Asthma is a condition that affects the airways - the small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. If you have asthma, your airways are almost always sensitive and inflamed. When you come into contact with something you are allergic to, or something that irritates your airways (a trigger), your airways will become narrower, making it harder to breathe. The muscles around the walls of your airways tighten. The lining of the airways becomes inflamed and starts to swell; often sticky mucus or phlegm is produced.

· Symptoms can vary. You may start to cough or wheeze, get short of breath, or have a tight feeling in your chest. Despite what many people think, wheezing does not always occur. In fact, coughing is the most common symptom.

· Asthma can start at any age. Some people get symptoms during childhood which then disappear in later life. Others develop late-onset asthma in adulthood, without ever having had symptoms as a child.

· There is no cure for asthma, but there are two types of treatment: relievers and preventers. Relievers are treatments taken to relieve asthma symptoms. They quickly relax the muscles surrounding the narrowed airways, making it easier to breathe.

· If you need to use your reliever inhaler more than once in any day, or more than three or four times a week, you will need an additional preventer treatment to keep your asthma symptoms under control. This is because relievers do not reduce the inflammation and swelling in the airways.

· Preventer treatments usually contain corticosteroids (a copy of the steroids produced naturally in our bodies) in low doses. These steroids are very safe, not addictive and are completely different to the anabolic steroids used by bodybuilders and athletes.

Source: Asthma UK