Pinch your nose shut and breathes through a straw, this is how asthma patient breath. Then try climbing a flight of stairs or

Asthma

chasing after something fast—say, a frisky toddler. You’ll soon be gasping for air the way someone with asthma does during an attack. It’s a frightening experience.

The usual setup for an attack combines an allergic (or supersensitive) immune system, an inherited trait, with exposure to environmental allergic triggers such as animal dander, mold spores, and pollen or to environmental irritant triggers such as air pollution, cold air, and cigarette smoke. Other activators can include respiratory infections, colds, laughter, crying, anger, exercise, and stress.

Allergies are versatile. They can show up just about anywhere in your body and create an incredible variety of symptoms. They can affect your nose, eyes, throat, lungs, stomach, skin, and nervous system. They can make you itch, wheeze, and sneeze, make your nose run and your eyes weep, give you a headache or a bellyache, and even bring on fatigue and depression.