Who Discovered Asthma?

Who discovered asthma? Well there is no definate answer to that question, it is not known exactly how and when asthma first came about, and who realised it was there. What we do think we know, is that it has been around since B.C times and that the word asthma is Greek, so it could have stemmed fron Ancient Greek times.

It was, however, first really notified and recognized, as we know it by Hippocrates, and it was he who noted down the spasms that the body feels when it is experiencing an asthma attack. After that, Galen realised that asthma was caused mainly by bronchial obstruction. These two people were alive between 460 BC and 130 BC so that sort of gives some idea to how long this condition has been around for!

There has been many different treatments for asthma, and back in the days of the Ancient Egyptians, some very strange methods and treatments were used! Crocodile and camel faeces in one case, and in the case of the ancient Chinese, it was ephedrine, which is now used as an imitation adrenaline.

It was the 1960’s that brought the revelation that asthma was not only a condition that affected the airways in the way of them being restricted, but also that it was an inflammatory condition that was a direct result of having a weakened immune system.

There has been so many ways to describe asthma and also treat it, and it has evolved so much over the years, but now it is considered as very controllable and can be treated, although not cured. Many people have been involved with the evolution of this disease, it would be impossible to pinpoint the exact one that determined it as what it is today.