Asthma
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of children. Children with asthma may have repeated attacks of wheezing, coughing and difficulty breathing. Asthma is a disease that involves inflammation of the bronchial tubes.
What causes asthma?
Asthma is caused by a combination of inherited and environmental factors . Once asthma is present it can be triggered by a variety of factors, including:
Infections especially viral like a cold (URI)
Allergens that your child in allergic to
Exercise especially if the asthma is not under good control (Talk to your Dr)
Irritants that irritate the airways, such as air pollution, tobacco smoke, perfume, and cold or dry air.
Asthma can be Intermittent; Patients with intermittent asthma have only occasional wheezing that responds to a bronchodilator i.e. Albuterol or Xopenex. If your child has wheezing and/or coughing several times a week, he or she may have persistent asthma.
To know if your child has persistent asthma, follow the rule 2
The rule of 2:
- If your child uses the rescue inhaler more than 2 times a day or,
- If your child wakes up at night coughing or wheezing more than 2 nights a week or,
- If your child consumes more than 2 canisters of rescue medication a year or,
- If your child needs more than 2 courses of oral prednisone a year,
- Then your child has persistent asthma and has uncontrolled inflammation of the bronchial tree that requires controller or preventive mediation that need to be taken daily. This should be monitored and continuously adjusted according to your child's need by your child's physician.
- Common medications used for persistent asthma include:
- Inhaled steroids with or without long-acting beta-agonist
- Leukotriene inhibitors i.e. Singulair
- Oral Steroids
- Immunotherapy (allergy shots). For moderate or severe allergic asthma, immunotherapy that is prepared and administered by an allergist is very effective for long-term treatment and management. Allergy shots containing the antigen(allergens) the patient is allergic to is given to the patient over a period of time with increasing amounts until the body becomes used to them.
Our goal to control your child's asthma includes:
1) Improving the quality of clinical asthma care according to National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) guidelines.
2) Preventing childhood asthma symptoms, hospitalizations, and urgent care visits.
3) Improving your child's quality of life.
For more information visit AAAAI or ACAAI sites.