Why can asthma recur when it is cold?

Asthma is a condition that causes you to have shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. The causes or triggers of asthma can come from various things, especially those related to the respiratory tract. Some people's asthma conditions can also recur when the air or the surrounding weather has cold temperatures. However, is it true that cold air allergies are one of the causes of asthma to recur?

Asthma can recur when people are exposed to cold air

Changes in weather such as cold air or sudden changes in temperature can indeed trigger asthma in some people.

Under normal conditions, your nose and mouth always warm the air you breathe before it reaches your lungs. It will make it easier for you to breathe. However, when the air is cold, it is more difficult for the body to warm the incoming air.

When cold air enters the respiratory tract, the lungs react by narrowing the airways. When the weather is cold, the air becomes drier than air at normal temperatures. Therefore, the respiratory tract will be more easily irritated. As a result, it becomes easier for asthma to recur and may be accompanied by a cough.

This is supported by the results of a study from China in the journal Plos One in 2014. The study found an increase in the number of patients in a hospital who developed asthma during winter.

The causes and symptoms of asthma that recur when exposed to cold air

Cold air can affect asthma symptoms due to the following:

1. Air dry

According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, researchers initially believed that when the body is exposed to cold temperatures, asthma symptoms will recur. However, recent research has shown that dry air is the real culprit.

The respiratory tract is lined with a thin liquid. When you breathe in dry air, this liquid evaporates faster than normal and the body has difficulty replacing this layer.

This makes the airway dry. This causes the respiratory tract to become irritated and swollen, aggravating recurrent asthma symptoms.

Dry air also causes the respiratory tract to produce a substance called histamine. Histamine is a substance that is also produced by the body during an allergic attack, causing asthma symptoms when exposed to cold air, such as wheezing or wheezing.

2. Cold air increases the amount of mucus

The respiratory tract is also covered with mucus which functions to moisturize and prevent foreign particles. When the air is cold, the body produces more mucus and is thicker than usual.

This excess amount of mucus makes you prone to colds or other infections. In other words, mucus production increases when the body is exposed to cold air, making asthma symptoms easier to recur.

3. You are prone to illness and are indoors in cold weather

Cold air has the risk of making people with asthma more susceptible to other diseases. Some of them are colds and flu in people with asthma. These diseases can affect the severity of recurrent asthma symptoms.

Cold air also makes people more likely to be indoors, where dust, mold, and pets may be present. These allergens (allergens) can cause asthma to recur in some people when the air is cooler than usual.

Asthma symptoms due to cold air

Asthma caused by cold air can trigger symptoms such as:

• Chest pain
• Cough
• Feeling of shortness of breath
• Sensation of tightness in the chest
• Wheezing

These symptoms tend to appear when a person is exposed to cold air and will usually improve when moving to a place with warmer temperatures.

Thus, you now understand that asthma can recur when it is cold. Cold weather and temperatures cause the air to become dry and this can worsen asthma symptoms.

In addition, histamine compounds are also produced by the body when the air is cooler than usual, resulting in an allergic reaction that can cause asthma to recur.