Which chronic inflammatory airway disease is characterized by increased mucus production and acute narrowing of the airways, leading to shortness of breath and wheezing?

• A. Bronchiolitis
• B. Asthma
• C. Pneumonia
• D. Congestive Heart Failure

Answer: (B)

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease that features bronchial hyperreactivity and reversible airway obstruction. Inflammation causes swelling and increased mucus production, and the smooth muscles around the airways constrict in response to triggers. This combination narrows the airways acutely, leading to shortness of breath and wheezing, often in episodes that can improve with bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory therapy.

The scenario fits asthma because it highlights chronic inflammation with excess mucus and sudden airway narrowing producing wheeze and breathlessness. Other conditions don’t fit this pattern: bronchiolitis is typically a viral infection of small airways in young children; pneumonia is an infectious consolidation of the lung; congestive heart failure causes pulmonary edema and dyspnea but not the classic episodic, reversible airway obstruction with wheezing seen in asthma.