DIFFERENT TYPES OF AIRWAY INFLAMMATION

In the past, asthma was a general diagnosis referring to chronic airway inflammation, but today we know that there are different subgroups of asthma classified according to the type of airway inflammation. Eosinophilic asthma was initially the only kind of asthma, named for the rise in eosinophils—a type of white blood cell—that happens in response to an allergen. Over time, however,  doctors realized that nearly 50 percent of asthma cases were caused by something else. Some asthma patients have elevated neutrophil (another kind of white blood cell) levels in their airways and have neutrophilic asthma, triggered by airborne pollutants, viruses, and bacteria. And many asthmatics have a combination of these two types, called mixed neutrophilia and eosinophilia inflammation.

P.S. A newer asthma subgroup called non-inflammatory (or paucigranulocytic) asthma is characterized by normal levels of eosinophils and neutrophils.  It is not as well understood as other subgroups.

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