Anatomy and Physiology CFE Practice Exam 2026 – Your All-In-One Guide to Mastering Certification!

Asthma is driven by three main lung changes that together narrow the airways and impair ventilation. First, the airway smooth muscle contracts, making the airways much narrower—a bronchoconstriction that increases airway resistance and makes it hard to move air in and out. Second, the bronchial tubes become inflamed, leading to swelling (edema) of the airway walls and often more mucus production, which further blocks the lumen. Third, swelling can extend to the gas‑exchange regions, including the alveolar area, contributing to impaired gas exchange during an attack.

The other options don’t fit these features: one describes widening of airways and less mucus (opposite of what happens in asthma), another cites increased surfactant (not a hallmark of asthma), and the last mentions destruction of alveolar walls (characteristic of emphysema/COPD, not asthma).