxiety or irritability Increased sweating in children, becoming overactive or unusually quiet.

During An Attack

During an actual asthma attack, constriction of the airways and formation of thick mucus makes it progressively more difficult to inhale and exhale. This leads to one or more of the following symptoms:

Tightness in the chest Shortness of breath a chronic or recurring cough Wheezing, particularly when trying to exhale Anxiety or agitation Flaring of the nostrils when breathing-especially in children.

Less common symptoms during an attack include rapid heartbeat, restlessness, pallor, fatigue, vomiting or postnasal drip. in many cases, the attack may not be over when it first subsides, particularly if it developed as a result of exposure to an allergen such as animal dander, dust or even exercise. Typically, these attacks peak within 10 to 15 minutes and subside completely within one to two hours. but symptoms may return up to eight hours later, and persist for hours or even days. These return attacks are called a late asthmatic response and stem from substances released by cells in response to an allergic reaction. These substances, called mediators, communicate between cells, and attract white blood cells called eosinophils which in turn cause further inflammation and mucus secretion leading to a second, more severe asthma attack. in a sense, the second attack is caused by a physical reaction to the first one.

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Coughing is a reflex that keeps your throat and airways clear. Although it can be maddening, coughing helps your body heals or protects itself.

Coughs can be either acute or chronic. Acute coughs begin suddenly and more often than not last no more than 2 to 3 weeks.

To define cough, it is not anything but an action of the body to get rid of any foreign substance or own creation (like mucus) that irritates or impediment the airway or windpipe.

Read more on Home Remedies for Cough and Home Remedies for Common Cold and Herbal Remedies

When certain special cells along with the air pathway gets irritated and trigger the chain of events, the whole process is called as cough and the act of it is called as coughing.

Cough is a sudden, often repetitive, spasmodic reduction of the thoracic cavity, resulting in violent release of air from the lungs, and usually accompany by a distinctive sound.

Coughing is an action performed by the body to throw out or to get rid of substances that are irritating the air passages in their way. A cough is usually initiate to clear the phlegm that is been caught in the trachea or its neighboring areas.

Cough can be acute lasting for a few days to chronic, lasting for a few weeks. It is not restricted to any particular age group and can affect all and sundry.

Coughing is accompanied with a typical noise from the act of exhaling air abruptly in order to clear the phlegm or the blocking.

The treatment of a cough will depend largely on its severity and underlying cause. A productive cough should not be suppressed except in special circumstances (eg, when it exhausts the patient or prevents rest and sleep) and generally not until the cause has be identified.

An acute infection such as pneumonia may require antibiotics, an asthma-induced cough may be treated with the use of bronchodilators, or an antihistamine may be administered in the case of an allergy.

Cough medicines may be given if the patient cannot rest because of the cough or if the cough is not productive, as is the case with most coughs connected with colds or flu.

Home Remedies for Cough

Fill one cut lemon with black pepper powder and salt and suck it to lessen the intensity of cough. This is a very good cough treatment.

Add a pinch of grounded white pepper in one tea spoon of pure honey. Regular use of this 2-3 times a day for regularly for 4-5 days will cure your cough. This remedy is considered as one of the successful home remedy for cough.

Simple cold and cough can be cured with the usual eating of grapes for number of days. They tone up the lungs and act as expectorant.

Take 1-2 gm powder of black pepper, long pepper, and dry ginger in equal size and make a mixture. Taking this mixture of powder with honey 2-3 times a day give reprieve from cough and is one of the useful cough remedies.

In winters eating garlic at night with meals twice a week will provide relief from cough and its also a simplest cough cure.Mix pulp of Belleric Myrobalan fruit with long pepper and honey and take this mix twice a day. This is one of the good home remedies for cough.