The exact causes of asthma are not fully discovered yet. Researches say that asthma has strong connection with atopy which is one kind of environmental allergic hypersensitivity. Two common things that can be found among all asthma patients are chronic inflammation in the breathing passage, and the other one is too much sensitiveness to several types of asthma triggers. Researchers have focused on why asthma is developed in certain people while others do not. They say that some people have some biological characteristics that are favorable to asthma. That's why researchers are trying to identify the genes which are responsible for yielding this tendency.

It is a well established fact that symptoms of asthma can result from exposure and sensitivity to several types of environmental allergens. It means that the environment people live in and the way they live partly determine whether they will have asthma attacks or not. Thus, each asthma patient has some specific triggers of his/her own & these triggers are unique for that patient. Some specific triggers may cause attacks in some people with asthma, but not in others.

Several environmental as well as genetic factors are responsible for causing asthma. These factors can influence the severity of asthma. Researchers identified several environmental-related risk factors that are responsible for asthma development. But few of them were found to have good reasonable and significant connections. Tobacco smoking is identified as one of those responsible for high incidences of asthma because the chemicals in the smoke emitted through smoking irritates the airways. Poor quality of air also has been considered as a favorable factor in the development of asthma. Poor quality of air can be attributed to traffics, pollutions, emissions of toxic gases from industrial plants and the like.

It would also be a bit surprising to hear that using antibiotics is also associated to asthma development. Researchers say that antibiotics help in the development of asthma by modifying gut flora, and consequently, the immune system.

Recently, researchers and scientists also connected the rise in asthma attacks to the wide use of paracetamol, especially that these drugs are over the counter and does not need any medical prescription. Their study suggests that there is a possibility that prolonged and uncontrolled use of paracetamols can cause development of asthma especially among children.

Researchers also tried to find connection between various psychological stresses and asthma development. But it is only during the recent decades that the claims of psychological-stress-related-asthma, had been substantiated by clinical and scientific evidences.

Certain medications like beta-blockers may also trigger asthma symptoms. Symptoms can also be triggered by sulfites (one kind of chemicals used for foods). There are also several diseases and bodily processes which can cause asthma such as sinusitis, and pregnancy, respectively.

Asthma is a world-wide concern and every year, the trend of asthma incidences is still uprising. It is important that the causes of asthma be disseminated widely so that many people can change the course of their behaviors and lifestyle so as not to develop asthma in the long run.