Asthma: Symptoms, Treatment, Management

What is Asthma?

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the respiratory system. Specifically, asthma creates inflammation within the bronchi of the lungs and causes an overproduction of mucus within the respiratory tract that leads to poor breathing. Asthma is normally diagnosed during childhood after an acute asthma attack happens or after symptoms have been seen and cannot be tied to another cause like a respiratory illness. Many children that have asthma often suffer from allergies and colds more than other children. This is because the respiratory system is sensitive and easily irritated in these patients. 

Is Asthma Common?

Asthma is one of the most common diseases for youth today. One in twelve kids will be diagnosed with asthma and over 8.5 million adults live with it as well. In the majority of cases, asthma can be managed by living a healthy lifestyle and medication when needed. 

What are Asthma Symptoms?

Asthma symptoms differ from child to child and adult to adult but have many overlapping characteristics. The first is sleep problems. Many people that suffer from asthma have trouble sleeping at night because they have difficulty breathing. More symptoms of asthma include:  

• Chest pain
• Dry coughing
• Labored Breathing
• Wheezing without physical activity
• Allergies 
• Having the common cold often
• Feeling tired

If your child is suffering from these symptoms but hasn’t had an acute attack yet, talk to your pediatrician about your concerns.

What is an Acute Asthma Attack?

An acute asthma attack is when the lungs constrict and it becomes very difficult to breath. Normally, an acute attack is preceded by a trigger of some sort like exercise, being sick, or being exposed to an irritant. Symptoms of an acute attack include:

• Coughing
• Wheezing and whistling sound while breathing
• Extremely labored breathing

When an acute attack occurs, it is important for you to stay calm and call for medical help if it is the first acute attack that’s happened. Stay near the child to help keep them calm and try to remove the trigger if you can identify it. Normally, an acute attack will resolve itself within a few minutes if the trigger is removed and the child works to take full breaths in a calm and controlled manner. Panicking during an acute attack can make it worse so it is very important to stay calm. 

How is Asthma Diagnosed?

If you suspect you or your child has asthma, the first step is to make an appointment either with an asthma specialist (adult) or with the child’s pediatrician. Your pediatrician may elect to manage the condition themselves or will refer you to a pediatric specialist. Normally, your doctor will run a few tests to determine the severity of asthma including spirometry and peak flow. Both tests are non-invasive and give results in correlation to lung health. 

Asthma Management

In all cases, once an asthma diagnosis occurs the patient will be given a rescue inhaler to use if an acute attack occurs. These inhalers are available by prescription only and should be kept with your child at all times. Most elementary schools allow inhalers to be kept with the child or with the nurse in case of emergency. If it is determined that the patient has moderate to severe asthma, more medications may be added like an inhaled corticosteroid or an oral anti-inflammatory. If you have questions about these medications, always speak with your doctor or pharmacist to make sure all of your concerns are addressed. 

Living with Asthma

As stated before, asthma may not be a curable disease but it is very much manageable. The best things that affected people can do is to maintain a healthy weight and incorporate daily activity into their lives. Try incorporating 30 minutes of walking or other physical activity into your daily routine and always, speak with your doctor about any concerns you have regarding your disease and management.

Written by: Micheline Maxwell, PharmD, Leg Up Recovery