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Question for medical ppl, am I more likely than not going to develop asthma?

Ok so Im 28 and have been healthy during childhood. I remember my dad always having a tight chest, coughing and taking inhalers he always called it bronchitis but he had an asthma attack once or twice. He said it developed in his 30's and was caused by working in a cotton mill when he was younger. He had a nasal polyp here and there too occassionally going to the doctors for a nasal spray but didnt use the nasal sprays long term.

When I was 24 I started getting a blocked nose, not being able to breath through nostrills. I went to an ENT specialist who did an endoscopy and said I had nasal polyps. I was given strong steroid nasal drops for a month and when i went back was told to use a nasal steroid spray indefinately. So thats what ive been doing for the past 4 years when it gets bad I go from the spray to the drops, sometimes i cant breath at night but i just use vicks. I think other than my nose feeling inflammed on and off its controlled relatively well. I went to the ENT who did a CT scan and they said my nose was clear but my left sinus was very thick and had polyps. Im not having surgery though Im doing ok on the drops. Its just when i get a cold it makes it hard to breath for months.
Ive tested negative for allergies but i find that taking half an anti histamine daily helps to stop the sneezing every morning.

Anyway I was reading up on adult onset asthma often occuring in patients who had nasal polyps (asthma develops with 50 - 60% of ppl with polyps) and i got worried as apparantly its more severe when its adult onset. I live for sport and running/very intense exercise so I wouldnt be able to live my life if i developed asthma.

Im wondering with my dad developing asthma in his 30's and m having polyps is there a very high chance that I will too? :/
Original post by inthedark1
Ok so Im 28 and have been healthy during childhood. I remember my dad always having a tight chest, coughing and taking inhalers he always called it bronchitis but he had an asthma attack once or twice. He said it developed in his 30's and was caused by working in a cotton mill when he was younger. He had a nasal polyp here and there too occassionally going to the doctors for a nasal spray but didnt use the nasal sprays long term.

When I was 24 I started getting a blocked nose, not being able to breath through nostrills. I went to an ENT specialist who did an endoscopy and said I had nasal polyps. I was given strong steroid nasal drops for a month and when i went back was told to use a nasal steroid spray indefinately. So thats what ive been doing for the past 4 years when it gets bad I go from the spray to the drops, sometimes i cant breath at night but i just use vicks. I think other than my nose feeling inflammed on and off its controlled relatively well. I went to the ENT who did a CT scan and they said my nose was clear but my left sinus was very thick and had polyps. Im not having surgery though Im doing ok on the drops. Its just when i get a cold it makes it hard to breath for months.
Ive tested negative for allergies but i find that taking half an anti histamine daily helps to stop the sneezing every morning.

Anyway I was reading up on adult onset asthma often occuring in patients who had nasal polyps (asthma develops with 50 - 60% of ppl with polyps) and i got worried as apparantly its more severe when its adult onset. I live for sport and running/very intense exercise so I wouldnt be able to live my life if i developed asthma.

Im wondering with my dad developing asthma in his 30's and m having polyps is there a very high chance that I will too? :/


Speak to your GP. I'd suggest your concerns are mostly unfounded; yes, there's the increased risk of developing asthma but if you've not had the onset yet, you don't exactly need to predispose yourself to worry. Get your FEV1 checked by your pharmacist or GP, and if you have issues they can discuss medication to resolve it.

As a whole, asthma is very, very treatable and it is pretty rare for asthma to impact on your daily life -- even for athletes! You'd have to have very severe asthma and be unresponsive to several medications for it to be a significant issue.

As I said, your GP can discuss this with you in more detail.
Reply 2
Original post by MJK91
Speak to your GP. I'd suggest your concerns are mostly unfounded; yes, there's the increased risk of developing asthma but if you've not had the onset yet, you don't exactly need to predispose yourself to worry. Get your FEV1 checked by your pharmacist or GP, and if you have issues they can discuss medication to resolve it.

As a whole, asthma is very, very treatable and it is pretty rare for asthma to impact on your daily life -- even for athletes! You'd have to have very severe asthma and be unresponsive to several medications for it to be a significant issue.

As I said, your GP can discuss this with you in more detail.


Thanks, Ive asked an ENT consultant about asthma and she says that they do often occur together and that its hard to predict the prognosis since some people get worse other peoples symptoms improve. My GP tends to just give one word answers lol I can never get much from him.

Yea Ive heard that lots of athletes have asthma I wouldnt know how much it impacts on daily life though as I havent had it not sure how easy it is to control etc
Original post by inthedark1
Thanks, Ive asked an ENT consultant about asthma and she says that they do often occur together and that its hard to predict the prognosis since some people get worse other peoples symptoms improve. My GP tends to just give one word answers lol I can never get much from him.

Yea Ive heard that lots of athletes have asthma I wouldnt know how much it impacts on daily life though as I havent had it not sure how easy it is to control etc


Unless you're horrendously asthmatic, your symptoms can be relieved with good medication so I wouldn't worry :smile: Wait and see IF you develop it first!

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