Asthma in Children - Facts, Symptoms and Treatment
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The etymology of the word asthma comes from the Greek word azein which literally means “breathe hard”. Asthma as a condition is a chronic disease affecting the airways. The airways are the tubes that bring air in and out of your lungs. This lung condition causes an individual to have difficulty breathing and affects more than 6 Million kids and teens. An asthma trigger is an irritant for asthmatics that causes the airways to narrow and causes swelling to the lining of the airways thereby causing inflammation. The formation of sticky phlegm or mucus causes further narrowing of the airways.
Up to a point, constriction of the airways is normal when irritating substances are breathed in. But the reaction of the airways to these irritants is hyperactive; some would even call it exaggerated. Simply put, there is an overreaction to irritants or pollutants by the airways in people who suffer from asthma.
The sensitivity of the airways caused by the inflammation causes the patient to react strongly to allergens or irritants. Contact with asthma triggers such as cigarette smoke, seafood, pollen in the air, and others bring on symptoms commonly associated with asthma such as wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing. These symptoms usually occur very early in the morning and at night. Symptoms of asthma that are worse than usual are called asthmatic attacks.
Although asthmatic attacks are usually temporary, usually manageable with the use of medication or certain techniques, there are some cases wherein professional intervention may be the best course of action to restore proper or normal breathing.
The common triggers of asthma are allergens, exercise, cold air or substances causing allergies such as pollen, mold, dust mites, cockroach debris or animal dander and some sorts of infections (viral).
In the U.S. alone, nearly 20 million people have asthma and 9 million of them are children. Because of the relatively smaller size of their airways, asthma in children is more serious. Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children. In 1993, 200,000 hospitalizations and approximately 340 deaths among individual under 25 are attributed to asthma.
The population of children affected by asthma is rising. In 1980 and 1993, death from this disease almost doubled affecting children 5-14 years old. African Americans and people living in urban areas have a larger rate of infection than European-descent Americans and those living in suburbs. A survey conducted shows that those that died of asthma in 1980 and 1993 had a larger percentage of blacks than whites.
Asthma can be developed by anybody at any age, even infants. But most children who suffer from it developed the illness at about the age of 5. Statistics show that young boys are more prone to asthma than young girls.
Some people with asthma may have been genetically pre-disposed to this condition. If it runs in the family, chances are you are going to have it. If both your parents have asthma, the possibility that you will also have this condition is greater than if only one parent has it.
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