Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disorder that causes the airways to constrict, swell, and secrete more mucus. This may impede breathing and cause wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. Bronchial asthma affects one in every five Singaporean children.
Although asthma is a chronic illness that cannot be cured, its symptoms can be managed. Many children’s symptoms actually get better as they get older. Asthma symptoms can fluctuate in frequency and severity over time, so it’s crucial to monitor your child’s signs and symptoms and alter medication as necessary.
Symptoms
The symptoms of asthma differ from child to child. Typical signs include:
- Cough
- respiratory issues or shortness of breath
- stiffness, discomfort, or pain in the chest
- Wheezing
- Young children may display seemingly benign conditions.
Wheezing
Young children may exhibit seemingly unimportant symptoms including fatigue, impatience, continuous crying, or mood swings.
Why does asthma develop?
The interplay of an environmental factor and a genetic predisposition to asthma results in childhood asthma. The likelihood that a child may acquire bronchial asthma increases if there is a family history of any allergic conditions, such as allergic rhinitis, food allergies, or atopic dermatitis.
Additional environmental variables that could raise this risk include:
- young age of onset of various forms of airway infections
- exposure to environmental elements such smoke haze, traffic pollution, and cigarette smoke
- environmental allergen sensitization, such as to home dust mites
What causes an asthma attack?
Every youngster may experience an asthma episode due to a different trigger.
Typical causes include:
- viral illnesses, including the common cold
- Environmental allergens, including animal dander, pollen, dust mites, and mold
- temperature or humidity changes
- Air irritants, such as cigarette smoke, traffic pollution, and smoke haze
- Exercise is particularly important for kids with uncontrolled asthma.
- adverse drug responses to NSAIDS, aspirin, and other painkillers
- Stress and intense feelings
Diagnosis
Since bronchial asthma is a chronic condition, long-term care and monitoring are required for effective symptom management, ideal lung function, and positive health outcomes. Additionally, a number of pediatric illnesses share symptoms with bronchial asthma, so it’s critical to get a proper diagnosis before beginning treatment.
The examination of and confirmation of the diagnosis of may benefit from the tests listed below.
- assessments of lung function
- Nitric Oxide Exhaled in Fractions (FeNO)
- Allergy test
- Exercise challenge test for asthma brought on by exercise
- a chest X-ray
To rule out any other potential causes, additional testing, such as blood tests and induced sputum tests, may be required.
Treatment
Learning to identify your triggers, taking precautions to avoid them, and monitoring your symptoms to ensure that your daily asthma medications are keeping symptoms under control are the usual steps in treatment. The use of long-term preventers or controllers is essential for preventing asthma attacks.
The two primary categories of asthma medicines are:
Preventers/Controllers: By making the airways less responsive to triggers, these agents slowly reduce chronic inflammation. Use these medications or inhalers regularly, unless your doctor tells you to stop, as this is crucial to controlling your asthma. instances of
Relievers: These work quickly to widen the airway, bringing asthma symptoms relief right away. They must only be utilized when necessary. Salbutamol inhalers and certain combination inhalers are examples of relievers.
A written asthma action plan
The written asthma action plan specifies in writing the times you should take specific drugs or adjust the dose of your medications based on your symptoms. When in doubt, go to your written asthma action plan and consult your doctor.
Asthma flare-up symptoms include:
- wheezing or shortness of breath getting worse
- ongoing coughing
- unable to play, sleep, or eat properly
Consult a physician if your kid:
- despite executing the written asthma action plan, continues to have chronic breathlessness and cough
- is unable to properly swallow food and liquids.
- has trouble speaking in whole phrases
- Is sleepy, lethargic, agitated, or otherwise difficult to calm
Despite the fact that bronchial asthma is a chronic condition, most kids can control their symptoms and lead normal lives. The keys to effective treatment of the condition are knowledge of the disease, active engagement in the care plan, adherence to the recommended drugs, and routine review.
When should one visit a physician?
If you suspect your child has asthma, seek treatment right away to reduce the risk of long-term lung damage and to stop the condition from getting worse.
Maintaining long-term management of your child’s asthma will allow them to engage in all of their desired activities and have a healthy life.
A life-threatening asthma attack can be avoided with good asthma control, which can also improve future lung function results.
When an asthma attack is severe and the written asthma action plan is unable to control it, a quick review by the doctor could save your life.
To recap your medical treatment:
Asthma is a chronic condition, and its symptoms frequently morph over time. To change the course of treatment as needed, frequent reviews are required.
If there is any uncertainty or concern, it is crucial to get to the bottom of it in order to ensure an accurate diagnosis, suitable treatment options, and the best possible health outcomes.