What to Do if You Have Asthma
March 9, 2020 5:35 amAsthma is generally classified as a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by recurring episodes of reversible airway obstruction of variable severity, which can be resolved with treatment or spontaneously.
Children can develop “early,” “late” or “persistent” wheezing. For some of these children, wheezing symptoms stop before the age three years. Asthma in children and adolescents causes more absences from school than any other chronic illness.
- Risk Factors
Asthma is a complex genetic disorder. Environmental factors as well as atopy and prenatal and postnatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, are associated with an increased risk for the development of asthma. Interestingly, a large study also indicated that early exposure of young children to other children, either at home or at a childcare center, is related to a decreased incidence of wheezing as the child grows.
- Asthma symptoms
Symptoms of Athma include wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing, especially at night or after exercise and activity are . Inflammation may be reversible, with or without drugs. The asthma attack can occur without wheezing and is associated with other symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, chest tightness.
- Tests used to diagnose asthma
A peak flow meter is a simple device that is used to measure the peak flow of air coming from the lungs when a child is asked to blow into it. Also, chest X-ray can be done if asthma does not respond to conventional therapy. Allergy tests (Rast) can identify the factors to which the child is allergic, as these factors may contribute to asthma.
- Asthma control
Asthma control can be assessed using indices including symptoms, use of medication, activity limitation, along with lung function tests, bronchial hyperactivity or inflammatory markers.
- Asthma therapy
The drugs that are available fall into two general categories:
Controllers or Preventers which are used in the long term on a daily basis to prevent asthma attacks. These include inhaled corticosteroids, long-acting bronchodilators and leukotriene inhibitors. Relievers are the category of medications that provide instant relief from symptoms. These are short-acting bronchodilators and corticosteroids delivered by mouth or injections. In general, therapy begins with high doses of drugs to treat acute asthma attacks and then there is a gradual decrease to prevent asthma attacks so that the child can have a normal life. The severity of asthma in children may worsen or improve over time, so the type (category) of the child’s asthma can change, which means that a different treatment may be needed over time. Assessment should include questions regarding symptoms, exacerbations, school absence, compliance check, inhaler technique, measurement of height and weight annually.
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