About Acute Exacerbation of Asthma in Children
- Parents often confuse asthma with a cold or the flu. However, although asthma symptoms are similar to these illnesses, there is one symptom that separates asthma from the rest. When an asthma attack occurs, a child will have difficulty breathing. This is often accompanied by a tightening in the chest, and your child may exhibit rapid breathing or a shortness of breath. Other symptoms include coughing, the body's attempt to clear the constricted airway, and wheezing, a whistling sound that occurs when the child breathes.
In cases of acute exacerbation of asthma, asthma attacks may occur more frequently, and a child may appear not to be able to breathe at all when an attacks occurs. In extreme cases, a child may faint or lose consciousness due to lack of oxygen. If the airways are not treated to allow air into the lungs once breathing has become shallow or the child has fainted, an asthma attack can result in death. - To prevent acute exacerbation of asthma, it is important to understand your child's triggers. An asthma trigger can be anything from airborne allergens and irritants to an emotional response. Common childhood asthma triggers include: grass, tree and weed pollens, airborne molds, dust mites, foods or food additives, animal dander, cockroach droppings, strong odors or perfumes, cooking fumes, aerosol sprays, cigarette smoke, wood or fireplace smoke, cold air, colds or viral infections, exercise, prolonged laughing or crying, heartburn, medications, and emotional distress, among other things. Each child is different. To learn your child's asthma triggers, pay attention to the season and the environment she is in when the attack begins.
- Having asthma carries both short-term and long-term risks for a child diagnosed with the condition. This is one of the reasons it is important for parents to speak with diagnosed children about the condition. Asthma can, at times, prevent children from playing sports or engaging in other high-energy activities. Such activities, in some cases, may lead to acute exacerbation of asthma, especially when exercise acts as a trigger.
Long-term and short-term risks are often the same if asthma is not controlled from a young age. Asthma symptoms can become worse or acutely exacerbated, and the frequency of attacks may increase. If symptoms become worse, it can be a sign that the inflammation of the lungs and airways is becoming more severe, and severe inflammation of airways can lead to the body almost completely closing off airways, resulting in death. - Doctors recommend a variety of asthma treatments for children depending on the severity of the condition and your child's lifestyle. In all cases, doctors will tell you to have your child avoid asthma triggers. In cases of pollen, you might have to remove the cause if you can, but in other cases, such as a dust trigger, avoiding triggers may require a more noted change of lifestyle with more frequent cleaning.
Two types of medication are also frequently prescribed for childhood asthma. Controllers and rescue, or quick-relief medicines, are the most common types of asthma medications. Controller medications are often pills that are taken once a day or more over a long-term period to help control the body's reaction to triggers. Controllers can decrease the level and frequency of symptoms and often make it possible for children to become more active.
Rescue medications, or inhaler-type devices, are often prescribed in cases where asthma may not be as severe and comes on infrequently without warning. Inhalers do not eliminate everyday symptoms. Instead, they treat the cause, reducing the inflammation.
Oftentimes, the two medications are combined for better control of the condition. When asthma is controlled, acute exacerbation or irritation is infrequent. - Living with asthma as an adult or as a child is not an easy thing. Asthma is a chronic disease that will continue to affect a child his entire life. If your child learns to control asthma from an early age acute exacerbation, or acute asthma irritation, should rarely, if ever, be a problem.