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Few events are more frightening for parents than watching their child have an asthma attack. Yet asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease. Although you might feel helpless dealing with asthma, you and your child's doctor can develop a plan to manage daily symptoms and prevent attacks, or keep attacks from becoming severe if they do occur.
Asthma is a long-term (chronic) disease of the respiratory system that involves inflammation in the bronchial tubes, or airways, which carry air to the lungs.
The airways overreact to substances ( allergens ) that cause allergic reactions and to smoke, cold air, or other environmental factors. This overreaction causes the airways to narrow, leading to difficulty breathing (asthma episodes or attacks). Allergens cause chronic inflammation and may cause asthma episodes. Smoke, cold air, and other environmental factors may cause asthma episodes, but they do not cause inflammation.
Your child can use medication and avoidance of allergens to control inflammation and prevent or lessen the severity of asthma attacks. In severe cases asthma episodes can be fatal.
Symptoms of an asthma episode may include wheezing, coughing, rapid and shallow breathing, and chest tightness.
Asthma may develop at different times and from a variety of factors. Your child may have symptoms:
When exercising (exercise-induced asthma), especially if the air is cold and dry.
That become worse at night (nocturnal asthma).
That occur with a cold or another type of respiratory illness, especially one caused by a virus.
In the past 30 years, the number of asthma cases has exploded, making it one of the leading public health problems in the United States and in the rest of the world. Deaths from asthma more than doubled in the United States between 1977 and 1989.
However, the death rate has not increased in the past decade in the United States.
Some experts believe asthma prevalence has increased because of what is known as the hygiene hypothesis. According to this theory, children (especially in developed countries) have less exposure to certain types of bacteria or infections than children in the past.
This reduced exposure may develop because of small family size, vaccinations, use of antibiotics, less breast-feeding, not being around farm animals, and a generally high level of cleanliness. As a result, immune systems may not develop in a way needed to protect children from asthma.
Researchers continue to make the link between childhood and adult asthma. Children with moderate to severe asthma have a high likelihood of becoming adults with moderate to severe asthma. In addition, loss of lung function in asthma tends to occur in early childhood. If inflammation is not controlled, asthma can lead to permanent changes in the bronchial tubes. The effect of childhood asthma on later adult health makes it all the more important to diagnose and treat your child's condition.
Treatment involves avoiding factors that increase inflammation and taking medication to control inflammation and asthma episodes.
As a parent, you (and, in some cases, other caregivers) play the key role in keeping your child's asthma under control. Older children can share responsibility for controlling their asthma. It is important that you and other adults who care for your child feel confident about your ability to manage the condition. An asthma attack may be severe enough to need urgent medical care. However, in most cases, you can take care of symptoms at home.
Home treatment and use of an asthma action plan often can prevent emergency room visits or admissions to the hospital. Most children with asthma can live a healthy, full life.
