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Asthma is a disease of the respiratory system. Our respiratory system is made up of our nose, mouth, windpipe, lungs and a bunch of air tubes ( airways) that connect nose and mouth with lungs. These tubes are called bronchi and bronchioles. Below is a picture bronchial tube during asthma attack. . 
When we breathe normally
the muscles that are wrapped around our air tubes are very loose and relaxed.The
lining inside our airways is very thin. This lets the airways open up very
wide so that it is easy to get air in and out of the small air sacs that
make up the lungs. These small sacs are called alveoli. When the
air moves in and out of lungs it is called breathing.
During an asthma attack the muscles around the airways tighten or "spasm". This is known as Broncho constriction. The lining inside the airways swell or thicken - known as Broncho inflammation. The lungs get clogged with lots of thick mucous This is known as edema or stagnation of fluids. Due to above reactions our airways are much skinnier than usual. This makes it harder to move the air in and out of the air sacs and causes heavy feeling in the lungs. It becomes very hard to breathe. The picture below shows how lungs would look like during an asthma attack.
During an asthma attack it
is actually harder to breathe out than it is to breathe in. It takes much
longer to breathe out than it does to breathe in.
All sorts of things seem to be able to bring on an asthma attack. Dogs and cats cause asthma attacks in some people. Tobacco smoke, cold air, exercise and even laughing can cause attacks too. People with asthma tell us that they are worse when they are anxious. Really bad attacks which force people to go into hospital often happen after a virus infection of your nose or chest. Some people get asthma if they take aspirin or other painkillers. Others may get asthma from dusts or fumes at work. Presence of live stock can cause Asthma, paintings in home can cause asthma. You can inherit the allergy and asthma tendency from your parents. Modern lifestyle in developed countries clearly have a lot to do with asthma prevalance.. Many people believe air pollution has something to do with it though the evidence is very weak. The causes of asthma are complicated. They include our genes, our exposure to things we become allergic to and a general effect of our environment. .
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