Once you get rid of the inflammation, patients with asthma generally maintain normal breathing capacity. If most people think of their airways at all, they think of them as tissue-lined tubes. There is also muscle inside your airways. This muscle may function to regulate your cough. The airways can get inflamed, contracting the smooth muscle and narrowing the airway.
Many villains can inflame someone's airways.
One of the big villains is smoke, particularly when children are exposed to smoke in the home. Other triggers can come from dust, pollution, pets, exercise, or getting a cold. Just as the triggers of an asthma attack can vary, so can its effects. Attacks range in severity from person to person, from wheezing to a seeming inability to breathe. In rare cases, asthma can be fatal.