Which description best fits an Acute Asthma attack?

Which description best fits an Acute Asthma attack?

• A. Anxiety, wheezing, tachypnea, tachycardia, dyspnea, possible chest tightness, accessory muscle use, prolonged expiratory phase - forcing each breath out, pursed lip breathing, coughing
• B. Sudden fever and chills with severe headache
• C. Fever with productive cough
• D. Chest pain worsened by inhalation with leg swelling

Answer: (A)

An acute asthma attack centers on bronchospasm and inflammation narrowing the airways, which makes exhalation difficult and increases the work of breathing. This leads to anxiety, rapid and shallow breathing (tachypnea), shortness of breath (dyspnea), and chest tightness. Wheezing occurs as air tries to move through constricted passages, and using accessory muscles signals the extra effort required to breathe. The expiratory phase is prolonged because air gets trapped behind the narrowed airways, and some patients adopt pursed-lip breathing to help keep the airways open and control breathing. Coughing is common due to irritation and mucus buildup. Together, these signs are characteristic of an acute asthma attack. The other descriptions point to different conditions—fever with chills and severe headache suggests an infectious or inflammatory illness; fever with productive cough fits pneumonia; chest pain that worsens with inhalation along with leg swelling hints at a pleuritic process or pulmonary embolism. These do not reflect the typical respiratory distress pattern seen in an acute asthma episode.

An acute asthma attack centers on bronchospasm and inflammation narrowing the airways, which makes exhalation difficult and increases the work of breathing. This leads to anxiety, rapid and shallow breathing (tachypnea), shortness of breath (dyspnea), and chest tightness. Wheezing occurs as air tries to move through constricted passages, and using accessory muscles signals the extra effort required to breathe. The expiratory phase is prolonged because air gets trapped behind the narrowed airways, and some patients adopt pursed-lip breathing to help keep the airways open and control breathing. Coughing is common due to irritation and mucus buildup. Together, these signs are characteristic of an acute asthma attack.

The other descriptions point to different conditions—fever with chills and severe headache suggests an infectious or inflammatory illness; fever with productive cough fits pneumonia; chest pain that worsens with inhalation along with leg swelling hints at a pleuritic process or pulmonary embolism. These do not reflect the typical respiratory distress pattern seen in an acute asthma episode.