4. Smoking
One of the most common ways to give yourself asthma is to take up smoking. That’s because cigarette smoke is an irritant that can damage the tissues of the airways. Not only does it irritate it directly, but it also causes damage at a cellular level thanks to the oxidative damage that it causes. In the worst-case scenarios, this can actually be enough to cause throat cancer. But failing this, it might still lead to other issues such as asthma.
At the same time, smoking can damage your lung capacity, reducing your ability to draw in air and extract oxygen through your lungs. This in turn means that you will now potentially feel even more short of breath: you are struggling to bring in the air and you are struggling to hold onto that air and use it once it is available.