children s health issues
Asthma in Children
Introduction
Asthma is a recurring inflammatory lung disorder in which certain stimuli (triggers) inflame the airways and cause them to temporarily narrow, resulting in difficulty breathing. Asthma triggers include viral infections, smoke, perfume, pollen, mold, and dust mites. Wheezing, cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing are symptoms of asthma. The diagnosis is based on a child's repeated wheezing episodes, a family history of asthma, and sometimes the results of tests that measure how well the lungs function. Many children who wheeze in childhood will not have asthma later in life. Asthma symptoms can often be prevented by avoiding triggers. Treatment includes bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids. (See also Asthma in adults.) Although asthma can develop at any age, it most commonly begins in childhood, particularly in the first 5 years of life. Some children continue to have asthma into the adult years. In other children, asthma resolves. Sometimes, children who doctors thought had asthma actually had another disorder that caused similar symptoms ( see Wheezing in Infants and Young Children ). Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood, affecting more than 6 million children in the United States. It occurs more frequently in boys before puberty and in girls after puberty. Asthma has become much more common in recent decades. Doctors are not sure why this is so. More than 8.5% of children in the United States have been diagnosed with asthma, which is over a 100% increase in recent decades. The rate soars to 25% to 40% among some populations of urban children. Asthma is a leading cause of hospitalization for children and is the number one chronic condition causing elementary school absenteeism. Most children with asthma are able to participate in normal childhood activities, except during flare-ups. A smaller number of children have moderate or severe asthma and need to take daily preventive drugs to enable them to engage in sports and normal play. 