What types of asthma are there?

Asthma is broken down into types based on the cause and the severity of symptoms. Healthcare providers identify asthma as:

• Intermittent:

   This type of asthma comes and goes so you can feel normal in between asthma flares.

• Persistent:

   Persistent asthma means you have symptoms much of the time. Symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe. Healthcare providers base asthma severity on how often you have symptoms. They also consider how well you can do things during an attack.

Asthma has multiple causes:

• Allergic: 

  Some people’s allergies can cause an asthma attack. Allergens include things like molds, pollens and pet dander.

• Non-allergic: 

  Outside factors can cause asthma to flare up. Exercise, stress, illness and weather may cause a flare.

• Adult-onset: This type of asthma starts after the age of 18.

• Pediatric: Also called childhood asthma, this type of asthma often begins before the age of 5, and can occur in infants and toddlers. Children may outgrow asthma. You should make sure that you discuss it with your provider before you decide whether your child needs to have an inhaler available in case they have an asthma attack. Your child’s healthcare provider can help you understand the risks.

• Exercise-induced asthma: This type is triggered by exercise and is also called exercise-induced bronchospasm.

• Occupational asthma: This type of asthma happens primarily to people who work around irritating substances.

• Asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS): This type happens when you have both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Both diseases make it difficult to breathe.