Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that causes problems to the airways that carry air to the lungs. In layman's term, asthma is difficulty in breathing. As per the report of the World Health Organization (WHO), India has around 15-20 million asthma patients. Many asthma patients experience asthma attacks during rainy season, let's see why and how rain affects your asthma?

Seasonal Asthma

The extreme cold environment and breeze during monsoon set off the asthma attack. The continuous dampness in the surroundings leads to the creation of fungus which can in turn cause allergy to the asthma patients leading to asthma attacks. Asthma attacks can be life-threatening to senior citizens whereas for younger people the symptoms get worse. All in all, it gets difficult for people with asthma when it rains. Let us see the causes of asthma getting worse in rainy season.

What Makes Asthma Worse in Rainy Season:

1. Increased pollen

   One of the prominent causes of asthma is rain-dispersed pollen. In the rainy season, a number of pollens in the environment increase causing asthma attack. These pollens increase due to various reasons such as dampness in the air, fungus, extreme weather conditions. Its adverse effect is mostly seen at night.

2. Toxic Gas

   During the monsoons, there is a possible precipitation of toxic gases such assulphur, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. These toxic gases make it difficult for the asthma patients to breathe properly and eventually causing an asthma attack.

3. Increased fungus

   The dampness caused due to gloomy weather and constant rain increases the growth of fungus in the surroundings along with dust. These pollutants are infectious to asthma patients as they cause bronchital disorders.

4. Viral infection

   With monsoon, various viruses and bacteria enter in the environment. These viruses and bacteria cause multiple allergies to asthma patients ending up with asthma attack.

Other than this the emotional factors like anger, excitement, fear or excessive exercise also create breathing problems. It is important to understand that asthma cannot be cured; however, it can be controlled. Let's see how.

How to manage asthma in rainy season?

• The asthma patients should avoid every contact with pet animals. They should be kept away from the patient's bedroom.
• Keep the damp places like toilets, bathroom free from fungus by cleaning them with bleach, disinfectants, detergents etc.
• Asthma patients should not skip their medicines. Have a balanced diet with the advice of an expert dietician.
• Wash all the rugs, pillow covers, bed sheets with warm water.