Children are very active, playing outside and running around with others. The least of the child’s worries shouldn’t be the constant fight of the wheezes and gasps from every breath one takes as the child tries to fulfil these activities. According to the population of the United States, 339 million people suffer from the struggle of asthma. Children alone, there are over 1.6 million under the age of eighteen that experience this disease (Woodley, 2019). It has been looked into that the gender predominance is completely reversed compared to adults. For children under the age of fourteen, the ratio of male to female who witness the struggle with asthma is 2:1, (Chang, 2012). Asthma can be genetic, considering the fact that the child’s parents could have or had asthma. A child produced by asthmatic parents has an increased chance of developing asthma as well. On another note, there is an estimated 70 percent of cases where children may develop asthma from a developing allergy or have pre existing allergies, (Chang, 2012).
But what exactly is asthma? Asthma is a chronic lung disease where the walls of the bronchial tubes airways inside the lungs become swollen and inflamed causing mucus to build. The airways become sensitive to certain “triggers” causing the inflammation. The triggers could range from, something a child is allergic to, something that the air carries such as smoke or cold air from the winter weather. The muscles wrapped around the airways react to the triggers, by tightening and squeezing the airway as swelling and a thick mucus is produced. The airways are now super narrow and can cause a lack of full breathes. The lack of breathing can cause something referred to as an “asthma attack”. These asthma attacks can range from mild, moderate or can even be severe, (Brayden and Schmitt, 2010). As mentioned before, asthma is an ongoing disease meaning the symptoms a child or person may witness will come and go as triggers can cause asthma at any time. With the many resources and information in mind about the causes of asthma, people are primarily affected by this disease at a young age rather than in their later years.
Before looking into what asthma can cause and how to help children who experience it, let’s look into how this disease can come upon modern day life. Asthma has been affecting around three million people worldwide and is still increasing to this day. Since the 1970’s, there has been a significant growth of asthma related cases as the world was and is developing, (Chang, 2012). As for the length of time for moderately severe asthma, it is believed children will be likely to outgrow their problems by adulthood. But those are very optimistic views, as researchers have found after an average of fifteen years, they found children still maintained asthma symptoms, (Twarog, 1994). This was due to the fact treatment wasn’t given fast enough, whether it was the parents being reluctant of the diagnosis or wasn’t sure of the symptoms. With immediate treatment at first sight of symptoms, the child is more likely to outgrow their asthma by adulthood, (Twarog, 1994).
Asthma could be easily mistaken for a regular cold that someone can get during the winter or cooler seasons. Asthma is a clinical diagnosis, yet taking a good history check is critical. Figuring out if someone has asthma at a young age will benefit that person in the long run. Children who visit a pediatrics doctor and claim to have symptoms of asthma, their doctor will then help figure out a pulmonologist. A pulmonologist is a doctor that specializes in the field of respiratory issues, including asthma. When visiting this specialist they will look into current and past history regarding asthma symptoms, such as past or recent issues with coughing, wheezing, viral respiratory diseases, allergy symptoms or signs, shortness of breath, and as well as sinus problems, (Chang, 2012). During a visit with a specialist, they will try to figure out if there are occurring triggers, whether they happen outside due to pollen, etc. Or indoor triggers and unknown food allergies. In the end, asthma is due to triggers and certain body symptoms. Within the many cases of children with asthma, 60 to 70 percent of those cases are caused by allergies, as mentioned before, (Chang, 2012). There isn’t just one particular case of asthma. There are two types of asthma cases, ranging from mild to severe. Mild cases of asthma are pretty common, as those cases are controlled with minimum treatment and most children grow out of asthma as they get older. Severe cases of asthma are more complex. Doctors will label a patient as servere when their condition is beginning to be poorly controlled, as that current treatment is not working anymore. Those described as severe are constantly having asthma symptoms; wheezing and coughing along with airways constantly being restricted, (Ray, 2016). To help measure airflow of patients with chronic asthma, doctors have been using a device called peak expiratory flow monitoring, (Jani, 1998). This device tests the measure of how well someone’s lungs can push out air. There are a few types of these devices, as you can have a simplified version at home and on hand. Rather a doctor’s office will have one a bit more complex. Nonetheless, both devices test air flow on any type of asthmatic patient.
