>Childhood Asthma

Asthma is a chronic disease which may occur at any given moment in life. Childhood asthma is affecting almost 7 million children under the age of 18, in the US only. Out of them, more than 1 million are children under 5 years old. This is scary, if we think that there is a possibility that childhood asthma remains undiagnosed for very long time, until attacks become frequent and parents start to suspect that their child has more than a simple, common cold, usual for childhood.

Social Implications of Childhood Asthma

There was this statistic showing that childhood asthma is the third cause of hospitalization in children up to 15 years old. This makes them miss lots of classes in school, because they either are in the hospital and cannot go to school, or they are at home, but feeling so bad that they cannot leave their bed. Asthma makes children look a bit like rabbits. Because they cannot breathe properly, they tend to keep their mouth open, so their face changes over time. Having that strange appearance, asthma children are target to many mean jokes at school or kindergarden. It is difficult to explain a small child that he is ill and this is how he is going to be for the rest of his life. Childhood asthma prevents kids to develop normally, to socialize with their peers and make friends. These symptoms may go up to depression, and they may require specialized medical assistance.

Signs and Symptoms of Childhood Asthma

Children catch colds a lot, so usually parents don’t worry too much. They just give their kids some over the counter medication and watch them to see if symptoms go worse. The obvious signs of childhood asthma are wheezing, permanent coughing and rapid breathing, but they cannot manifest until the illness gets quit advanced. Sometimes, even doctors are fooled by the symptoms, so they think it’s a cold, when they have to deal with childhood asthma. This is why the stethoscope has to be completed some times by pulmonary function testing. This simple tests reveals early asthma symptoms, so a proper diagnosis can be set even when the childhood asthma is in its incipient stage.

Triggers of Childhood Asthma Attacks

Asthma episodes can be triggered by various factors such as physical effort, emotions, allergy, infections, irritant smells or even weather. Most of these are factors that can be avoided, so the child can remain symptom-free for years, between two attacks. One special chapter is allergic asthma, which starts as a consequence of getting into contact with the allergen the kid is sensitive to. Sometimes, for instance, in case of allergies to pollen, it would be difficult to keep the child indoors for two three months, so he’ll be exposed to the allergens, thus being prone to suffer a new asthma attack. Such children should be given antihistaminic medication during the pollens peak seasons, and they should be kept inside the house in the days with maximum pollen activity. These can be determined by watching the special pollen bulletins and air quality warnings on TV or on internet.
With a bit of care, childhood asthma is perfectly controllable.