Bronchial Asthma is a disease of the lungs. Millions of Americans suffer from asthma. It's a chronic disease they live with every day and sometimes worsens in what are called asthma attacks. Most people who have asthma can live normal lives, but asthma is a serious disease that can be life threatening.What Happens During An Attack?Asthma happens when some irritant or an allergen affects the lungs. The airways, or bronchial tubes, that allow the lungs to take in air constrict. The cells that line the tubes secrete a very thick and sticky sort of mucous that further clogs the airways. On top of this, the airways swell and make it even harder for a patient having an asthma attack to breathe. The air going in and out of the lungs might make a whistling sound and the patient might cough up the excess mucous.An asthma attack might be quite mild or severe enough to put the patient's life in danger. The attack might happen all at once or might take days to develop. Asthma attacks often happen at night, or in the early morning.A mild attack might last only a few minutes. Symptoms of a bronchial asthma attack might be a cough when the patient rests or after they've exercised, the shortness of breath and tightness in the chest. In a very bad asthma attack the patient might have such trouble breathing that they can't talk. Their neck muscles might tighten up and their lips and the beds of their nails might turn blue because of lack of oxygen. The chest might look like it's sunken. This is a medical emergency and the patient needs to be taken an the emergency room.Doctors now know that asthma attacks come in phases. The first phase of an asthma attack might subside, but changes are still happening in the bronchial tubes that can lead to an even worse attack. The inflammation that remains in the lungs causes the airways to narrow even more than they did during the first phase of the attack. This late phase episode is what causes patients to be hospitalized. The late phase attack makes the lungs even more sensitive to irritants than they had been before.