When dealing with asthma, there are two approaches such as avoiding the substances and triggers that cause the abnormal breathing, along with medication. With these two approaches combined, most people feel relief on a daily basis and can go on with their day to day life. As for medications, there are multiple types that are offered. These types of drugs are used for preventing asthma attacks, as said before, it does cause disruption in someone’s life, (Ross-Flanigan, 2016). These medications can be either inhaled, ingested orally or injected. The first type of medication is bronchodilators or other known as inhalers. When it comes to inhalers, there are many types. The basic need for an inhaler is to help relieve a sudden asthma attack, (Ross-Flanigan, 2016). Bronchodilators, as said before, are in an inhaler form where the drug is breathed in metered doses and goes directly into the airways, causing immediate relief.
Some inhalers are referred to as “rescue inhalers’ ‘, such as Albuterol. This type of inhaler is a common short-acting bronchodilator, (Ross-Flanigan,2016). Doctors prescribe this type of inhaler to many types of asthmatic patients, as it is meant to be with them at all times in case an asthma attack happens. Another type of bronchodilators are ones called long-acting. These types of inhalers would be prescribed in addition to other asthma medications given by the doctor, (Ross-Flanigan, 2016). Majority of the time, the doctor will give these types of inhalers to be used twice a day, morning and at night time. A very common long-acting bronchodilator is fluticasone propionate and salmeterol xinafoate, which is commonly known for its brand name, Advair Diskus, (Ross-Flanigan, 2016). Another type of asthma control medication are corticosteroids. These drugs help block inflammation that narrow the airways in your lungs. These drugs will help prevent asthma attacks but can not stop one that is under way, like the short-acting inhalers can. An example of corticosteroids is the brand name Pulmicort flexhaler, which one of many that involves the combination of long acting medications with short-acting bronchodilators, (Ross-Flanigan, 2016).
Since these medications, especially short-acting bronchodilators provide such quick relief, there are some precautions when taking them. With some kinds of bronchodilators, overusing them can lead to serious complications. Patients benefit the best when using bronchodilators only as directed by their pomologist, and using the prescribed drug over time will help reduce the need of it, (Ross-Flanigan, 2016). Research has shown those who suffer from asthma and stay on top of self-management with the given drugs are most likely to have fewer attacks and don’t have to depend heavily on their inhalers, (Ross-Flanigan, 2016). As for corticosteroids, these drugs are very powerful and overusing them can cause serious side effects over a long period of time. Those problems are less likely to happen with patients who are prescribed with inhalants rather than oral or injections, (Ross-Flanigan, 2016). If the patient is experiencing no change or feels their asthma is not under control, the patient should contact their physicians. The doctor can then assess the situation either increase the dose, switch the drug to another, or add another drug to the regimen, (Davidson, 2016).
Now that people are able to learn the symptoms of asthma and how to treat them, there still are many risk factors to take into account. One risk that researchers have been studying if the exposure to air pollution and cigarette smoke during a pregnancy can increase the chances of someone having asthma. Those from the Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology have found there were changes in the fetus due to reduced oxygen and nutrients that was due to the environment, (Wang, Chen, Chan, Oliver, 2020). Along with these findings, they found the fetus to be underdeveloped and have abnormal lung structure to those who didn’t experience these environmental variables, (Wang, Chen, Chan, Oliver, 2020). With this research it is seen that exposure to these environmental toxins such as cigarette smoke and air pollution can increase the risk of childhood asthma as it may cause underdevelopment of the lungs and other body systems such as the endocrine. One other risk factor researchers have looked into is the use of cleaning products around infants and toddlers. A study looks into the developing concern of some effects of commonly used cleaning products in households on the respiratory system. They have found that the airway remodeling, involving the increase in the basement membrane thickens, is shown in toddlers around twenty-nine months who have a recurrent wheeze due to these products, (Abrams, 2020). Due to these findings, it is recommended to use only cleaning products that don’t contain volatile organic compounds, fragrances, irritants or flammable ingredients, (Abrams, 2020). Since many people do not know of such details considering North American countries are as of right now not required to list all ingredients in consumer household products, but in the end these products can be harmful to a person’s airways and a child’s development of airways.
Asthma is an on-going lung disease where the airways in the lungs are being restricted, narrowing the tubs as mucus builds, causing shortness of breath and wheezing. It is important for people to identify their symptoms as early on as possible so their asthma won’t progress and worsen. Symptoms may include, wheezing, coughing, hard time breathing, and others. Asthma is more common in children as 1.6 million cases are those of eighteen years or younger. Seeing a pomologist, an asthma specialist, will help someone or their child set up an asthma plan to overcome their symptoms. Treatment may include prescribing a certain inhaler or drug depending on the severity of the case. Asthma is a very common disease with almost 400 million cases, and if treated properly along with learning warning signs, triggers and more, it can be an easy disease to cure.
