Alright lets start with the basics.   First of all anyone at any age can be diagnosed with Asthma.  Some of the symptoms are wheezing, shortness of breath,  painless tightening in the chest especially to one side or the other of the heart.   One thing is that sometimes you wake up at night and don't know why can be caused by the fact that you stopped breathing, which is sometimes but not always associated with asthma.  Sometimes you can get a chronic cough with asthma or actually stop breathing for short periods of time, kinda like holding your breath when you swim only not so easy and more of a sharp, gasping inhalation.

             The way my doctor was able to find mine was because when I was in her office I had a coughing attack where I after a few minutes I would stop breathing and then start again.  A few minutes later I would start coughing and then stop breathing.  The coughing was loud and deep in my chest, almost hacking.   Most of the time if you have asthma there are not warnings of attacks and anything can cause an attack.  My doctor basically figured out that I had been asthmatic for most of my life and was not diagnosed because my symptoms were not severe enough for me to end up in the hospital.

           Airborn irritants like cigerette smoke and pollutions, animal dander, pollen, dust and dust mites can trigger asthma attacks.  Sometimes the you can have an attack during a work out session or if you are under unusual stress (i.e. promotion, divorce, tests, etc.).  Enviromental triggers are high humity, pollution and high heat combined, or severe cold (like a hike at night in mid to late October) in a frosty enviroment.  Some self help remedies are to sit backwards in a chair and rest your arms across the back, forcing your body to sit up straighter and giving your lungs more room to breath; also avoiding the allergen that might be causing the attack.  One of the ways I avoid a trigger for me is that when I enter buildings with people smoking outside and around the doorway, is to hold my breath until I am in the building.  Lots of times those who smoke around the doorway don't realize that they are causing a health risk to someone like me.

         Something to remember is if you are cleaning house and someone helping you can not last with out sitting down every few minutes to catch their breath, you might have someone who is asthmatic and doesn't know it.  And if they know it be careful that you don't get too upset at them, they may be preventing a full attack by sitting down.   As you are moving around you use more oxygen and breath more,  you are also kicking the dust into the air and that person may be breathing in more than their lungs can handle.

             Some of the medical ways to handle Asthma are Fast-acting inhalors like Albuterol, daily therepies using medicines like Advair or Spiriva, pills like Singulair or Clairiton, and in extreme cases breathing therepy either at home, at the doctor's office or in the hospital.  If someone you know has asthma and you are around when a severe attack occurs, stay calm, make note of when medicines are taken and which ones, be prepared to either call for help or take the person to the ER, and help the person find a comfortable position to rest in, usually sitting up.  I hope this answers your questions.