Asthma Respiratory Disease | Asthma Coaches Keep Kids Breathing | Asthma for Children’s Health | Symptoms of an Asthma Attack
Asthma Respiratory Disease | Asthma Coaches Keep Kids Breathing | Asthma for Children’s Health | Symptoms of an Asthma Attack
Asthma for Children’s Health
Young soccer player has a wheezing fit on the field, you can bet there’s an extremely worried parent on the sidelines. What can a parent do when a child’s favorite sport sets off asthma attacks? The natural reaction may be to pull him off the team and have him do something safer, like play video games. After all, no parent wants to hear a child wheeze and gasp.
But before you make your child turn in his shoulder pads, consider this: Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center say that about 20 percent of kids who have asthma don’t get enough exercise partly because their parents think it’s too risky. However, with the right treatment, most children with asthma can enjoy any sport they choose. Additionally, the latest government guidelines stress that keeping children fit by maintaining a healthy weight and exercising may also improve their asthma control. In fact, many Olympic athletes have asthma. Like them, your child can enjoy the many benefits of sports and exercise without jeopardizing his health.
Asthma for Respiratory Disease
Asthma is a respiratory system disease. This means the system we use to breathe doesn’t work according to the above plan. During an asthma attack, the muscles around the airways go into spasm, causing them to tighten. The lining inside the airways swells or thickens, making the airways very thin. Now add lots of thick mucus, clogging the already skinny airwaves. This combination makes it very hard to move air in and out of the air sacs. In other words it’s hard to breathe! It is actually harder to release air from the lungs expire than it is to breath air in inspire. Regardless, the feeling is still the same – a terrible shortness of breath.
A common source of asthma attacks
Aperson has asthma, the bronchial tubes (the passageways that carry air to the lungs) become extremely sensitive. If they’re exposed to something unusual, the tubes can suddenly squeeze tight, making it difficult for air to pass through. This is called an asthma attack, and it can be touched off by anything from cold air to a speck of dust, from tobacco smoke to magic marker fumes.
Unfortunately, an attack can also be sparked by one of the healthiest things a kid can do: exercise. In fact, many children have “exercise-induced asthma,” which means they have asthma only when they’re getting a workout. Even kids with persistent asthma may notice breathing problems primarily during physical exertion.
Exercise is good for the lungs, but it causes the airways to lose both heat and moisture, especially if the air is cold and dry. This can irritate the bronchial tubes and cause them to swell, creating the conditions for an attack.
If your child has asthma, she may cough, wheeze, feel tightness in her chest, or become extremely short of breath right after exercising. Less often, a child will have these symptoms in the middle of an activity.
Symptoms of Asthma Attack
Symptoms when they suffer from asthma. Here are a bunch to keep in mind:
1. Some people will cough and cough.
2. Some people feel like they can’t catch their breath.
3. Some people feel like air is trapped in their lungs and they can’t get it out.
4. Some people have pain in their chest.
5. Some people have very noisy breathing.
6. Some people make the noise (the wheeze) both when they breathe in and when they breathe out. This is called a biphasal attack. It’s a very severe attack and should be attended to by a doctor.
