It feels like an elephant stepping on your chest. The victim wheezes and coughs with every effort to catch a breath.
Panic builds along with a sense of helplessness.
The severity of the symptoms accelerates quickly. The heart beat becomes rapid. It is an asthma attack. Cold air, dampness or humidity, allergens including dust, mold, dust mites, pollens, and animal dander, indoor and outdoor air pollutants including pesticides, cigarette smoke, synthetic cleaning agents and petrochemicals such as car and jet exhaust, paint fumes and synthetic carpeting, food coloring, preservatives, even exercise and exertion are triggers that can set off an attack. In response to any one of these triggers, the asthmatic's bronchial tubes tighten and twitch.