Asthma is one of the major illnesses affecting children across the world. It is a chronic disease that not only affects children but also adults despite their gender, race, or nationality. Up to 18% of children in a particular country suffer from asthma. In the United States of America, around 9 million kids are living and battling asthma, while at least 18 million were told to have asthma. The sound of cough in asthma children is similar to the cough we used to hear. The only thing is that asthma might have other symptoms that may accompany the cough such as noisy breathing or in medical terms is also known as wheezing. Doctoroncall is a platform where you can learn more about asthma or any other diseases.
The number of new cases of asthma especially among children is increasing in certain countries including China. Certain factors are identified to be the culprit behind the increasing new asthma cases. The factors are:
- Increase exposure to an indoor allergen
- Air pollution
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Diet
- Climate
- Toxic agents in the environment
Reduce consumption of fresh food, vegetables, fruits, and a well-balanced diet is also said to cause more asthma cases. Fast food and snacks have become more popular, cheaper, and readily available for households to consume including children. This negative lifestyle is causing a tremendous impact on human health and children’s well-being. Toxic substances in our environment can also contribute to more new asthma patients. Toxic agents like environment disrupting compounds (EDCs), parabens, bisphenol a (BPA), and triclosan are some examples of toxic agents that exist within our environment and possess a threat to our children.
Entertainment via television, computers, tablets, and other modern gadgets are holding children more indoor sitting without enough physical activity. This lack of activity and hours of sitting affects lung function and capacity. Indirectly, a sedentary lifestyle may cause more children to suffer from asthma.
The symptoms of asthma are:
- Wheezing
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Rapid breathing
Asthma symptoms are typically worse in early mornings and at night or known as diurnal variation. Asthma has a list of possible triggering factors. This means that certain factors may cause acute asthma attacks. The triggering factors are:
- Dust
- Pollen
- Cold weather
- Cold drinks
- Certain foods like fruits
- Cigarette smokes
- Upper respiratory tract infections
- Exercise
- Dust mites
- Cockroaches
- Molds
- Pets dander
- Irritants like perfume, hairsprays, nitrogen dioxide, or paint
- Stress
Asthmatic patients usually have a family history of asthma or allergy. This shows that genetic factors play an important role in the development of this disease. Prevention is better than cure. That phrase is the key to maintaining your children’s health in dealing with asthma. Asthma patients must avoid all the identified triggers to prevent them from developing any sudden asthma attack. The triggers for an asthma attack are pet dander, pollen, dust, smoke from cigarettes or vehicles, some fruits or food, and airway infections.
Asthma patients must always come for a follow-up and medical check-up accordingly. This is important as treating asthma is different from other diseases as doctors might need to increase or reduce the doses of the drug. Doctors also need to decide whether to add or reduce the drugs taken by a patient.
Asthma’s diary is where you record all the details about your child’s conditions in between follow-ups. It must include your daytime symptoms, nighttime symptoms, exacerbating factors, triggers, needs for inhalers, and also PEFR readings. Doctors will usually prescribe asthmatic patients with anti-asthmatic medications that exist in various forms like inhalers, tablets, or syrup. Physicians will educate you on how to consume or take each medication properly. Certain medications like inhalers may require good techniques for optimum effect.
