Asthma Children Treatment: What you should know
Asthma in children | Asthma information
Minimize long-term lung damage by treating the underlying inflammation in the lungs.
Decrease the severity, frequency, and duration of acute asthma episodes by avoiding triggers.
Treat acute episodes as they occur.
Have a full quality of life—the ability to participate in all daily activities, including school, exercise, and recreation—by preventing and managing symptoms.
Have symptoms more than 2 times a week.
Awaken at night because of asthma more that 2 times a month.
Use more than 2 canisters of a quick-relief medication per year.
Consistently need treatment for symptoms more than 2 times per week.
Have severe episodes more than once every 6 weeks that require an inhaled bronchodilator more than every 4 hours over a 24-hour period.
Have acute asthma episodes more than 3 times per year lasting longer than 1 day and affecting sleep and who have parents with a history of asthma or atopic dermatitis or two of the following three symptoms:
Asthma children treatment can be complicated and finding the right treatment for your child can sometimes be difficult. One of the first steps in asthma children treatment is determining some of the major triggers for your child’s asthma and then avoiding those triggers as much as possible. As it is likely impossible to totally avoid those triggers thus it is important to get a treatment plan for your child by consulting your child’s pediatrician and then sticking to it. In addition to the plan formulated by your child’s pediatrician, you may want to consult alternative practitioners to find out if there are any alternative treatments that might help assist in your child’s asthma treatment.
There are two categories of conventional asthma medications: quick-relief (or rescue) medicines and preventive (controller) medicines. Both have their place in treating your child’s asthma.
Quick-relief Asthma Medicines
Quick-relief medicines, such as albuterol, provide fast relief from the common symptoms of asthma attacks.
Preventive Asthma Medicines
Your child’s doctor may decide to add a preventive (controller) medicine to his treatment. When used as prescribed, preventive (controller) medicines can help prevent asthma symptoms and attacks from starting and can help reduce frequency and severity of those attacks. They’ve also been proven to help minimize the need for an oral steroid.
The National Institutes of Health has found one type of preventive (controller) medicine, inhaled corticosteroids, to be the most effective way to reduce and prevent airway inflammation.
Your child's asthma cannot be cured, however you can manage the symptoms with medications, especially inhaled corticosteroids and beta2-agonists. You and your child should work with your health professional to develop a management plan consisting of a daily treatment plan and an asthma action plan. These plans help you and your child meet treatment goals which are:
Babies and small children need to get early treatment for asthma symptoms in order to prevent severe breathing problems. Even though it may appear that only occasional asthma children treatment with medications for children with mild asthma is enough, one review has noted that one-third of fatal asthma episodes occurred in children that only had mild asthma. Even if your child's asthma does not seem severe, you should work with your health professional to develop the right plan for your child.
Some experts suggest using the "rule of two" in asthma children treatment for young children. This means that young children should be treated with long-term medications for persistent asthma if they:
The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) recommends asthma children treatment with long-term medications for infants and young children who meet the following criteria:
- Wheezing not associated with colds
- Allergic rhinitis
- A high eosinophil count. Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell often present in allergic reactions.
Asthma children treatment can be complicated but if you work with your child’s pediatrician and follow whatever plan is formulated, your child’s asthma can be kept under control and your child should be able to live a normal active life. In fact, if your child’s plan is not making it possible for your child to participate in an active physical life because of asthma problems, you should consult your child’s doctor to adjust the asthma treatment plan until a plan is found that will allow for active physical activity.
