What is allergic asthma?
Respiratory inflammation can have different triggers, so asthma is divided into the following three forms:
- Allergic asthma
- Eosinophilic asthma
- Mixed forms
Allergic (extrinsic) asthma is an allergic reaction of the body to inherently harmless substances. The body develops an allergy to triggers such as pollen or animal hair.
Allergic asthma
The cause of allergic or extrinsic asthma is, as the name suggests, an allergy. In the case of an allergy, the body’s own immune system reacts excessively strongly to inherently harmless substances. Such allergy triggers or allergens can be, for example:
- blossom/grass/tree pollen
- animal hair
- nuts or
- dust mites
The allergens trigger a so-called allergic early reaction in the body, which is associated with the increased production of immunoglobulin E (IgE). An elevated IgE level is detectable in the blood. Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is a defense substance of the immune system. It consists of proteins that fend off foreign substances such as parasites. IgE plays an important role in the development of allergies.
The subsequent late allergic reaction can develop into a chronic inflammation and cause asthma symptoms. A distinction is made between seasonal asthma and non-seasonal asthma.
Seasonal allergic asthma
This type of asthma is caused by a pollen allergy. Depending on the pollen flight, the pollen occurs only during a certain season.
Outside the pollen season, seasonal asthmatics have no symptoms and lung function returns to normal.
Non-seasonal allergic asthma
These asthmatics have symptoms all year round, e.g. due to a house dust mite allergy, mold infestation, or animal hair.
